Georgia last month added 9,200 jobs, the Georgia Department of Labor said Thursday. Over the past 12 months, Georgia has added 73,900 jobs, an increase of about 1.5%.
Nationally, the economy added 272,000 positions in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The US has added 2.76 million jobs in the past 12 months, representing expansion at a 1.8% pace.
Much of Yellen’s agenda in Atlanta revolved around fentanyl. Speaking to law enforcement officials at the Drug Enforcement Agency’s regional office, she announced major steps to combat the opioid crisis, including proposing sanctions against several people associated with a Mexican criminal organization that officials say is known for trafficking fentanyl and other drugs into the United States and Georgia.
She later visited Grady Memorial Hospital to highlight opioid treatment efforts.
But at the Metro Chamber, the economy was in the spotlight, said Katie Kirkpatrick, the organization’s chief executive. «The state of our economy, particularly interest rates and the housing market, continues to be a focal point for businesses and Georgians alike.»
Asked by the AJC if she was concerned about the slowdown in growth over the past year, Yellen said the dramatic rebound from the pandemic — fueled in part by big government spending in 2020 and 2021 — has reached a natural limit as most people who want work find work.
«You would expect that growth to moderate as you got closer to full employment, and I think that’s what happened,» she said.
The share of Americans working or looking for work, which peaked during the boom of the late 1990s, fell dramatically in the early days of the pandemic and has not returned to that level.
«We have an aging population and a growing portion of the workforce has retired, with many people retiring during the pandemic,» Yellen said. «You should expect labor force participation to be on a downward trend.»
A better focus would be «prime age participation,» meaning hiring people between 25 and 54, she said. “If you look at the labor force participation at a young age, it has been very high.â€
The employment rate for workers in that age range is higher than it was before the pandemic, though slightly lower than its peak in 2000, according to the BLS.
While no visit by a top official during an election year can be considered entirely apolitical, Yellen did not mention the showdown this November between her boss, President Joe Biden, and former President Donald Trump, virtually certain to be the Republican nominee regardless. recent felony convictions.
However, she addressed inflation, which has been repeatedly cited as a reason for voter dissatisfaction with the Biden administration.
«We see Americans increasingly getting ahead — we see inflation coming down,» Yellen told business leaders in prepared remarks before a closed-door House session. «But on the other hand, we know that families are being squeezed by high costs.»
The Fed’s rate hike campaign, which has raised the costs of both consumer and business borrowing, has dramatically reduced inflation but has fallen short of its goal, largely because housing and apartment prices have continue to grow.
The administration has supported bills that would help, but housing supply and prices are often a local issue, Yellen said. “We know that many American families have been struggling to find affordable housing. There is very little of it
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