Did the fed slash rates for the third-straight time?

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00:00My colleagues and I remain squarely focused on achieving our dual mandate goals of maximum

00:04employment and stable prices for the benefit of the American people. Although important federal

00:11government data for the past couple of months have yet to be released, available public and

00:16private sector data suggests that the outlook for employment and inflation has not changed

00:21as much since our meeting in October. Conditions in the labor market appear to be gradually cooling

00:27and inflation remains somewhat elevated. In support of our goals, in light of the balance

00:34of risks to employment and inflation, today the Federal Open Market Committee decided to lower

00:39our policy interest rate by a quarter percentage point. As a separate matter, we also decided to

00:46initiate purchases of shorter-term Treasury securities solely for the purpose of maintaining an ample

00:51supply of reserves over time, thus supporting effective control of our policy rate.

00:57I will have more to say about monetary policy and its implementation after briefly reviewing

01:03economic developments.

01:06Although some key government data have yet to be released, available indicators suggest that

01:11economic activity has been expanding at a moderate pace. Consumer spending appears to have remained

01:18solid, and business-fixed investment has continued to expand. In contrast, activity in the housing

01:24sector remains weak. The temporary shutdown of the Federal Government has likely weighed on economic

01:31activity in the current quarter, but these effects should be mostly offset by higher growth next

01:36quarter, reflecting the reopening. In our summary of economic projections, the median participant projects

01:43that real GDP will rise 1.7 percent this year and 2.3 percent next year, somewhat stronger than projected in September.

01:55In the labor market, although official employment data for October and November are delayed, available evidence

02:02suggests that both layoffs and hiring remain low, and that both households' perceptions of job availability and firms'

02:09perceptions of hiring difficulty continue to decline.