Where are the workers’ raises, Jerry?

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell found himself in the hot seat Tuesday as senators from both sides of the aisle grilled him over lackluster wage growth.

“When will the benefits of the, quote, booming economy reach working families?” Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) pressed Powell during his nearly two hours of testimony before the Senate Banking Committee.

Although the unemployment level — now at 4 percent — is near historic lows and nominal wages have increased, lawmakers pointed out that those gains have not been felt by all workers, especially as inflation has also started to ratchet upward and trade war worries loom.

“For the last 30 years, Americans really haven’t seen the wage gains that they would like to see,” Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) noted, asking Powell how that could be.

“The causes of these things are really deep. It is not something we can address really successfully with monetary policy,” Powell said, adding that the flattening out of US educational achievement since the 1970s was partly responsible.

But even as Powell appeared sympathetic to the plight of workers, he frequently pointed out that the Fed is limited in what it can do to stimulate wage growth.

“Congress has the tools to assure stronger wage growth over time. We really don’t have that,” Powell said, in response to questioning from Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.).

“We can move interest rates around to support activity, support hiring,” Powell said. “We don’t have the tools to support higher productivity, for example, which tends to lead to higher wages.”

Powell’s statement was reminiscent of former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke, who frequently said monetary policy is not a “panacea.”

Tuesday’s hearing was Powell’s second appearance before the Senate committee since assuming the role of Fed chair in February. He will testify before the House Financial Services Committee Wednesday.