areas across the country that had recently experienced a bank branch closure. we found that small businesses, older people, and people with limited access to transportation are most https : / / www. stlouisfed. org / publications / bridges / fall - 2018 / parents - wealth - helps - explain - racial - disparitiesin - student - loan - debt. see federal reserve bank of richmond and federal reserve bank of atlanta ( 2017 ), small business credit survey : report on rural employer firms ( richmond, va. : frb richmond ), https : / / www. richmondfed. org / / media / richmondfedorg / community _ development / resource _ centers / small _ business / pdf / credit _ survey / sbcs _ report _ rural _ employer _ firms _ 2016. pdf. see randal k. quarles ( 2018 ), “ trends in urban and rural community banks, ” speech delivered at “ community banking in the 21st century, ” sixth annual community banking research and policy conference, st. louis, mo., october 4, https : / / www. federalreserve. gov / newsevents / speech / quarles20181004a. htm. according to 2017 federal deposit insurance corporation summary of deposits data ( available at https : / / www5. fdic. gov / sod ), nonmetro persistent poverty counties had, on average, 0. 36 bank branches per 1, 000 people, compared with 0. 53 for other nonmetro counties. - 9affected. 18 we also learned that the loss of the branch often meant more than the loss of access to financial services ; it also meant the loss of financial advice, local civic leadership, and an institution that brought needed customers to nearby businesses. regulation and supervision need to be carefully tailored to suit the size and business model of different types of institutions. at the fed, we have renewed our efforts to avoid unnecessary regulatory burden on community banks, which provide essential credit in their local communities. another means to address the issue of branch closures is the community reinvestment act, or cra, which encourages banks to help meet the credit needs of the communities they are chartered to serve. the cra has been an important tool for strengthening local communities. the trend toward fewer branches and increased use of technology to deliver financial services presents a particular challenge to our current approach to cra evaluations. specifically, the current regulations use a bank ’ s

, local government, and community organizations offered their perspectives on the relative importance of the fed ’ s dual mandate goals. as i and my fed colleagues who have participated in these events will attest, they have provided us with valuable perspectives on the economy that we would not otherwise be able to glean from aggregate economic statistics. in coming regularly scheduled meetings, the fomc will undertake its assessment of our monetary policy strategy, tools, and communication practices. this assessment will be informed by what we ’ ve heard at this conference, by our listening sessions in the federal reserve districts, and by the work of system staff. when the committee tackles important issues, we take the time for wide - ranging and candid discussions, and so i expect our deliberations will continue over several meetings for the remainder of this year. we will share our findings with the public when we have completed our review, likely during the first half of next year. thank you and let ’ s move directly to our first session. 1 the views expressed are my own and not necessarily those of other federal reserve board members or federal open market committee participants. i would like to thank ellen meade for assistance in preparing these remarks. return to text 2 in january 2009, when longer - run projections were added to the summary of economic projections, the midpoint of the central tendency for the longer - run normal unemployment rate was 4. 9 percent. in march 2019, the median of the longer - run normal unemployment rate was 4. 3 percent. return to text 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches