Employment and Income Situation Let me now talk about the employment and income situation as one of the factors to consider in assessing the outlook for economic activity and prices. Supply-demand conditions in the labor market have continued to tighten steadily.
The active job openings-to-applicants ratio -- which has followed a steady uptrend -- has been at a high level last seen in the first half of the 1970s, as the rate of increase in the number of employees has continued to show growth of around 1.5 percent.