00:00The Federal Reserve card interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday
00:05and indicated it will steadily lower borrowing costs for the rest of this year
00:09as policymakers responded to concerns about weaknesses in the job market
00:13in a move that won support from most of President Donald Trump's central bank appointees.
00:18The rate cut along with projections showing that two more quarter percentage point reductions
00:23are anticipated at the remaining two policy meetings this year
00:27indicates Fed officials have begun to downplay the risk
00:30that the administration's valuable trade policies will stop persistent inflation
00:34and are now more concerned about weakening growth and the likelihood of rising unemployment.
00:41The cut, the first move by the policy starting Federal Open Market Committee since December,
00:46lowered the policy rate to the 4.00 to 4.25% range.
00:52Inflation has eased significantly from its highs in mid-2022,
00:56but remains somewhat elevated relative to our 2% longer-run goal.
01:02Estimates based on the Consumer Price Index and other data indicate
01:06that total PCE prices rose 2.7% over the 12 months ending in August
01:11and that, excluding the volatile food and energy categories,
01:16core PCE prices rose 2.9%.
01:18These readings are higher than earlier in the year
01:22as inflation for goods has picked up.
01:25In contrast, disinflation appears to be continuing for services.
01:31Near-term measures of inflation expectations have moved up on balance
01:34over the course of this year on news about tariffs,
01:37as reflected in both market- and survey-based measures.
01:42Beyond the next year or so, however,
01:44most measures of longer-term expectations remain consistent
01:48with our 2% inflation goal.
01:50Changes to government policies continue to evolve
01:53and their effects on the economy remain uncertain.
01:57Higher tariffs have begun to push up prices in some categories of goods,
02:01but their overall effects on economic activity and inflation
02:04remain to be seen.
02:05A reasonable base case is that the effects on inflation
02:09will be relatively short-lived.
02:11New economic projections showed policymakers at the median
02:14still see inflation ending this year at 3%,
02:17well above the central bank's 2% target,
02:20a projection unchanged from the last set of forecasts in June.
02:24The projection for unemployment was also unchanged at 4.5%
02:27and the one for economic growth slightly higher at 1.6% versus 1.4%.
02:35It's like that.
02:37Wow.
02:38Good, good one.
02:49Good.
02:50Good day.
02:51Good day.
02:57Good day.
02:57Golly.
03:01Good, good and good day.
03:04Good day.
03:04Good day.
03:05Good day.
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