. decline in lfpr most notable at lower levels of education attainment male labor force participation by educational attainment, ages 25 to 54 percent female labor force participation by educational attainment, ages 25 to 54 percent bachelor ’ s degree some college high school degree bachelor ’ s degree some college high school degree source : bureau of labor statistics. less than high school degree less than high school degree figure 10. productivity growth has slowed business - sector productivity growth percent change 7. 0 6. 0 4 - quarter 5. 0 5 - yr average * 4. 0 3. 0 1961 - 2018 avg. 2. 0 2018 : q3 - 2. 0 - 3. 0 * centered 5 - year moving average through 2015, trailing average thereafter. source : bureau of labor statistics. - 1. 0 0. 0 1. 0

the decline of computers as a general purpose technology : why deep learning and the end of moore ’ s law are fragmenting computing, ” available at https : / / papers. ssrn. com / sol3 / papers. cfm? abstract _ id = 3287769. - 9we need policies that support innovation and create a favorable environment for investment in both the skills of workers and the tools they have. indeed, the recent tax reforms were designed in part to boost capital investment and thus productivity. once again, my goal tonight is to highlight the importance of growth - enhancing policies. because these policies are not the province of the fed, i will not advocate for particular approaches. instead, i will just observe that researchers and policy analysts have proposed many promising ideas that may be capable of attracting wide support. policies that succeed in enhancing productivity growth would greatly benefit future generations of americans. conclusion to conclude, the united states is currently in the midst of one of the longest economic expansions in our history. unemployment is low and inflation is close to our 2 percent objective. my colleagues and i on the fomc are focused on using our monetary policy tools to sustain those favorable conditions. tonight i have also highlighted some longer - term challenges we face, including low labor force participation by prime - age workers and low productivity growth. by promoting macroeconomic stability, the fed helps create a healthy environment for growth. but these longer - term issues require policies that are more in the province of elected representatives. the nation would benefit greatly from a search for policies with broad appeal that could promote labor force participation and higher productivity, with benefits shared broadly across the nation. recent economic developments and longer - term challenges jerome h. powell chair board of governors of the federal reserve system at the citizens budget commission 87th annual awards dinner new york, new york february 28, 2019 figure 1. unemployment is near historic lows percent unemployment rate jan. source : bureau of labor statistics. figure 2. improvement in unemployment is broadly shared unemployment by education, age 25 and over unemployment by race and ethnicity percent source : bureau of labor statistics. jan. jan. less than hs degree high school degree some college bachelor's degree white hispanic asian black percent figure 3. wage growth has picked up, but it is still moderate nominal compensation percent change from year earlier 6. 0 5. 0 avg. hourly earnings, prod. workers employment cost index ( eci ) avg. hourly earnings, all workers 3. 5