*** Thank you, Dean Kadan, and thank you for the opportunity to speak today about the outlook for the U.S. economy and the implications for the Federal Reserve's ongoing fight to reduce inflation.
I will begin with some comments on the overall outlook for economic growth and then try to explain how tighter monetary policy this year is intended to dampen demand and put downward pressure on inflation. One way is by influencing the labor market, so next I will give an update about labor market conditions and how I expect them to evolve.