Fed Up Campaign Blasts Federal Reserve for Ignoring Voices of Workers After Rate Hike
Fed Up issues statement from coalition co-director Shawn Sebastian
Shawn Sebastian, Fed Up coalition co-director, released the following statement in response to the FOMC’s decision to raise interest rates:
"Today, the Federal Reserve ignored the voices of the workers who have repeatedly met with them in Jackson Hole and throughout the past three years. Our coalition has urged Chair Yellen and the Fed to hold off on rate hikes until our economy truly reaches full employment. The data simply does not support a rate hike right now. Wage growth is still too slow, and millions of people who want to work full-time cannot. The positive economic indicators that the Fed has pointed to are largely based on consumer confidence, rather than actual evidence of higher earnings and better livelihoods for the average worker.
“We have asked the Fed to clarify whether its 2 percent inflation target is an average or a ceiling, and urged them to consider the opinion of many economists that the target is too low. In response, Fed policymakers have repeatedly stressed that their 2 percent inflation target is an average, not a ceiling. Today’s decision really calls into question whether that is true. Inflation projections have ticked up slightly, but significant inflation is still nowhere to be seen.
“Increasing interest rates at this moment relies on a dubious assumption that an erratic president will successfully push through his very inequitable promised stimulus. Meanwhile, workers in communities that still haven’t sufficiently felt the effects of the recovery will suffer.”
###
Fed Up is a coalition of community organizations and labor unions across the country calling on the Federal Reserve to reform its governance and adopt policies that build a strong economy for the American public. The Fed can keep interest rates low, give the economy a fair chance to recover, and prioritize genuine full employment and rising wages for all communities
The Center for Popular Democracy promotes equity, opportunity, and a dynamic democracy in partnership with innovative base-building organizations, organizing networks and alliances, and progressive unions across the country. CPD builds the strength and capacity of democratic organizations to envision and advance a pro-worker, pro-immigrant, racial justice agenda
Contact:
Anita Jain, 347-636-9761, ajain@populardemocracy.org
