Uncertainty rose, growth in other advanced economies slowed, financial conditions tightened, and both the public and 9  These annual stocktakes serve two purposes. First, they provide the MPC with a regular opportunity to step back from the month-tomonth flow of economic data and consider supply-side developments as a whole and over an appropriately lengthy time period. Second, by undertaking routine systematic annual assessments of the supply-side, rather than addressing the issues ad hoc from quarter to quarter, we hoped to provide clarity on our analytical processes to observers outside the Bank. 10 See the August 2014 Inflation Report. The equilibrium unemployment rate depends on the horizon being considered, as wage pressures can arise for many reasons and some factors will be more persistent than others. These figures are the MPC’s estimates of the medium-term equilibrium unemployment rate, the measure most relevant for gauging wage pressures over the MPC’s three-year forecast period. This is distinct from the MPC’s estimate of the long-term equilibrium unemployment rate – which depends on structural factors such as the extent to which potential employees are aligned with vacancies in terms of skills, location and occupation; the benefits regime; and the influence of trade unions on wage bargaining – and which remained at 5% during this period. 11 See ‘The spirit of the season’, speech by Mark Carney at the Economic Club of New York, 9 December 2013 and the box on page 40 of the February 2014 Inflation Report.
23.07.2020  Challenges for the Spanish economy in the face of the impact of the pandemic Webinar Economy, work and society in Spain. The impact of COVID-19. Spanish Economic and Social Council (CES) Pablo Hernández de Cos Governor  Honourable Minister for Labour and Social Economy, Chair of the Spanish Economic and Social Council, ladies and gentlemen, Good morning. It is a pleasure to be able to participate today in this presentation of the Annual Report of the Economic and Social Council (CES). As earlier highlighted, its content goes beyond the 2019 timeframe of events and delves into the challenges that the COVID19 pandemic entails for the economy, for social cohesion and for the labour market in Spain. In this respect, the CES and the Banco de España have concurred in recent weeks that our respective studies and annual reports should strive to be useful instruments that help society face these challenging times. An incipient, incomplete, uncertain and uneven recovery The COVID-19 pandemic has exacted a very high price in terms of human lives as well as deep-seated disruption to society and the economy. As a result, the dynamics marking the global and Spanish economic environment in late 2019 and early 2020 have been abruptly altered. Specifically, the pandemic and the lockdown measures to combat it have affected all economies most adversely.