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Kashkari: Delta Variant Could Slow Labor Market Recovery

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The highly-contagious delta variant could complicate America's economic recovery.

Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said Sunday morning on CBS's "Face The Nation" that the spread could slow some of the labor market recovery. But he says people who are looking for jobs right now have a lot of leverage.

Neel Kashkari
Neel Kashkari (credit: CBS)

"We are seeing wages pick up, which is a good thing. They're picking up most quickly for the lowest-income workers, and in some of those service sectors, like the restaurant workers. And you know what, those folks are long overdue for a raise," Kashkari said. "So I think net-net that's positive. I think at the end of the day there's going to be more of a balance between business and between the labor sector once we bring these seven to nine million Americans back to work."

He also says inflation is "greater" than he originally thought, but noted he still thinks it's temporary.

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