- The FOMC raised the fed funds rate +75bp today, taking an aggressive step given the recent inflation & inflation expectations data. The Fed wants a restrictive policy by the end of the year (ie, above a neutral rate that’s believed to be in the mid-2% range) to help restore price stability.
- The plan is to raise rates (tighten financial conditions) until there’s clear evidence inflation is coming back down. There has been a lack of progress in recent months.
- The July meeting could see another 50-75bp hike, according to Chair Powell in his press conference.
- There’s still a reliance on high levels of job openings to cushion the blow to the U.S. economy. Powell noted there remained a (narrow) pathway to achieve this outcome. He did not want to induce a recession.
- The U.S. consumer was believed to be strong, even with a shift that could be ongoing from goods to services.
- Powell also noted, however, that factors beyond their control (eg, geopolitics, supply-chain issues) will determine whether they can bring inflation down to 2% with the labor market still strong.
- The U.S. unemployment rate is expected to rise to just over 4% in the Fed’s summary projections.
- Demand in the U.S, economy is still running hot, and still above available supply. The basic relationship remains: if supply cannot rise to meet demand, demand has to fall to meet supply.
We believe this is a step in the right direction as the Fed has been behind the eight ball for quite some time. This raise shows the Fed is finally getting serious about slowing the economy. IT will take a lot of fortitude to raise rates into a slowing economy and doing so pulls forward the date we would see a formal recession in economic numbers. We will see what M2 money supply looks like at the end of the month, but for now the Fed has given the market what it was looking for and expecting.
Source: Don Rissmiller, Strategas
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