For the largest industrialised countries such as the US, UK and Japan, according to the IMF the debt-to-GDP ratio in 2011 ranges from 83 percent in the UK, to 100 percent in the US and 229 percent in Japan. The state of public finances clearly matters for central banks.
Signs of elevated labor market tightness emerged suddenly in mid-2021. The unemployment rate at the time was much higher than the 3.5 percent that had prevailed without major signs of tightness before the pandemic. Employment was still millions below its level on the eve of the pandemic.