At its March meeting, the Fed kept its policy interest rate unchanged at 3.5%\u20133.75%, in line with expectations.<\/p>\n
Now, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is holding his highly anticipated press conference following the decision. Bitcoinsistemi.com will be providing you with live updates on the details from the press conference. Refresh the page for the latest information.<\/p>\n
Here are Jerome Powell\u2019s statements:<\/p>\n
The economy is growing.
\nInflation is still somewhat high.
\nThe monetary policy stance is appropriate.
\nWe support progress toward our two main goals.
\nWe will closely monitor all risks.
\nThe impact of developments in the Middle East remains unclear.
\nConsumer spending remains resilient.
\nActivity in the housing sector is weak.
\nOur current monetary policy stance is helping us achieve our objectives.
\nThe unemployment rate has not changed much since last summer.
\nPCE inflation for February is expected to be 2.8%, while core PCE inflation is expected to be 3.0%.
\nHigh inflation largely reflects commodity prices.
\nInflation expectations have risen recently.
\nIt is too early to assess the extent and duration of the economic impact.
\nThe Fed is in a favorable position to decide on future interest rate adjustments.
\nRising energy prices will push overall inflation higher.
\nPast interest rate cuts have helped stabilize the labor market.
\nThere is uncertainty about individual policymakers\u2019 interest rate expectations, and the dot plot is not a predetermined plan or decision.
\nThe decision will be made separately at each meeting.
\nRising energy prices will push inflation higher, but it\u2019s too early to assess the extent of this.
\nIt is too early to assess the total impact of the situation in the Middle East on the economy.
\nThe policy is not predetermined.
\nWe are fully aware that a series of inflationary shocks have hampered progress.
\nFuture inflation will be affected to some extent.
\nMaking progress in reducing commodity inflation this year is vital.
\nTo assess whether we have made progress, we first need to see an improvement in commodity inflation.
\nWhether we can ignore energy inflation depends on whether we can contain commodity inflation.
\nThe assessment of fluctuations in oil prices depends on inflation expectations and the macroeconomic environment in which inflation has been above target for five consecutive years.
\nMany people prefer to reduce the number of interest rate cuts.
\nThe median forecast for the trajectory of interest rates remained unchanged, but the number of those preferring fewer rate cuts increased significantly.
\nAn improvement in inflation is expected, but this improvement will not be as rapid as anticipated.
\nInterest rates will not be cut unless inflation improves.
\nWe should have made progress on tariffs and inflation by mid-year.
\nThe dot plot shows that four out of five officials now favor reducing the number of interest rate cuts.
\nWe cannot become complacent by ignoring the issue of energy inflation.
\nThe upward revision of inflation forecasts is partly due to the oil shock, but it also reflects that inflation is not progressing as expected.
\nPart of the oil shock will be reflected in core inflation.
\nWe believe progress will be made on tariff inflation, but this may take more time.
\nSlow progress in tariff reductions is affecting our inflation forecasts.
\nI want to emphasize that nobody knows the full extent of the economic impact of the Middle East conflict.
\nWe really don\u2019t know what kind of impact rising energy prices will have.
\nProlonged high oil prices would reduce consumption, but whether this will happen is uncertain.
\nIf we were to skip the Summary of Economic Prospects (SEP), now would be a good time to do so.
\nEconomic growth is robust, and the main drivers of rising commodity inflation are commodity prices and tariffs.
\nThe threshold required to create new jobs is clearly too low.
\nOil companies want oil prices to continue rising and believe this upward trend will continue; therefore, they are increasing their production.
\nThe net effect of the oil shock will continue to put downward pressure on spending and employment, and will push inflation upward.
\nThe impact of the oil shock can be offset by strong US energy production.<\/p>\n
The decision text highlighted the impact of the war in the Middle East on the economic outlook, adding that uncertainties were increasing. Officials stated, \u201cThe effects of developments in the Middle East on the U.S. economy remain uncertain,\u201d noting that risks to both inflation and employment targets were being closely monitored.<\/p>\n
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decided to keep interest rates unchanged with an 11-1 vote. Fed member Stephen Miran was the only dissenting vote, supporting a quarter-point rate cut. This marks the second consecutive meeting where the Fed has kept interest rates unchanged.<\/p>\n
However, the economic outlook presents a more complex picture compared to the previous meeting. While signs of stability in the labor market were prominent in January, weak employment data released in February overshadowed this outlook. On the other hand, rising oil prices following the US-Israeli attacks on Iran that began on February 28th stand out as a risk that could put renewed upward pressure on inflation.<\/p>\n
*This is not investment advice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At its March meeting, the Fed kept its policy interest rate unchanged at 3.5%\u20133.75%, in line with expectations.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531449,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,451,3,452,453],"class_list":{"0":"post-531448","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-breaking-news","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}