MONETARY POLICY REPORT: FEBRUARY 2019 7 the employment-to-population ratio for individuals 16 and over-the share of that segment of the population who are working- was 60.7 percent in January and has been gradually increasing since 2011 Other indicators are also consistent with a strong labor market. As reported in the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), the job openings rate has moved higher since the first half of 2018. and in December, it was at its highest level since the data began in 2000. The quits rate in the JOLTS is also near the top of its historical range, an indication that workers have become more confident that they can successfully switch jobs when they wish to. In addition, the JOLTS layoff rate has remained low, and the number of people filing initial claims fo unemployment insurance benefits has also remained low. Survey evidence indicates that households perceive jobs as plentiful and that businesses see vacancies as hard to fill and unemployment rates have fallen for all major demographic groups over the past several years The flattening in unemployment since mid 2018 has been evident across racial and ethnic groups(figure 4). Even so, over the past several years, the decline in the unemployment rates for blacks or African americans and for Hispanics has been particularly notable and the unemployment rates for these groups are near their lowest readings since these series began in the early 1970s. Differences in unemployment rates across ethnic and racial groups have narrowed in recent years, as they typically do during economic expansions, after having widened during the recession: on net unemployment rates for African Americans and Hispanics remain substantially above those for whites and Asians, with differentials generally a bit below pre-recession levels. The rise in LFPRs for prime-age individuals over the past few years has also been apparent in each of these racial and ethnic groups. Nonetheless. the lfpr for whites remainsMONETARy POLICy REPORT: FEBRUARy 2019 7 the employment-to-population ratio for individuals 16 and over—the share of that segment of the population who are working— was 60.7 percent in January and has been gradually increasing since 2011. Other indicators are also consistent with a strong labor market. As reported in the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), the job openings rate has moved higher since the first half of 2018, and in December, it was at its highest level since the data began in 2000. The quits rate in the JOLTS is also near the top of its historical range, an indication that workers have become more confident that they can successfully switch jobs when they wish to. In addition, the JOLTS layoff rate has remained low, and the number of people filing initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits has also remained low. Survey evidence indicates that households perceive jobs as plentiful and that businesses see vacancies as hard to fill. . . . and unemployment rates have fallen for all major demographic groups over the past several years The flattening in unemployment since mid- 2018 has been evident across racial and ethnic groups (figure 4). Even so, over the past several years, the decline in the unemployment rates for blacks or African Americans and for Hispanics has been particularly notable, and the unemployment rates for these groups are near their lowest readings since these series began in the early 1970s. Differences in unemployment rates across ethnic and racial groups have narrowed in recent years, as they typically do during economic expansions, after having widened during the recession; on net, unemployment rates for African Americans and Hispanics remain substantially above those for whites and Asians, with differentials generally a bit below pre-recession levels. The rise in LFPRs for prime-age individuals over the past few years has also been apparent in each of these racial and ethnic groups. Nonetheless, the LFPR for whites remains