Today at the Trans-Atlantic Agenda for Shared Prosperity conference held at the AFL-CIO, Janet Yellen, vice chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, talked about the reasons why the recent economic downturn has been painful particularly for America's workers and what the Federal Reserve's role is in reaching maximum employment.The problem with the economy is the lack of demand and current fiscal policy is not helping. Yellen said the Federal Reserve is committed to action that will create jobs and produce economic growth. 

Yellen said:

With so many people today unable to find work, it might seem odd to highlight such an ambitious and distant goal for employment. I do so because the gulf between maximum employment and the very difficult conditions workers face today helps explain the urgency behind the Federal Reserve's ongoing efforts to strengthen the recovery. My colleagues and I are acutely aware of how much workers have lost in the past five years. In response, we have taken, and are continuing to take, forceful action to increase the pace of economic growth and job creation.

Austerity measures, Yellen added, are hindering the ability for workers to put the economy back in motion:

....Discretionary fiscal policy hasn't been much of a tailwind during this recovery. In the year following the end of the recession, discretionary fiscal policy at the federal, state and local levels boosted growth at roughly the same pace as in past recoveries, as  exhibit 3  indicates. But instead of contributing to growth thereafter, discretionary fiscal policy this time has actually acted to restrain the recovery. State and local governments were cutting spending and, in some cases, raising taxes for much of this period to deal with revenue shortfalls. At the federal level, policymakers have reduced purchases of goods and services, allowed stimulus-related spending to decline, and have put in place further policy actions to reduce deficits. I was relieved that the Congress and the Administration were able to reach agreement on avoiding the full force of the "fiscal cliff" that was due to take effect on January 1. While a long-term plan is needed to reduce deficits and slow the growth of federal debt, the tax increases and spending cuts that would have occurred last month, absent action by the Congress and the president, likely would have been a headwind strong enough to blow the United States back into recession. Negotiations continue over the extent of spending cuts now due to take effect beginning in March, and I expect that discretionary fiscal policy will continue to be a headwind for the recovery for some time, instead of the tailwind it has been in the past.

Read Yellen's entire remarks here .