Unemployment
Banque de France plans to reduce regional presence
French central bank outlines development goals for 2020; set to decrease the number of regional sites, will lose up to 2,000 staff
Fed’s Bernanke looks beyond broad market indicators
Fed chairman warns key aggregate metrics can miss economic pain felt by individuals and households; encourages development of economic measures to better assist with policy decisions
IMF calls for further action to repair Spanish economy
Article IV report praises ‘major policy actions’ by Spanish government, but says further efforts must be made; Fund also encourages progression of European measures
Regional Fed presidents express fears over economic recovery
Charles Evans and Eric Rosengren warn about struggling economic recovery; focus on employment figures as key indicator of persistent problems in the US
Zambian governor calls for action on SME finance
Bank of Zambia governor says policy-makers should do more to encourage financial flows to small and medium scale enterprises; examines benefits and risks of extending funding to these firms
Bundesbank raises 2012 growth prediction
German central bank records marginally more positive growth expectation for the economy this year; still harbours significant concerns on key issues such as unemployment
Finland’s Liikanen discusses causes of youth unemployment
Bank of Finland governor examines causes of youth unemployment in Europe; says labour market functioning will be important determinant of recovery speed
Philadelphia Fed reports slowing manufacturing growth
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia releases May 2012 Business Outlook Survey; finds slower manufacturing growth
Central Bank of Cyprus governor warns austerity is not enough
Panicos Demetriades calls on government to work alongside the central bank in getting the economy back on track; acknowledges impact the crisis in Greece is having on Cyprus
Draghi calls for growth to top the agenda for eurozone
ECB president Mario Draghi calls for 'growth compact' to complement fiscal compact in eurozone; says individual countries need to meet responsibilities on fiscal consolidation
IMF research links wage growth and unemployment in South Africa
Fund working paper asserts link between wage rate growth exceeding productivity growth and rising unemployment in South Africa
Governor of Bangladesh Bank discusses working population ratio
Atiur Rahman says Bangladesh must prepare for when the large working population becomes elderly
NY Fed paper examines workforce skill across US
Staff paper finds different skill sets in different regions of the country; urban areas have more workers with ability to generate ideas and solve complex problems
BIS working paper studies inflation dynamics
Bank for International Settlements researchers investigate inflation dynamics in the presence of informal labour markets
Israel releases latest economic update
Inflation over whole of 2011 was 2.2%; country reached vicinity of full employment in the first half of last year
Wickman-Parak on limitations of unemployment gap in setting policy
Riksbank deputy governor Barbro Wickman-Parak says role of resource utilisation and unemployment gap in monetary policy decision-making should not be overstated
Output volatility rises with firing costs, says Central Bank of Peru paper
Central Bank of Peru study shows reducing firing costs in emerging markets to level consistent with developed nations can lower output volatility by 15%
Bank of Canada survey forecasts weaker sales growth this year
Bank of Canada Business Outlook Winter Survey shows outlook for sales growth in 2012 turns negative as demand continues to weigh on firms’ expectations
Self-employment fuelled labour recovery, says Central Bank of Chile paper
Central Bank of Chile study shows the recovery in Chile’s labour market was driven by self-employment rather than job creation in the formal sector
Employment protection can amplify business cycles: IMF paper
Fund study shows lower firing costs can reduce output volatility in emerging markets during recessions
Chinese labour costs contributed to US job losses: Fed paper
Federal Reserve study says decline in US manufacturing employment was largely attributable to relatively low investment and slow growth in the US, rather than China's competitive labour market
FOMC disagrees over monetary policy strategy
Federal Open Market Committee discusses alternative monetary policy strategies; committee disagrees over setting a “longer-run inflation goal”
High unemployment not structural: Boston Fed’s Rosengren
Boston Federal Reserve president Eric Rosengren says high levels of unemployment in US unlikely to be structural
IMF paper explores unemployment drivers in Latin America
Fund study links high and persistent levels of unemployment in Latin American countries to disinflationary monetary policy regimes