michelle w bowman : building economic resilience in communities speech ( via prerecorded video ) by ms michelle w bowman, member of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, at the policy summit 2021 “ pathways to economic resilience in our communities ”, hosted by the federal reserve bank of cleveland, cleveland, ohio, 23 june 2021. * * * thank you, emily, and thank you to the federal reserve bank of cleveland for hosting this policy summit. i ’ d also like to thank the participants and attendees for taking part in these critical conversations. it ’ s really a pleasure to be here with you to support the discussions of economic resiliency that will take place over the next several days. considerations of what builds resilient communities are at the top of the list as we look back at the economic impact from the pandemic and look ahead, as we experience a recovery that we want to benefit everyone. i would also like to highlight that three of the sessions taking place over these next few days will provide an opportunity for all of you to convey your own perspectives on the economic recovery from the pandemic. we would like to hear directly from you about how you see the recovery progressing in your own communities, whether you see unique aspects to the way businesses and families in your communities experienced the downturn and ongoing recovery, and what opportunities or challenges you think may lie ahead as we all adjust to lasting changes in the economy following the pandemic. these discussions will be the first of several aimed at continuing the fed listens initiative that began in 2019 and was part of the federal reserve ’ s broad review of its monetary policy framework. the initial purpose of fed listens was to interact in a public setting with members of the public and community groups to hear about issues relating to our dual - mandate goals of maximum employment and price stability. the insights gained from these conversations proved to be highly valuable. even though our framework review concluded last year, we are continuing the fed listens initiative with a focus this year on the economic recovery from the pandemic. we expect these listening sessions will benefit the federal reserve ’ s ongoing policymaking process, while also providing important insights from affected communities, and enhancing transparency and public accountability. with that in mind, let me briefly describe what i see as the current state of national economic conditions. as we continue to see progress toward the recovery, including the lifting of economic and social - distancing restrictions, the economy is growing

at the fastest pace in decades. economic output has likely surpassed its pre - pandemic peak, but even with this progress, there are over 10 million people still without jobs who are either actively looking for employment or have since left the labor force. employment has been recovering rapidly in the sectors of the economy related to goods production and sales, but the services economy has been much slower to recover. employment in the leisure and hospitality sectors is down by more than 3 million jobs since february of 2020. 1 as the recovery in the labor market and spending on goods and services continues to gain momentum, we are seeing upward pressures on consumer prices. in recent months, inflation has risen to well over the federal reserve ’ s longer - run goal of 2 percent. this rise has reflected, in part, the fact that inflation numbers at the onset of the pandemic were very low. as those low values drop out of the 12 - month average of price changes, this measure of inflation has increased and will likely increase further. but there is more to the recent rise in inflation than just these measurement issues. the impressive upswing in economic activity has played an important role as it has led to a number of supply chain bottlenecks and put upward pressure on prices for many goods. these upward price pressures may ease as the bottlenecks are worked out, but it could take some time, and i will continue to monitor the situation closely and will adjust 1 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches my outlook as needed. post – covid - 19 economic outcomes we know that economic downturns are hardest for lower - income people, those with less education, and some minority groups. i believe that government responses to the pandemic — the lockdowns, school closures, and economic restrictions on businesses — significantly widened differences by income, education, race, and gender, and those disparities have persisted during the recovery. for example, we know that those with a high school education or less were among the hardest hit in the downturn last spring, and i am concerned about those individuals falling behind. in 2020, 20 percent of prime - age adults with less than a bachelor ’ s degree experienced a layoff, 8 percentage points higher than for those with at least a bachelor ’ s degree. 2 it seems that women, and especially minority women, have shouldered a larger share of adverse labor market impact because of limited child care options and the need to assist school - aged children with remote learning during the