and international markets. other desirable features might enable data to flow seamlessly through the internal systems of the purchaser, the seller, and perhaps intermediaries - - all at a low cost, of course. because the products or services, scale, and complexity of business - to - business transactions vary widely, satisfying the needs of this diverse market may be more difficult than satisfying those of the other markets. i have heard reports, however, that many banks and other organizations are aggressively seeking ways to provide services for this market. the federal reserve in the payment system now, turning to the role of the federal reserve, recall that one reason that the congress established the federal reserve was to improve the nation's payment system ; the federal reserve act of 1913 provides the foundation for the federal reserve to establish a national check - clearing system. today, the reserve banks distribute cash, clear checks, and provide electronic payment services to banks. in addition, the federal reserve system has had a long - standing role in helping to formulate public policies that improve the overall efficiency of the nation's payment system and reduce risks. recently, evolving technology and growth in alternatives to cash and check payments have raised questions about the federal reserve's role in the payment system. in 1996 and 1997, a committee headed by alice rivlin, then the federal reserve vice chair, studied the federal reserve's operational role in the payment system. ultimately, the study concluded that the federal reserve should continue to provide all its existing payment services with the explicit goal of enhancing efficiency, effectiveness, and convenience, while ensuring access for all banks. the study also recommended that the federal reserve work actively, closely, and collaboratively with providers and users of the payment system, both to enhance the efficiency of check and ach services and to help develop strategies for moving to the next generation of payment instruments. to follow up on the recommendations of that study, the federal reserve created the payments system development committee, which i co - chair with cathy minehan, president of the federal reserve bank of boston. the payments system development committee has an explicit mission. in addition to identifying strategies for enhancing the long - term efficiency of the retail payment systems, it also identifies barriers to innovation and works to address those barriers where possible. the committee is active in monitoring developments in payment markets and has sponsored workshops and forums that encourage focused discussions with the private sector. our current activities include efforts to reduce legal and regulatory barriers to payment innovation, examine future clearing and settlement

, but when inflation expectations over the longer - term — the next 5 to 10 years — begin to rise, it may indicate that consumers and businesses have less confidence in the fed ’ s ability to address higher inflation and return it to the federal open market committee ’ s ( fomc ) goal of 2 percent. if expectations move significantly above our 2 percent goal, it would make it more difficult to change people ’ s perceptions about the duration of high inflation and potentially more difficult to get inflation under control. as we see surveys like the michigan survey report higher longer - term inflation expectations, we need to pay close attention and continue to use our tools to address inflation before these indicators rise further or expectations of higher inflation become entrenched. as i mentioned earlier, one force driving inflation is the extremely tight labor market. the benefits from a tight labor market are easy to see — the u. s. economy continued to add jobs at a pace of 400, 000 per month for the past three months, which is remarkable considering the low number of people looking for work. today, most people who want to work can find a job, and wages and salaries have risen faster than they have in decades. even with these gains, wages have not kept pace with inflation, which has - 3made it much more difficult for many workers to make ends meet in the face of soaring housing, energy, and food costs. job creation signals strong labor market demand, particularly in the current environment, with a large number of available jobs and fewer job seekers. in addition, the tightness of the labor market is exacerbated by a labor force participation rate that remains far below the pre - pandemic benchmark, representing millions of workers sitting on the sidelines. many of these are early retirees, some incentivized to retire during the pandemic, and those with family caregiving challenges including very high costs for childcare. while the strong job market has brought some of these workers back into the workforce, it seems that many are still waiting or may not return, meaning that labor shortages will likely persist in many sectors of the economy. i ’ ve laid out many of the challenges, so now let me talk about what the federal reserve is doing to get inflation under control. in the face of inflation that continues to be much too high and in light of the recent high readings, the fomc raised the federal funds rate by 75 basis points at our most recent meeting last week. that