christina romer, and janet yellen. that support and recognition should be a focus for everyone in the profession, not just economists from underrepresented backgrounds. when i was told to change my research subject because no one would read it ; when my ( male ) grad school peers assumed i could not do the math ; even when i was tempted to pursue a philosophy phd, i had mentors who were very much in the majority that believed in my work and ideas. like my dissertation advisor barry eichengreen ; noble laureates paul romer, george akerlof, ken arrow, and milton friedman ; and an english economist who convinced me on the side of a mountain to pursue economics. they believed i would make a good economist, and they were some of my most enthusiastic supporters. we can work to create and support networks, as other professions have done, to help expand their talent pools - something the sadie collective is already doing with deep commitment and impact. those of us in the profession should make a concerted effort to mentor young and aspiring economists from all backgrounds and to recognize when we serve as examples to those who do not feel represented or seen. we can also do more to keep students on the academic path and young professionals in the field - two of the stress points in the " pipeline problem. " the sadie collective highlights important research and the young minds helping to shape the next wave of economists. i am not one to play favorites, and all of the research projects covered great topics. but fully half investigate innovation and dynamism, an area of my own research. 2 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches the last time i ran into dr. alexander - again, metaphorically speaking, of course - was my first day on the job at the federal reserve as a governor. i made my way to the first floor of the martin building, to see her portrait, which hangs in the building where i was able to mark my own " first " - one that would not have been possible without sadie t. m. alexander. as policymakers, my colleagues and i make decisions that impact the entire country. we are driven by data, which we collect in abundance. but our own experiencesincluding our education, professional and lived experience, and personal understandinginform how we seek out and examine those data and discern what they mean for the future. it is wonderful to join the sadie collective today as we celebrate these women and their research, and the

expected in the second half of 2023 is finally showing the effects of higher interest rates and a depletion of excess savings. i will be watching to see whether spending stays robust. a positive sign is that consumer confidence has continued to rise. one reason for that might be the labor market, whose surprising strength continued in january. as i mentioned, the u. s. economy created 353, 000 jobs in january, and 333, 000 in december, well above the 255, 000 a month average in 2023 and also well above what most estimate to be consistent with population growth. job growth in january was widespread across different sectors of the economy. there were job increases in three large sectors that have faced sharp labor shortages : health care and social assistance, leisure and hospitality, and state and local government. but there were also significant job increases in parts of the economy that tend to rise and fall with changes in the pace of economic activity - manufacturing, construction, retail trade and professional business services. the gains in manufacturing and professional services were at or near the highest posted in the previous 12 months. unemployment was steady at 3. 7 percent, nearly as low as it has been in 50 years. and while there were signs of slackening demand for labor over the course of 2023, those signs haven't been so clear recently. the 12 - month growth rate in average hourly earnings fell from 4. 7 percent in july to 4. 3 percent in december and then rose to 4. 5 percent in january. i have been focused on the number of job openings for the past two years as an indicator of labor demand. job openings fell from 12 million in april 2022 to 9 million in december 2023. we won't get data on job openings in january for a couple of weeks, but openings unexpectedly ticked up in december, and the rate of people quitting their jobs held steady, both indications that moderation in the labor market may have stalled. one data point does not make a trend, and these strong job reports come 2 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches after a year of more or less steady loosening in the labor market, with supply increasing relative to demand. but it does tend to support the idea of continued moderate growth in economic activity. i will be looking for signs of continued loosening in the labor market, which by most measures is still considerably tighter than it was before the pandemic. everything about the outlook that i have mentioned so far is important