for release on delivery 10 : 00 a. m. edt ( 8 : 00 a. m. local time ) august 23, 2019 challenges for monetary policy remarks by jerome h. powell chair board of governors of the federal reserve system at “ challenges for monetary policy, ” a symposium sponsored by the federal reserve bank of kansas city jackson hole, wyoming august 23, 2019 this year ’ s symposium topic is “ challenges for monetary policy, ” and for the federal reserve those challenges flow from our mandate to foster maximum employment and price stability. from this perspective, our economy is now in a favorable place, and i will describe how we are working to sustain these conditions in the face of significant risks we have been monitoring. the current u. s. expansion has entered its 11th year and is now the longest on record. 1 the unemployment rate has fallen steadily throughout the expansion and has been near half - century lows since early 2018. but that rate alone does not fully capture the benefits of this historically strong job market. labor force participation by people in their prime working years has been rising. while unemployment for minorities generally remains higher than for the workforce as a whole, the rate for african americans, at 6 percent, is the lowest since the government began tracking it in 1972. for the past few years, wages have been increasing the most for people at the lower end of the wage scale. people who live and work in low - and middle - income communities tell us that this job market is the best anyone can recall. we increasingly hear reports that employers are training workers who lack required skills, adapting jobs to the needs of employees with family responsibilities, and offering second chances to people who need one. inflation has been surprisingly stable during the expansion : not falling much when the economy was weak and not rising much as the expansion gained strength. inflation ran close to our symmetric 2 percent objective for most of last year but has been running somewhat below 2 percent this year. the national bureau of economic research ( nber ) has classified business cycle turning points back to 1854 ( see https : / / www. nber. org / cycles. html ). - 2 thus, after a decade of progress toward maximum employment and price stability, the economy is close to both goals. our challenge now is to do what monetary policy can do to sustain the expansion so that the benefits of the strong jobs market extend to more of those still left behind, and so that inflation is centered firmly around 2 percent. today i will explore what

with others, the issue of telecommunications circuit diversity is very important. i encourage firms to take this issue seriously and to discuss it with individual telecommunications providers, industry groups, and appropriate government officials. conclusion in taking the next steps to strengthen the foundations of our critical financial markets, we need to constantly remember how dependent we are on one another. we will not accomplish our task if one or two organizations strengthen their resilience and others do not. instead, we need to work hard to adopt consistent strategies to meet regional risks that together address prevention, management, and testing. the importance of creating and maintaining a highly resilient financial services sector is self - evident. similarly, the challenges to achieving that goal are numerous, involving, as i indicated, people, business, and technology. given the importance and complexity of this topic, senior management will need to become fully engaged. at the international level, the openness of our financial systems means that the business - continuity practices in one country can affect critical markets in another. we will therefore need to share information and sound practices that will help us address regional risks in various countries. at this stage, this does not necessarily mean traditional regulatory coordination. rather, private firms and the financial authorities will need to work together within their various communities and with each other to make our key business - continuity practices more robust and more consistent. we also need to recognize that new business - continuity strategies need to be practical. we are looking forward to receiving the views of market participants and other knowledgeable experts to help ensure that the final white paper ultimately sets out sound practices that are well grounded and practical. as we work through these new challenges, however, we must keep in mind that to do nothing would leave serious risks unaddressed. i would like to close by noting the importance of our financial centers. these cities are a source of work, play, and inspiration for millions of people. these cities need to be vibrant and resilient, even as new challenges arise for security and stability. our financial policies to address new regional challenges should be designed to strengthen the resilience of these great centers and their people, not to abandon them. the regional diversification of back offices and operational sites is intended as a prudent strategy that will enable financial centers and their markets to continue to serve as robust sources of economic progress.