The new, singular focus in Washington: restoring the pre-pandemic job market.

The new, singular focus in Washington: restoring the pre-pandemic job market.

The new, singular focus in Washington: restoring the pre-pandemic job market.Many politicians have become less worried about government borrowing thanks to historically low interest rates.Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York TimesJan. 19, 2021, 5:45 a.m. ETIn the past, lawmakers tended to preach allegiance to full employment — the lowest jobless rate an economy can sustain without stoking high inflation or other instabilities — while pulling back fiscal and monetary support before hitting that target as they worried that a more patient approach would cause price spikes and other problems.That timidity appears less likely to rear its head this time around, reports The New York Times's Jeanna Smialek.President-elect Joseph R. Biden is set to take office as Democrats control the House and Senate and at a time when many politicians have become less worried about the government taking on debt thanks to historically low borrowing costs.And the Federal Reserve, which has a track record of lifting interest rates as unemployment falls and as Congress spends more than it collects in taxes, has committed to greater patience this time around.In the mid-to-late 1960s, Fed officials were tightly focused on chasing full employment. As they tested how far they could push the job market, they