Why Fed worries about the strongest US job market in decades

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chair Jerome Powell isn’t as pleased with the robust U.S. job market as you might think he’d be, and he and the Federal Reserve plan to do something about it: Take it down a notch. Powell described the job market this week as “extremely, historically” tight and “unsustainably hot.” Available jobs are near record highs. Wages are rising at their fastest pace in decades. The unemployment rate is flirting with a half-century low, and layoffs are sparse. Yet Powell doesn’t see all of this as purely a cause for celebration. With the highest inflation in four decades hurting households and businesses, the Fed chair regards the job market’s strength as a key driver of spiking prices.