(Reuters) – Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester on Tuesday said she believes lack of access to childcare, school closures, and concerns about health risks are crimping labor supply and are the main causes of slower job gains last month.
“It is true that with the extension of the unemployment benefits people are in a financial position so that they can make those hard choices, about whether they feel comfortable reentering or not,” Mester told Yahoo Finance, but the benefits are themselves are not causing the problem. Still, she said, “we are still adding jobs, and I think the outlook is bright.”
(Reporting by Ann Saphir)
