A "substantial majority" of Fed favored large cut in Sept, minutes show
Policymakers at Sept. meeting saw half-point cut as warranted by weak jobs, inflation reports
Officials said future pace of cuts not determined by large initial reduction
Minutes covered the Fed's Sept. 17-18 policy meeting
By Howard Schneider
WASHINGTON, Oct 9 (Reuters) -A "substantial majority" of U.S. Federal Reserve officials at the central bank's September meeting supported beginning an era of easier monetary policy with an outsized half-point rate cut, but there appeared even broader agreement that the initial move would not commit the Fed to any particular pace of rate reductions in the future, according to just-released minutes of the two-day session.
Supporters of the half-point cut "observed that such a recalibration of the stance of monetary policy would begin to bring it into better alignment with recent indicators of inflation and the labor market," said the minutes of the Sept. 17-18 session, at which the Fed lowered the benchmark policy rate to a range of 4.75% to 5.00% from the 5.25% to 5.50% range it had maintained since July of 2023.
Others noted there had been a "plausible case" to have cut rates at the July meeting and the data since then had only buttressed the case for easier policy.
"Some" participants, however, supported only a quarter-point cut, while "a few others indicated they could have supported such a decision."
The minutes provided further detail on the breadth of opinion within the Federal Reserve as policymakers approved a rate cut of a size usually reserved for moments when the central bank is worried the economy is slowing fast and needs the support of looser financial conditions.
In this instance, Fed policymakers have referred to their initial cut as a "recalibration" of monetary policy to account for the fact that inflation has fallen sharply from the high levels seen in 2022 and 2023, and by some measures is near the Fed's 2% target even as the economy remains relatively strong.
"It was important to communicate," the minutes said, that the move "not be interpreted as evidence of a less favorable economic outlook."
Still, concern about the labor market has been rising among Fed policymakers, with officials noting recent increases in the unemployment rate, and weak job and inflation readings in July and August.
Rate reductions could continue, Fed officials said at the meeting, as long as inflation continues to decline, with the pace and endpoint still open to discussion.
Incoming data would determine how policy evolved, the minutes said, while noting that if the economy behaves as expected "it would likely be appropriate to move toward a more neutral stance of policy over time."
The half-point cut did earn a dissent from Fed Governor Michelle Bowman, the first from a governor since 2005, who felt a quarter-point cut was a better way to begin easing policy.
But in new economic projections issued after the September meeting, all but two policymakers penciled in at least 75 basis points worth of Fed cuts this year -outlooks that were not closed off by starting with a 50 basis point reduction.
The difference to the economy between starting with that versus a 25 basis point cut is seen as inconsequential by many policymakers, while the larger reduction in the wake of the weak August and July employment reports let Fed Chair Jerome Powell point in his post-meeting press conference to the Fed's "strong" start to policy easing and commitment to maintaining a healthy job market.
More recent jobs data showed a rebound in employment growth and a drop in the unemployment rate. Revisions to prior months data also boosted the July payroll gains to 144,000 from 89,000, erasing a particularly weak reading that some Fed officials said might have prompted a rate cut that same month had it been known at that time.
Reporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by Andrea Ricci
免责声明: XM Group仅提供在线交易平台的执行服务和访问权限，并允许个人查看和/或使用网站或网站所提供的内容，但无意进行任何更改或扩展，也不会更改或扩展其服务和访问权限。所有访问和使用权限，将受下列条款与条例约束：(i) 条款与条例；(ii) 风险提示；以及(iii) 完整免责声明。请注意，网站所提供的所有讯息，仅限一般资讯用途。此外，XM所有在线交易平台的内容并不构成，也不能被用于任何未经授权的金融市场交易邀约和/或邀请。金融市场交易对于您的投资资本含有重大风险。
所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。
本网站上由XM和第三方供应商所提供的所有内容，包括意见、新闻、研究、分析、价格、其他资讯和第三方网站链接，皆保持不变，并作为一般市场评论所提供，而非投资性建议。所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为适用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。请确保您已阅读并完全理解，XM非独立投资研究提示和风险提示相关资讯，更多详情请点击 这里。
