Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on Monday signaled that future interest rate cuts will be less aggressive than the big move in September as he expressed concern that the economy could still be running at a hotter-than-desired pace.
The Federal Open Market Committee at its September meeting took the unusual step of lowering its baseline interest rate by a half percentage point, or 50 basis points, to a target range of 4.75%-5.0%.
Along with the cut, officials indicated the likelihood of another half point lopped off in the final two meetings of 2024, along with another full percentage point of cuts in 2025.
In the final revision for second-quarter growth, the Commerce Department also punched up the level of gross domestic income gain to 3.4%, an adjustment of 2.1 percentage points from the previous estimate and closer in line with GDP.
“These revisions suggest that the economy is much stronger than previously thought, with little indication of a major slowdown in economic activity,” Waller said.
Persons:
Christopher Waller, ” Waller, Waller, ”
Organizations:
Federal, Stanford University, The, Fed, Commerce Department