Economics
From Nurses to Chips and Containers, Fed Sees Shortages Abound
- Tech shortage plaguing auto industry hits central bank’s radar
- U.S. economy still beset worker shortages now needs nurses
This article is for subscribers only.
The Federal Reserve is seeing a lot more shortages across the U.S. economy, in ways that might be construed as early warning signs of inflation if they persist.
In the Fed’s Beige Book report released Wednesday, the central bank mentions the word “shortage” or “shortages” 31 times, the most going back at least a decade. That’s a jump from 19 in the January edition and more than triple the average number of citations in the eight reports issued since the survey’s first reference of the coronavirus in March 2020.