It's not the first time in the history of OPEC that we've had problems with cutbacks, and when the price goes up, then the cheating starts. |
Manufacturing activity in the Chicago region ended the year with good momentum. |
Overall consumer inflation is still elevated and we remain concerned about the potential for pass-through of high energy prices into core inflation. |
The [United States] is the best-cushioned economy from these Asian problems in the world. |
The bond market had a pretty good move upwards yesterday, but I don't think we're going to get back to that kind of mania to buy Treasuries that we had in the month of September. |
The consequences of taking the wrong course of action - in this case not cutting rates - are potentially greater than the cost of cutting rates. |
The December [Institute for Supply Management] report points to slower, though still solid, expansion in manufacturing conditions in the month. It also suggests that price pressures, while still elevated, are rising more slowly. |
The decline in productivity was a quirk of the slow growth of GDP growth in the fourth quarter, which we expect to rebound in the first quarter. |
The decline in productivity was a quirk of the slow growth of GDP in the fourth quarter, which we expect to rebound in the first quarter. |
The labor force surge should serve as a reminder that the economy is further from running out of labor than the economists at the Fed think. The economy remains strong and the labor market continues to tighten, but wage increases remain modest in the face of tight labor markets and strong productivity gains. |
The level of claims remained low and consistent with solid job creation. |
The level of the stock market is always an issue for the Fed but I don't think it's such an issue that it's going to influence Fed policy. |
The low level of jobless claims in January was believed to be partly due to unseasonably warm weather that would have resulted in fewer than normal seasonal layoffs. However, despite a return to more seasonally typical weather in February, unemployment claims have remained low. |
The management of communication here and the way things were said has, I think, undermined a little bit of Fed credibility for now. |
The plunge in durable goods orders in January is entirely due to volatility in transportation. The underlying details of this report are much stronger than the headline. |