Fed's Brainard: Fed Wants to Recruit Women, Minority Officials

--Does Not Comment on Economy, Monetary Policy

By Jean Yung

     WASHINGTON (MNI) - Federal Reserve Gov. Lael Brainard on Friday said

recruiting women and minority officials is a top priority at the central bank as

its ranks of economists still lacks diversity from the top down, signaling

agreement with a criticism often leveled at the Fed. 

     "The Federal Reserve under Chair Janet Yellen and with the strong support

of the Governors and Reserve Bank Presidents is committed to increasing

diversity among the top-ranking staff at the Board and among leaders of the

Reserve Banks," Brainard said in remarks prepared for college students in

Michigan. 

     The Board of Governors has over the past decade elevated the importance of

increasing diversity at the central bank and is "making considerable effort to

recruit and retain economists who are women and minorities," she said. 

     Raphael Bostic, the newly installed black president of the Atlanta Fed

Bank, is a step in that direction, Brainard said. 

     Diversity benefits the profession and society as a whole. For students

willing to study economics, "there are a ton of interesting questions out there

for you to solve" as well as a "considerable premium in earnings over other

academic fields," Brainard said. 

     She urged students to consider applying for research assistant jobs at the

Fed Board and the regional Fed banks. 

     Currently four of the 15 Fed governors and presidents are women and two of

the 15 are people of color. 

--MNI Washington Bureau; +1 202-371-2121; email: jean.yung@marketnews.com

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