What changes are there in the comparison of the Federal Reserve's November meeting statement?
In addition to the fact that the rate cut is only half of the last time, this statement has three major changes compared to the last one: first, the removal of "more confident in inflation persistently moving towards 2%"; second, the addition of an assessment that the labor market conditions have become loose; third, all voting committee members supported a 25 basis point rate cut, including one council member who voted against it last time
Compared to the statement released after the last meeting in September, the interest rate cut announced in this Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting is lower than last time, only half of the previous cut. In addition, there are three major changes in this statement.
First, the phrase added in the last statement, "more confident in inflation continuing to move towards 2%," has been removed. Second, the evaluation of the labor market has been modified; it no longer states that employment growth has slowed, but adds the evaluation that the labor market conditions have become more relaxed.
Furthermore, unlike the last statement which reflected one dissenting vote, this statement shows that all FOMC voting members voted in favor of the decision to cut rates by 25 basis points, including Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman, who voted against last time.
The full translation of the statement is as follows, with black text indicating parts that are the same as the September 2024 FOMC meeting statement, and the black text in parentheses providing additional explanations from Wall Street Insight. The red text indicates new additions for November 2024, and the blue text in parentheses indicates wording deleted from the September statement (please indicate the source when reprinting):
Recent indicators suggest that economic activity continues to expand steadily. Since earlier this year, labor market conditions have generally relaxed (employment growth has slowed), the unemployment rate has risen, but remains low. Inflation has made (further) progress towards the Committee's (note: the Committee here refers to the FOMC) 2% target, but remains elevated.
The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and a 2% inflation rate over the long term. The Committee (is more confident in inflation continuing to move towards 2% and) believes that the risks to achieving employment and inflation goals are broadly balanced. The economic outlook is uncertain, and the Committee is attentive to the two-sided risks facing its dual mandate.
To support its objectives (in light of the progress on inflation and balanced risks), the Committee decided to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by 0.25 percentage points to 4.50% to 4.75% (from 0.5 percentage points to 4.75% to 5%). In considering future adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate, the Committee will carefully assess incoming data, evolving outlooks, and risk balances. The Committee will continue to reduce its holdings of U.S. Treasury securities, agency debt, and agency mortgage-backed securities. The Committee is firmly committed to supporting maximum employment and returning inflation to its 2% target.
In assessing the appropriate stance of monetary policy, the Committee will continue to monitor how the latest information affects the economic outlook. If risks emerge that could impede the achievement of its goals, the Committee will be prepared to adjust the monetary policy stance as appropriate. The Committee's assessment will reference a broad range of information, including labor market conditions, inflation pressures and inflation expectations, as well as data on changes in financial and international conditions.
Voters in favor of this monetary policy include: FOMC Chair Jerome H. Powell (note: Federal Reserve Chair), Vice Chair John C. Williams (note: President of the New York Fed), Thomas I. Barkin (note: President of the Richmond Fed), Michael S. Barr (note: Federal Reserve Governor), Raphael W. Bostic (note: President of the Atlanta Fed), Michelle W Bowman (Note: Federal Reserve Governor); Cook (Lisa D. Cook) (Note: Federal Reserve Governor); Daly (Mary C. Daly) (Note: President of the San Francisco Federal Reserve); Hammack (Beth M. Hammack) (Note: President of the Cleveland Federal Reserve); Jefferson (Philip N. Jefferson) (Note: Federal Reserve Governor), Kugler (Adriana D. Kugler) (Note: Federal Reserve Governor) and Waller (Christopher J. Waller) (Note: Federal Reserve Governor). (Voting against this action was Bowman (Michelle W. Bowman) (Note: Federal Reserve Governor), who preferred to lower the federal funds rate target range by only 25 basis points at this meeting.)