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Contact: Daneil Mazone, Manager, Media Relations
Philadelphia — Patrick T. Harker, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, told a virtual audience at the Economic Club of New York that he expects the economy to continue to grow, despite labor shortages and supply chain problems. “Despite very robust jobs gains in October, the U.S. economy has still created many millions of jobs in recent months that haven’t been filled,” he said, citing childcare woes and COVID-19 fears as factors that keep people from returning to work.
Harker also noted that in many cases people do not live where jobs are available, citing high housing costs as a major hindrance to people accessing available jobs. He observed that changing zoning regulations to induce residential housing construction could help reduce costs in expensive metropolitan areas.