Jerome H Powell: Welcoming remarks - Housing Assistance Council's 2018 Rural Housing Conference

Welcoming remarks by Mr Jerome H Powell, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, at the Housing Assistance Council's 2018 Rural Housing Conference, Washington DC, 6 December 2018.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Thank you for the kind introduction, and thank you to the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) for inviting me to be part of this discussion of rural housing. I understand that you will shortly be presenting awards to people who are working at the local and national levels and in both the public and private sectors and whose efforts have improved housing conditions for the rural poor. All of you who work in these roles are doing your country a great service by helping to advance economic opportunity in our communities. I want to thank the award recipients for the difference you make in the lives of people in rural communities.

I am happy to report that our economy is currently performing very well overall, with strong job creation and gradually rising wages. The unemployment rate is 3.7 percent, the lowest since 1969. A strong job market has encouraged more people to participate in the labor market, another positive development. In fact, by many national-level measures, our labor market is very strong.