We build a summary measure of labor market pressure that captures the common movement among a variety of labor market series. Obtained as the labor market series’ first principal component, this measure explains a large portion of the variability of the underlying series. For this reason, it...

A 1977 amendment to the Federal Reserve Act states that the Fed’s mandate is “to promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates.” Moderate long-term interest rates require low and stable inflation. Monetary policymakers use...

Remarks at New York University's Stern School of Business, New York City.

Presented by Charles I. Plosser, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, New Jersey Bankers Association, May 12, 2011, Aventura, Florida

Remarks at Fordham University's Gabelli School of Business, Bronx, New York.

Remarks before the Bronx Chamber of Commerce at the New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York.

Remarks at the University at Albany, Albany, New York.

The "unemployment gap" is an important factor in monetary policy decisions. But the size of the gap depends on the level of natural rate of unemployment, which is inherently unobservable. The uncertainty surrounding estimates of the natural rate, and the costs of mismeasuring it, may recommend a...