{"id":123098,"date":"2021-04-29T11:39:30","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T11:39:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=123098"},"modified":"2021-04-29T11:39:30","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T11:39:30","slug":"next-up-for-feds-powell-and-the-taper-test-string-theory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/next-up-for-feds-powell-and-the-taper-test-string-theory\/","title":{"rendered":"Next up for Fed's Powell and the taper test: 'string' theory"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Reuters) – The list of what will get Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to start thinking about cutting back on the central bank\u2019s support for the U.S. economy is a short one: jobs, jobs and more jobs.<\/p>

FILE PHOTO: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifies before the Senate Banking Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 1, 2020. Susan Walsh\/Pool via REUTERS<\/figcaption>

That was perhaps the sharpest message from the Fed\u2019s two-day policy-setting meeting that wrapped up Wednesday, at which it left interest rates on hold and repeated a pledge to continue buying bonds at its current pace until it sees \u201csubstantial further progress\u201d toward its twin goals of full employment and 2% inflation.<\/p>\n

Powell had earlier this month cheered a government report showing U.S. employers added nearly a million jobs in March, and said he would want to see \u201ca string\u201d of months like that to show progress toward the Fed\u2019s goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat did I mean by a string?\u201d he said at a press conference following the meeting. \u201cI can tell you what it\u2019s not: it\u2019s not one really good employment reading, which is what we got in March.\u201d<\/p>\n

That wasn\u2019t enough information for Karim Basta, chief economist at III Capital Management. \u201cThanks,\u201d he quipped in response to Powell\u2019s \u201cstring\u201d definition.<\/p>\n

But with the U.S. economy more than 8 million jobs short of where it was in February 2020 before the pandemic, continued job gains at March\u2019s pace would get halfway to filling the hole by summer, when many analysts expect the Fed will flag a coming policy change.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have to get all the way to our goals to taper asset purchases – we just need to make substantial further progress,\u201d Powell said.<\/p>\n

For a graphic on Push to full employment:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The upbeat assessment of economic conditions and a less downbeat assessment of risks point to \u201cthe first steps on the path toward tapering QE asset purchases,\u201d said James Knightley, ING\u2019s chief international economist.<\/p>\n

The Fed\u2019s promise on bond buying is not just tied to jobs -it also hinges on inflation. But judging progress by that metric will be tough.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because an all-but certain move higher in inflation readings in coming months will carry \u201cno implication\u201d for Fed policy, Powell said, because it will reflect transitory pressures that will soon unwind.<\/p>\n

The comparison to the hit prices took last year during the nationwide lockdowns will push up April and May\u2019s headline inflation readings by as much as one percentage point, Powell said.<\/p>\n

Supply bottlenecks as companies struggle to keep up with surging demand from newly vaccinated Americans going out and doing more will also push prices higher. Those will come back down once companies address the supply issues, he said, but it\u2019s uncertain how long that will take.<\/p>\n

Powell also beat back any notion that the Fed\u2019s decision on tapering will depend specifically on virus cases or vaccination rates. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard suggested earlier this month that he\u2019d like to see 75% of Americans vaccinated before reducing policy accommodation. \u201cWe have not articulated a separate test for the state of the virus that we would like to achieve,\u201d Powell said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Despite repeated pressing, Powell has resisted defining \u201csubstantial,\u201d and on Wednesday said that because assessing that benchmark will be somewhat subjective, \u201cwe\u2019ve said we\u2019d let the public know when it is time to have that conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the meantime, his \u201cstring\u201d theory may be providing some hints.<\/p>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Reuters) – The list of what will<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":123097,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23054],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nNext up for Fed's Powell and the taper test: 'string' theory - Pre Coin News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/next-up-for-feds-powell-and-the-taper-test-string-theory\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Next up for Fed's Powell and the taper test: 'string' theory - Pre Coin News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Reuters) – The list of what will\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/next-up-for-feds-powell-and-the-taper-test-string-theory\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pre Coin News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-29T11:39:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Next-up-for-Feds-Powell-and-the-taper-test-string-theory.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/next-up-for-feds-powell-and-the-taper-test-string-theory\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/next-up-for-feds-powell-and-the-taper-test-string-theory\/\",\"name\":\"Next up for Fed's Powell and the taper test: 'string' theory - Pre Coin News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-29T11:39:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-29T11:39:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/next-up-for-feds-powell-and-the-taper-test-string-theory\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/next-up-for-feds-powell-and-the-taper-test-string-theory\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/next-up-for-feds-powell-and-the-taper-test-string-theory\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Markets\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/category\/markets\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Next up for Fed's Powell and the taper test: 'string' theory\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/\",\"name\":\"Pre Coin News\",\"description\":\"precoinnews.com\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a\",\"name\":\"mediabest\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5f13cb3b94fc348d515c0951f6ca073?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5f13cb3b94fc348d515c0951f6ca073?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mediabest\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Next up for Fed's Powell and the taper test: 'string' theory - Pre Coin News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/next-up-for-feds-powell-and-the-taper-test-string-theory\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Next up for Fed's Powell and the taper test: 'string' theory - Pre Coin News","og_description":"(Reuters) – The list of what will","og_url":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/next-up-for-feds-powell-and-the-taper-test-string-theory\/","og_site_name":"Pre Coin News","article_published_time":"2021-04-29T11:39:30+00:00","author":"mediabest","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Next-up-for-Feds-Powell-and-the-taper-test-string-theory.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"mediabest","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/next-up-for-feds-powell-and-the-taper-test-string-theory\/","url":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/next-up-for-feds-powell-and-the-taper-test-string-theory\/","name":"Next up for Fed's Powell and the taper test: 'string' theory - Pre Coin News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-04-29T11:39:30+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-29T11:39:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/next-up-for-feds-powell-and-the-taper-test-string-theory\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/next-up-for-feds-powell-and-the-taper-test-string-theory\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/next-up-for-feds-powell-and-the-taper-test-string-theory\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Markets","item":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/category\/markets\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Next up for Fed's Powell and the taper test: 'string' theory"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/","name":"Pre Coin News","description":"precoinnews.com","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a","name":"mediabest","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5f13cb3b94fc348d515c0951f6ca073?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5f13cb3b94fc348d515c0951f6ca073?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mediabest"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123098"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}