Growth in employment has been uneven, but job gains have averaged 160,000 per month over the past six months, and the unemployment rate is at its lowest level of the current expansion, down 1/2 a percentage point from a year ago. Slack in  1  I thank Wendy Dunn and Lawrence Slifman, of the Board's staff, for their help in preparing these remarks.
BIS Review 25/2005  1  the use of capital also has diminished. In manufacturing, capacity utilization has risen 2-1/2 percentage points over the past year and is now only modestly below its long-term average. Growing confidence and accommodative monetary policy seem to have been important influences behind the recent strength in the economy.