However, for now, the increase in wages has been broadly consistent with the pickup in productivity growth that I have just discussed, and a rise in the stilllow rate of labor force participation among the prime-age population provides scope for the job market to strengthen further without generating inflationary pressures.
This outlook for the labor market also reflects my view that the structural, or longer-run, rate of unemployment that is, the unemployment rate consistent with stable inflation over the longer run--may be somewhat lower than I would have thought several years ago.