Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Economy far from central bank's goals but outlook brightening, Fed's Mester says

Published 04/15/2021, 05:53 PM
Updated 04/15/2021, 06:45 PM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester speaks in London

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester speaks in London

By Jonnelle Marte

(Reuters) -The U.S. economy still has a long way to go to fully recover from the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which hit minorities and people with lower levels of education hardest, but the outlook is improving, Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester said on Thursday.

"While the economy is still far from our policy goals of maximum employment and price stability, progress is being made and the economic outlook is brightening," Mester said during a virtual event with students from Swarthmore College.

On the inflation front, the Fed official said price readings could be high in the near-term as companies struggle with supply chain disruptions and prices rebound from lows reached early in the pandemic, but price growth is likely to slow as time passes and those challenges are resolved.

"I'm not too concerned about inflation moving too high at this point," Mester said.

The U.S. economy could see strong growth in the second half of the year and labor market conditions should continue to improve as long as there is not a surge in infections of virus strains that are resistant to vaccines, Mester told reporters after the event.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester speaks in London

The policymaker expects the U.S. economy to grow by 6% or more this year and the unemployment rate to drop to 4.5% or lower by year-end.

Vaccinations, which make it safer for people to return to work, will be an important part of the recovery, she said. Parents who stopped working because their children are home will need schools to reopen and access to childcare so that they can return to the workforce, Mester added.

Latest comments

𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚢.𝚜𝚘 𝚒 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚢 𝚜𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎. 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚒 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚞𝚖𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 $ 100,000 𝚒𝚗 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚏𝚒𝚝. 𝚒 𝚜𝚊𝚢 "𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚑𝚘𝚠" 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚒'𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚜. 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚒 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚞𝚖𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚑. 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚒𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏: 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐛𝐚𝐬.𝐠𝐚
STOP PRINTING MONEY
Short term outlook will be bright, but no one understands what the long term consequences of the Feds actions will be; slow growth, decreased productivity, and worst of all growing income inequality. The Feds actions only appear to work since you can’t miss what you never had.
Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.