Details

Since October 2017, the Fed has continued to wind down its balance sheet, which is shrinking slowly, as planned (represented by the monetary base shown in Fig. 1).

The inflation rate has finally moved to the Fed’s symmetric 2% inflation target (Fig. 2), as measured by the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index. (Two percent is not a ceiling but an average to be achieved over time.) Most FOMC members expect some modest overshoot, which would make up for some of the five years of consistently undershooting the target. However, market-based measures suggest inflation is expected to remain below the Fed’s target over the next 10 years.[i] The fed funds futures market anticipates one more Fed interest rate hike in December as does the FOMC, based on projections released at this meeting (see Noteworthy section below).

Context

The FOMC’s September statement, noted that “the labor market has continued to strengthen.” It also described economic activity, job gains, household spending and business investment as strong or growing strongly. Meanwhile, inflation remains at the Fed’s desired 2% rate. These outcomes indicate tax reform is working as planned—low inflation and faster economic growth are signaling sustainable progress, not just a “sugar high” as some critics claim.

Noteworthy

The FOMC projection for interest rates is unchanged. The FOMC projections imply that the IOER rate will be 2.45% at year-end (one more rate hike in December), and that three rate hikes are anticipated in 2019 according to its new Summary of Economic Projections (SEP).[ii] Expectations for real GDP growth were revised up for 2018 and 2019, while anticipated inflation in 2019 was revised down. Figure 4 illustrates the FOMC members’ median year-end projection of real GDP (RGDP), inflation, the fed funds rate, and nominal GDP. Blue shading represents the range of all projections while the red line represents the median projection.

Figure 4: September 2018 FOMC Summary of Economic Projections (SEP)