Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank of St. Louis President Alberto Musalem spoke in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Monday about the United States (US) economy. He stated that inflation is closer to 3% than to the 2% target and emphasized that “we have sufficient information to make policy decisions.”
Key quotes
US economy pretty resilient.
Labor market around full employment, cooling.
Inflation closer to 3% than to 2% target.
More data better than less data.
Companies say labor market has softened a little, things look reasonably okay.
Consumer balance sheets are okay.
Uncertainty has plateaued.
Companies selling to consumers having more difficulty passing on higher prices.
Labor market has cooled in an orderly way.
Took notice of layoff announcements, but at the same time unemployment insurance claims stable.
We have adequate information to make policy decisions.
Real Fed funds rate has declined by 250 bps in last year, of which 150 bps were Fed rate cuts as insurance.
Important to continue to focus on bringing down inflation.
Important to tread with caution.
Limited room to ease policy further.
Monetary policy is closer to neutral than modestly restrictive.
Need to lean against inflation.
Financial conditions are very accommodative.
Stock prices, house prices are elevated.”
US Dollar Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies today. US Dollar was the strongest against the Japanese Yen.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.00% | -0.04% | 0.43% | -0.09% | -0.46% | -0.11% | 0.00% | |
| EUR | 0.00% | -0.04% | 0.45% | -0.09% | -0.45% | -0.10% | 0.01% | |
| GBP | 0.04% | 0.04% | 0.49% | -0.05% | -0.41% | -0.06% | 0.05% | |
| JPY | -0.43% | -0.45% | -0.49% | -0.51% | -0.89% | -0.54% | -0.42% | |
| CAD | 0.09% | 0.09% | 0.05% | 0.51% | -0.37% | -0.02% | 0.10% | |
| AUD | 0.46% | 0.45% | 0.41% | 0.89% | 0.37% | 0.35% | 0.47% | |
| NZD | 0.11% | 0.10% | 0.06% | 0.54% | 0.02% | -0.35% | 0.11% | |
| CHF | -0.01% | -0.01% | -0.05% | 0.42% | -0.10% | -0.47% | -0.11% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the US Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).
