state one of the particular strengths of new york state is its diversity — and this is especially true from an economic perspective. in western and central new york there are top - tier universities, manufacturing businesses, a thriving professional services industry, as well as popular tourist destinations. since the 2008 financial crisis, the declining population trend in upstate new york of earlier decades had largely stabilized. in recent years, new businesses had sprung up and unemployment had fallen to historic lows. 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches all of this was against the backdrop of a strong national economy. at the start of the year, most forecasts anticipated continued moderate growth throughout 2020 and into 2021. according to the data for april, the unemployment rate now stands at a staggering 14. 7 percent — a figure i hoped that i would never see in my lifetime, and one that is sure to get worse before it gets better. if i think back to the economic picture of february, nobody could foresee this would be our reality within a few short months. it ’ s likely that the latest numbers do not reveal the full extent of the financial devastation faced by millions of american families. the data don ’ t capture those who had to leave their jobs, either for their own health or to take care of loved ones. many more people have had their hours reduced or have been forced to take a pay cut. it ’ s going to be some time before we have a detailed understanding of the full economic effects of the public health measures necessary to combat the coronavirus. what we do know is that the pandemic has put a large question mark over the positive trends experienced in our state, as well as the nation as a whole. as social distancing measures are relaxed, we will get a better understanding of how different industries are affected. we know that travel, hospitality, and retail have all been hard hit. what we don ’ t know is what the shape or timescale of the recovery will be. it ’ s going to be some time before we have a clearer view of the effects on other industries, including autos, higher education, manufacturing, and professional services. our response despite this extraordinary uncertainty, at the federal reserve we worked quickly to put measures in place to support the economy and set the foundation for a strong recovery. during the first half of march, the federal open market committee ( fomc ) brought the target range for the federal funds rate to near zero. 1 the fomc has indicated

last resort, should play an important role in the consolidated supervision of those institutions that have access to central bank liquidity and play a critical role in market functioning. our ability to directly oversee the risk profile of these institutions is essential to our capacity to make the judgments necessary for using our lender of last resort tools, including critical judgments about liquidity and solvency for individual institutions and for the system as a whole. those judgments require the knowledge that can only come from a direct, established role in supervision. and replacing our ongoing role as consolidated supervisor with stand - by, contingent authority to intervene would risk exacerbating moral hazard and adding to uncertainty about the rules of the game. third, the federal reserve should be granted explicit responsibility and clear authority over systemically important payment and settlement systems, and the ability to continue to encourage broader improvements in the over - the - counter derivatives markets. fourth, the federal reserve board should have an important consultative role in judgments about official intervention where there is potential for systemic risk, as is currently the case for bank resolutions under fdicia. and, finally, the responsibilities for market and financial stability that are accorded the fed in current and any future legislation will require that the fed adopt a more comprehensive approach to financial supervision and market oversight. given the changes in the structure of the financial system, maintaining financial stability requires us to look beyond just the stability of individual banks. it requires us to look at market developments more broadly, at the infrastructure that is critical to market functioning, and at the role played by other leveraged financial institutions. over the past four years, the federal reserve has led a number of initiatives with our supervisory colleagues in the united states and in the other major financial centers to improve the otc derivatives infrastructure, to strengthen the systemically important payment and settlement systems, to improve counterparty risk - management practices with respect to hedge funds, and to place greater emphasis on ensuring robustness to low probability, high severity instances of stress. this forward - looking, cross - institution approach, integrating prudential supervision with market oversight and payment system expertise, offers the best model of broad financial oversight focused on systemic risk. i want to emphasize in conclusion that we are working now, in close cooperation with the sec, other u. s. bank supervisors, our international counterparts and market participants to improve the capacity of the financial system to withstand stress. these initiatives include joint efforts with the sec to bolster consolidated oversight of the investment banks, formalized in our