Week ahead: Fed chief discusses jobs market, credit union agency head outlines priorities

The state of the U.S. labor market will be the focus of remarks next week by the chair of the nation’s central bank to a New York group, and priorities for the new chairman of the federal credit union regulator’s board will be among the topics of a webinar he hosts in the week ahead.

The federal insurer of bank deposits, in the meantime, will host a series of regional meetings focusing on local financial and economic issues.

Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome H. (“Jay”) Powell will address the state of the U.S. labor market in remarks Wednesday (Feb. 10, starting at 2 p.m. ET) in a webinar to the Economic Club of New York. Powell’s remarks come in the wake of a jobs report Friday that showed just 49,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy in January. The anemic job growth – called not unexpected by some – was called a “labor market stall” by White House Council of Economic Advisers Member Jared Bernstein, who also said the jobs report underscores the “urgent need for the president’s rescue plan.”

Also next week (on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2 p.m. ET), National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board Chairman Todd Harper – named to the role on Jan. 25 – hosts a 90-minute webinar outlining his priorities as the new chairman, the agency’s recent supervisory activities and recently issued guidance and regulations.

Likely not coincidentally, Harper’s webinar comes one week before he chairs his first meeting of the agency board. Designated chairman by President Joe Biden, Harper is the only Democrat on the three-member board (with Republicans Vice Chairman Kyle Hauptman and Member [and immediate past chairman] Rodney Hood).

The NCUA webinar is open to the public, but advance registration is required.

Rounding out the week are regional meetings hosted by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) on a variety of topics. On Wednesday (Feb. 10, 1-2:45 p.m. PT), the agency hosts the Tri-Annual Alliance for Economic Inclusion Forum I in Los Angeles.

On Thursday (Feb. 11) two FDIC-sponsored events are on tap: A webinar on the development of a statewide homeownership network and loan funds for bankers in northwestern Wisconsin runs from 10:30-noon CT; an FDIC-hosted forum for discussion of small business capital needs (from 11 a.m.-noon MT) in Billings, Mont.

Watch Live: Fed Board Chair Jerome H. Powell, State of the U.S. Labor Market

Register for Feb. 11 NCUA Chairman Todd Harper webinar

FDIC Hosts Tri-Annual Alliance for Economic Inclusion Forum I – Los Angeles, Calif.

FDIC Hosts Forum to Discuss Small Business Capital Needs in Billings, Mont.

FDIC Hosts Banker Roundtable in Northwestern Wisconsin on the Development of a Statewide Homeownership Network and Loan Fund