Fed and Inflation - Part 1
12/15/2021 -
Highlights from FED meeting today:
- Unemployment rate is lowest in a decade
- Inflation is no longer transitory
- High CPI index
- Fed to taper bond buying
- Inflation moderately exceeding 2% target as being met and Fed would keep rates near zero until they were satisfied labor market conditions were consistent with maximum employment.
- Fed Officials now expect the unemployment rate to fall to 3.5% next year, below their long-run estimate of 4%. They now see core inflation ending this year at 4.4%, up from a projection of 3.7% in September, before falling to 2.7% at the end of 2022, versus a projection of 2.3% in September.
- After projecting three quarter-percentage-point rate rises next year, most officials penciled in at least three more rate increases in 2023 and two more in 2024. That would leave short-term interest rates slightly below what is known as the neutral level designed to neither spur nor slow growth.
- Market (S&P 500) rallied almost 1.63% and QQQ tech heavy index rallied 2.28%