is consistent with a fundamental implication of the modern science of monetary policy - - namely, that the wellbeing of the economy is maximized by maintaining a low and stable inflation rate over time. 4 low inflation promotes social welfare by simplifying the savings and retirement planning of individual households and by facilitating firms'production and investment decisions, all of which helps promote higher productivity growth. furthermore, an environment of overall price stability contributes to economic efficiency by reducing the variability of relative prices and by minimizing the distortions that arise because the tax system is not completely indexed to inflation. finally, and importantly, low and stable inflation promotes equity and reduces poverty, as the poorest members of society typically do not have access to the sorts of financial instruments that would help protect them against inflation. at the same time, recent research on the science of monetary policy ( as well as the analysis of several historical episodes ) has underscored the pitfalls that can result from maintaining a zero or negative inflation rate over time. first, such a strategy tends to raise the likelihood of episodes in which short - term nominal interest rates reach the zero lower bound and thereby hinder the conduct of monetary policy. second, an economy with a zero average inflation rate will almost inevitably experience some episodes of deflation, which may adversely affect financial markets and thereby hamper the performance of the macroeconomy. third, if inflation is at or below zero, downward rigidities in nominal wage adjustment might induce some distortions in labor market efficiency, with unfavorable consequences for the level of employment. in light of these considerations, as chairman bernanke ( 2007 ) recently noted, there is no perfect indicator of the “ true ” inflation rate ; for example, the pce price deflator exhibits some upward bias that corresponds to unmeasured improvements in the quality of goods and services that consumers purchase. thus, given pce inflation of about 1 - 1 / 2 percent to 2 percent, the “ true ” inflation rate faced by consumers might well be less than 1 percent. " the ( properly measured ) long - run inflation rate that best promotes the dual mandate is likely to be low but not zero. " the science of monetary policy has also emphasized the importance of establishing the central bank's strong and credible commitment to keeping inflation low and stable over the long run because that commitment helps to stabilize inflation expectations ; in turn, stable expectations aid the functioning of the economy and the efficacy of policy. the increased

change from previous recessions, when men typically suffered greater job losses than women. in february 2020, the unemployment rate for women was slightly lower than for men, but by april it had risen to 16. 1 percent, compared to 13. 6 percent for men. that difference continued only until september, but this statistic does not reveal the fact that many women were leaving the workforce, and therefore not counted in unemployment. their labor force participation fell more than the participation rate for men and at last count, there were two million fewer women in the labor force than before the pandemic. 1 the difference in employment for men and women held true across some minority groups. 2 reasons why the pandemic affected women differently so, what led to this decline in women ’ s employment and what specific factors contributed to women ’ s employment and their choice to leave the labor force? and why has this time been different than other points in our history, resulting in larger declines for women relative to men? in contrast to previous crises, covid - 19 had a larger impact on occupations with higher numbers of female workers. women are disproportionately represented in high - contact jobs with less flexible work conditions, including lodging, food service, eldercare, and childcare, which were among the sectors most affected by the crisis. most of these jobs cannot be performed from home or have less flexibility in the timing of when they can be performed. roughly a quarter of women worked in these jobs, compared with around 10 percent of men. 3 the statistics cover adults 20 years and older, with seasonal adjustments, and come from the current and historical tables a - 1, a - 2, and a - 3 of the bls employment situation report. see u. s. bureau of labor statistics, “ the employment situation — september 2021, ” news release, october 8, 2021, https : / / www. bls. gov / news. release / empsit. nr0. htm. labor force participation rates declined by 6. 8 percent for hispanic women and 4. 2 percent for black women between february 2020 and september 2021. statistics come from current and historical tables a - 1, a - 2, and a - 3 of the bls employment situation report. see u. s. bureau of labor statistics, “ the employment situation — september 2021. ” stefania albanesi and jiyeon kim, “ effects of the covid - 19 recession on the us labor market