Hello, this is Samantha Shares. This episode covers Transcript of Chair Powell’s Press Conference Opening Statement September 18, 2024 The following is an audio version of that transcript. This podcast is educational and is not legal advice. We are sponsored by Credit Union Exam Solutions Incorporated, whose team has over two hundred and Forty years of National Credit Union Administration experience. We assist our clients with N C U A so they save time and money. If you are worried about a recent, upcoming or in process N C U A examination, reach out to learn how they can assist at Mark Treichel DOT COM. Also check out our other podcast called With Flying Colors where we provide tips on how to achieve success with N C U A. And now Chairman Powell’s opening statement. Transcript of Chair Powell’s Press Conference Opening Statement September 18, 2024 CHAIR POWELL. Good afternoon. My colleagues and I remain squarely focused on achieving our dual mandate goals of maximum employment and stable prices for the benefit of the American people. Our economy is strong overall and has made significant progress toward our goals over the past two years. The labor market has cooled from its formerly overheated state. Inflation has eased substantially from a peak of 7 percent to an estimated 2.2 percent as of August. We are committed to maintaining our economy’s strength by supporting maximum employment and returning inflation to our 2 percent goal.Today, the Federal Open Market Committee decided to reduce the degree of policy restraint by lowering our policy interest rate by 1/2 percentage point. This decision reflects our growing confidence that, with an appropriate recalibration of our policy stance, strength in the labor market can be maintained in a context of moderate growth and inflation moving sustainably down to 2 percent. We also decided to continue to reduce our securities holdings. I will have more to say about monetary policy after briefly reviewing economic developments.Recent indicators suggest that economic activity has continued to expand at a solid pace. GDP rose at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the first half of the year, and available data point to a roughly similar pace of growth this quarter. Growth of consumer spending has remained resilient, and investment in equipment and intangibles has picked up from its anemic pace last year. In the housing sector, investment fell back in the second quarter after rising strongly in the first. Improving supply conditions have supported resilient demand and the strong performance of the U.S. economy over the past year. In our Summary of EconomicProjections, Committee participants generally expect GDP growth to remain solid, with a median projection of 2 percent over the next few years.In the labor market, conditions have continued to cool. Payroll job gains averaged 116 thousand per month over the past three months, a notable stepdown from the pace seen earlier in the year. The unemployment rate has moved up but remains low at 4.2 percent. Nominal wage growth has eased over the past year and the jobs-to-workers gap has narrowed. Overall, a broad set of indicators suggests that conditions in the labor market are now less tight than just before the pandemic in 2019. The labor market is not a source of elevated inflationary pressures. The median projection for the unemployment rate in the SEP is 4.4 percent at the end of this year, 4 tenths higher than projected in June.Inflation has eased notably over the past two years but remains above our longer-run goal of 2 percent. Estimates based on the Consumer Price Index and other data indicate that total PCE prices rose 2.2 percent over the 12 months ending in August; and that, excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core PCE prices rose 2.7 percent. Longer-term inflation expectations appear to remain well anchored, as reflected in a broad range of surveys of households, businesses, and forecasters, as well as measures from financial markets. The median projection in the SEP for total PCE inflation is 2.3 percent this year and 2.1 percent next year, somewhat lower than projected in June. Thereafter, the median projection is 2 percent.Our monetary policy actions are guided by our dual mandate to promote maximum employment and stable prices for the American people. For much of the past three years, inflation ran well above our 2 percent goal, and labor market conditions were extremely tight. Our primary focus had been on bringing down inflation, and appropriately so. We are acutely aware that high inflation imposes significant hardship as it erodes purchasing power,especially for those least able to meet the higher costs of essentials like food, housing, and transportation.Our restrictive monetary policy has helped restore the balance between aggregate supply and demand, easing inflationary pressures and ensuring that inflation expectations remain well anchored. Our patient ...
