Assuming no change in the labor force, that would mean around 1.2 million more people will be unemployed. "And it's really, at this point, like telling the tide not to come in -- to expect the labor market to soften." As the unemployment rate rises, workers lose bargaining power for higher wages and households pull back on spending. Powell has said that prolonged and entrenched high inflation would be even worse than moderate increases in the unemployment rate. "If we want to set ourselves up, light the way to another period of a very strong labor market, we have got to get inflation behind us.

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