For the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, the officials made no meaningful changes in its monetary policy: The central bank’s target for short-term interest rates will remain near zero, and the Fed is continuing its plans to shift $400 billion of its bond portfolio into longer-term securities to try to lower long-term interest rates.
In summary, US jobs makers are unlikely to see any more help from the Fed for the near future.
At least one official, Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans, disagreed. Evans dissented from the decision for the second straight meeting, preferring that the Fed take more action to ease monetary policy and support growth.
Officials acknowledged the fall in the unemployment rate but reiterated that too many Americans were still out of work. They noted that investment by businesses in warehouses and factories “appears to be increasing less rapidly” and that the “housing sector remains depressed.”
Officials also were clearly worried about the impact of Europe’s deepening debt crisis on the US economy, despite the recent accord by European leaders. The recent statement worried many investors, “strains in global financial markets continue to pose significant downside risks.”
Again though, despite the looming financial bust from Europe, many of the strongest tools for the reserve such as quantitative easing may already be a non-option.
(아주경제 앤드류 이 기자)
