Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors Sarah Bloom Raskin said today that unemployment numbers present too positive a view of the economy, adding that the Federal Reserve might need to take more action to stabilize the economy.
Nonetheless, as many families know,” said Raskin, an appointee of President Obama’s, “the headline unemployment numbers don’t fully capture the weakness in labor market conditions.” She explained:
In an apparent echo of Obama’s “jobs saved or created” meme, Raskin added that “since late 2008, the Federal Reserve saved millions of jobs that would otherwise have been lost.” She did acknowledge “substantial uncertainty” in trying to calculate a precise number of jobs saved. Raskin also suggested that “additional policy accommodation [from the Fed] is warranted under present circumstances,” adding that “the public can have a very high degree of confidence in the fundamental integrity and soundness of our decisionmaking process.”
Raskin also inserted a new metaphor into the federal policy conversation, describing the Federal Reserve Governors as “neither hawks no doves but owls,” affirming that “we are trying to be as wise as possible in deploying all the tools we have to fulfill our legal mandate.”
Stocks plummeted last week after the Federal Reserve opted to “twist” the bond market by selling short term bonds and buying long-term bonds.
