A number of studies have suggested that the forward guidance and large-scale asset purchases conducted by the Federal Reserve boosted the levels of employment and inflation at a time when the level of short-term interest rates was constrained by the zero lower bound.
For example, Engen, Laubach, and Reifschneider estimate that the Federal Reserve’s forward guidance and asset purchase programs may have lowered the unemployment rate by as much as 1–1/4 percentage points and increased the level of inflation by 50 basis points.