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Why businesses are pushing Congress to expand paid family and medical leave

Mar 24, 2021
Federal funds would help businesses who already offer paid leave — and be an incentive for those who don't.
Paid leave is good for both workers and businesses.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Fed Chair: Rise in inflation not "particularly large" from $1.9 trillion rescue package

Mar 23, 2021
Powell told lawmakers Tuesday that the “effect on inflation will be neither particularly large nor persistent,” from the $1.9 trillion rescue plan.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testified before the House Financial Services Committee Tuesday.
Screengrab via Youtube

Corporate bond yields have been rising, too

Mar 23, 2021
Bond investors are demanding higher corporate bond yields. That's a good sign about where the economy's headed this year.
Bond investors expect inflation to pick up this year, though Fed Chair Powell doesn't expect it to have a lasting impact on overall inflation.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

What's "full employment" for Yellen, Powell & Co.?

Mar 15, 2021
Treasury chief Yellen said the relief package may help the economy return to full employment in 2022. Officials are also concerned with other measures of financial hardship and inequality.
Unemployment is still high, but job creation is rebounding. Officials are also concerned about Americans' financial condition across race, gender and geography.
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Community banks signal caution about the economic recovery

Feb 24, 2021
A new report from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. finds bankers are increasing the money they set aside for bad loans.
Jacobs/Three Lions/Getty Images

Fed and Treasury chart path back to "full employment"

Feb 24, 2021
Fed Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen peg the actual unemployment rate at around 10%, higher than the official 6.3%.
Federal Reserve Chair Powell testified on Capitol Hill about the U.S. labor market.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images

What does inflation look like?

Feb 23, 2021
Inflation’s been hard to find in this economy for years, but what if that changes?
At 2% inflation, the Federal Reserve's target rate, it takes about 35 years for prices to double.
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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What the bond market can tell us about the pace of economic recovery

Feb 23, 2021
Rising bond yields are an optimistic sign, even though the Fed says a real recovery isn't right around the corner.
When bond yields go up quickly, it can spook the stock market. But stocks aren't the whole story.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

What a jobs recovery might look like as the pandemic fades

Feb 10, 2021
The low-wage, temp-job economy that emerged after the Great Recession could reemerge, but with changes.
An Instacart shopper at work in a New Jersey market. Some occupations that grew during the pandemic may stick around afterward.
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

Janet Yellen says national recovery is more important than the national debt

Jan 19, 2021
President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for treasury secretary stressed that if we don't shore up the economy now, we'll have a worse crisis to manage later.
Then-Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen testifies before a House panel in 2016, with the national debt displayed in the background. Yellen, now nominated to run the Treasury Department, is focused on funding an economic recovery.
Alex Wong/Getty Images