Does this mean that they understand monetary policy? The answer is not entirely clear. Households may simply base their expectations on patterns from their own experiences, rather than attempting to predict future policy decisions. In that case they might respond as if they understand monetary policy. Alternatively, while some groups of households understand monetary policy, they may find forecasting time-consuming and costly; thus, they only think about economic policy when doing so is particularly important, such as at times when the labor market is weak and unemployment makes headlines.