changes in the stance of monetary policy affect broader financial conditions, which in turn affect economic activity, employment and inflation. financial conditions have tightened significantly in recent months, and longer - term bond yields have been an important driving factor in this tightening. we remain attentive to these developments because persistent changes in financial conditions can have implications for the path of monetary policy. conclusion my colleagues and i remain resolute in our commitment to returning inflation to 2 percent over time. a range of uncertainties, both old and new, complicate our task of 2 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches balancing the risk of tightening monetary policy too much against the risk of tightening too little. doing too little could allow above - target inflation to become entrenched and ultimately require monetary policy to wring more persistent inflation from the economy at a high cost to employment. doing too much could also do unnecessary harm to the economy. given the uncertainties and risks, and how far we have come, the committee is proceeding carefully. we will make decisions about the extent of additional policy firming and how long policy will remain restrictive based on the totality of the incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks. thank you. i look forward to our conversation. 1 descriptions of pce inflation include board staff estimates of the september 2023 values based on available information, including the september 2023 consumer price index and producer price index data. the september 2023 pce inflation data will be published by the bureau of economic analysis on october 27, 2023. 2 the labor force participation rate has increased by about one - half percentage point since the end of last year. 3 for example, according to the atlanta fed's wage growth tracker, the median wage growth for job switchers is now only slightly higher than that of job stayers. the size of this gap is now similar to what was normal pre - pandemic after being elevated in recent years. 4 a measure of job availability drawn from conference board data - showing the difference between the share of consumers saying that jobs are plentiful and the share saying that jobs are hard to get - was elevated in 2021a€ “ 22 but is now below its 2019 average. in data from the national federation of independent businesses, the share of small business owners reporting difficulty filling job openings has likewise declined considerably in the last two years and is now only slightly above its 2019 average. 5 one recent indicator, average hourly earnings, grew 0. 2 percent

elizabeth a duke : prescriptions for housing recovery speech by ms elizabeth a duke, member of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, at the national association of realtors midyear legislative meetings and trade expo, washington dc, 15 may 2012. * * * good morning. the title of this session is “ prescriptions for housing recovery. ” i wish i had such a prescription. problems related to mortgage debt and mortgage underwriting played a central role in the recent financial crisis and resulted in a massive dislocation in the housing market. it is difficult to think of a single prescription that by itself will generate a sustainable recovery in housing. at the same time, i do see policies that i believe will help reduce the shadow inventory of houses in the foreclosure pipeline. i also see policy actions that could be taken to improve credit availability for potential homebuyers and, in turn, demand for houses. i have talked at length in previous speeches about actions that i believe would help alleviate the effects of excess foreclosure inventory on the housing market. 1 in my remarks today i will mention those possible actions only briefly and then focus primarily on policy issues that i expect will shape the availability of credit for home purchases in the future. before i begin my remarks, i want to emphasize that the views that i will present today are my own and not necessarily those of my colleagues on the federal open market committee ( fomc ) or the board of governors. state of housing markets let me start with a review of the fallout from the boom and subsequent bust in housing. it was only six years ago that the housing market was booming : the homeownership rate stood at 69 percent, and aggregate housing wealth reached nearly $ 23 trillion. since then, however, the housing market has struggled, to say the least : the homeownership rate has declined to 66 percent, and national house prices have fallen about one - third, while house prices in hard - hit areas, such as las vegas, have fallen almost twice that amount. as a result, nearly $ 7 trillion in housing wealth has been lost. housing supply house prices have been weighed down by the large proportion of distressed sales – that is, sales resulting from foreclosures or short sales – and the specter of the large shadow inventory currently in the foreclosure pipeline. high levels of unemployment, weak income growth, and negative equity have contributed to a staggering 2. 2 million loans in the fore