Opioid Epidemic Impacting Labor Force, Federal Reserve Chairman Says

The nation’s opioid epidemic is impacting the nation’s labor force, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told a Senate committee this week.

“From an economic standpoint, some high percentage of prime-age people who are not in the labor force, particularly prime-age males who are not in the labor force, are taking painkillers of some kind,” he said.

He said a recent study found 44 percent of men reported they had taken some form of pain medication the previous day, according to CNBC. “It’s a big number,” Powell said. “It’s having a terrible human toll on our communities and also it matters a lot for the labor force participation rate and economic activity in our country.”