... is jobs. no amount of training will be enough if there are not enough jobs to fill. i have mentioned some of the things the fed does to help communities, but the most important thing we do is to use monetary policy to promote a stronger economy. the federal reserve has taken extraordinary steps since the onset of the financial crisis to spur economic activity and create jobs, and i will explain why i believe those efforts are still needed. the fed provides this help by influencing interest rates. although we work through financial markets, our goal is to help main street, not wall street. by keeping interest rates low, we are trying to make homes more affordable and revive the housing market. we are trying to make it cheaper for businesses to build, expand, and hire. we are trying to lower the costs of buying a car that can carry a worker to a new job and kids to school, and our policies are also spurring the revival of the auto industry. we are trying to help families afford things they need so that greater spending can drive job creation and even more spending, thereby strengthening the recovery. when the federal reserve ’ s policies are effective, they improve the welfare of everyone who benefits from a stronger economy, most of all those who have been hit hardest by the recession and the slow recovery. bis central bankers ’ speeches now let me offer my view of the state of the recovery, with particular attention to the labor market and conditions faced by workers. nationwide, and in chicago, the economy and the labor market have strengthened considerably from the depths of the great recession. since the unemployment rate peaked at 10 percent in october 2009, the economy has added more than 7 – 1 / 2 million jobs and the unemployment rate has fallen more than 3 percentage points to 6. 7 percent. that progress has been gradual but remarkably steady – february was the 41st consecutive month of payroll growth, one of the longest stretches ever. chicago, as you all know, was hit harder than many areas during the recession and remains a tougher market for workers. but there has been considerable improvement here also. unemployment in the city of chicago is down from a peak of nearly 13 percent to about 9 – 1 / 2 percent at last count. that is about the same improvement as in the larger chicago metro area, where unemployment has fallen to 8 – 1 / 2 percent. metro chicago has added 183, 000 jobs since 2009, just below the rate for job gains nationwide. 1 but while there has been steady progress,

bank in question is not yet prepared to provide estimates derived from its own experience. for a limited period, we also may be willing to consider conservative methodologies for allocating consolidated operational risk capital charges to the u. s. subsidiary. although we will do what we can to facilitate transition, let me be clear that, for both domestic and foreign banks, we expect that plans for full adoption will be complete within a relatively short period. moreover, any shortfalls in systems will have to be disclosed under pillar 3 ; and we reserve the right, under pillar 2, to require additional capital during the transition to full implementation. it was a difficult decision for the basel supervisors ’ committee to delay by one year, to 2008, the start date for implementation of the advanced approach while retaining the 2007 target for the other approaches. the delay reflected the realities that many banks that will be applying the advanced approach needed more time and that the requirements in the united states for public comment and review made it impossible for final u. s. rules to be promulgated before 2006. thus, the earlier start for the other approaches, along with the imposition of the 95 percent of basel i capital floor for that first year, 2007, seemed to all concerned to be a reasonable compromise, more practical than trying to hold to the original schedule for all banks or delaying the start date for approaches not permitted in the united states. under the circumstances, consistent with our agreement to have a single, worldwide start date for the advanced approach, the u. s. authorities do not see any opportunity for implementation of the advanced approach in the united states before 2008, regardless of any individual bank ’ s ability and readiness to do so.