In the US and UK, the recent labor market puzzle can be partly explained by mismatch, the pandemic’s effect on women (in the US) and older workers leaving the work force. Almost two years after the pandemic upended labor markets, job openings are plentiful in many advanced economies, yet workers have not fully returned. 'The broader trend of plentiful jobs and not enough workers can have major implications for growth, inequality, and inflation.' This gap, in which the employment rate is below...

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From COVID-19 to climate change, economies are facing new challenges. The world is changing. From COVID-19 and climate change to digitalization and diverging demographics, the IMF’s member countries are confronting new challenges. The impacts of these challenges are being felt unevenly across countries and will inevitably play out in their balance of payments, potentially undermining global economic stability. 'The challenges facing IMF member countries are constantly evolving.' It is therefore important that the Fund also revisit its policy advice, lending activities...

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Interview with Süddeutsche Zeitung | Interview with Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, conducted by Markus Zydra, Bastian Brinkmann and Meike Schreiber on 10 January 2022 | Ms Schnabel, inflation in the euro area now stands at 5% – a record high. When are you finally going to intervene? We view these figures with some concern, as they are higher than we initially expected. And we fully understand many people’s worries about the drop in real wages...

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Introductory statement by Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, at the meeting of the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of the Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC) | Paris, 14 January 2022 | Before I begin my remarks, I would like to take a moment to honour the memory of President David Sassoli. Like all who knew him, I was deeply saddened by his loss, and I would like to remember him with the words he said in...

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There’s a growing interconnectedness between virtual assets and financial markets. Crypto assets such as Bitcoin have matured from an obscure asset class with few users to an integral part of the digital asset revolution, raising financial stability concerns. 'Crypto assets are no longer on the fringe of the financial system.' The market value of these novel assets rose to nearly $3 trillion in November from $620 billion in 2017, on soaring popularity among retail and institutional investors alike, despite high volatility. This...

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