Several Fed Officials Said Forecasts Overstated Rate Rise Meeting minutes revealed that in March, Fed Reserve policy makers discussed that a rise in their median projection for the main interest rate exaggerated the likely speed of tightening. Treasury yields rose last month after policy makers predicted that the benchmark interest rate would rise faster than previously forecast. The Fed reduced the monthly pace of bond purchases from $65 billion to $55 billion, and repeated it is likely to continue paring the program in “further measured steps”.
U.S. stocks rose, with the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 Index increasing 0.6 percent to 1,862.17 at 2:03 p.m. in New York. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose 1 basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 2.69 percent.
The committee last month scrapped its pledge to keep the main interest rate low at least as long as unemployment exceeds 6.5 percent
The economy and employment are showing steady gains, the economy isn’t “running flat-out, but it’s running fast enough to push down the unemployment rate and put people back to work.”Payrolls excluding government agencies rose by 192,000 workers after a 188,000 gain in February that was larger than first estimated. That brought the job count to 116.1 million, beating the January 2008 high of 116 million.
While flagging “a weak first quarter in the U.S. due to weather,” it is expected that the economy would grow at a 3 percent annual pace for “the rest of the year and into 2015.” Miami-based Lennar Corp., the biggest U.S. home builder by market value, saw customer traffic and sales volume rise through the first quarter.
Janet Yellen, 67, succeeded Ben S. Bernanke as Fed chief in February after three years as vice chair. In that role, she helped shape communication as the central bank sought to support the recovery from the longest recession since the Great Depression.
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