(AURN News) — We’re getting a closer look at how the Federal Reserve views current economic conditions and how it may affect Americans moving forward. The Fed reported continued solid economic expansion in 2024, despite some easing in labor market conditions, according to minutes from the recent Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
“The information available at the time of the meeting indicated that real gross domestic product (GDP) had continued to expand at a solid pace in 2024. Labor market conditions had eased since early 2024, but the unemployment rate remained low. Consumer price inflation was below its year-earlier rate but was still somewhat elevated,” the minutes said.
The Fed’s analysis showed temporary fluctuations in employment data due to external factors but overall they believe the labor market remains stable. “The staff estimated that job gains were held down by the effects of labor strikes and hurricanes in October and were boosted by a similar amount in November after those effects unwound. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2 percent in November, and both the labor force participation rate and the employment-to-population ratio moved down a bit further,” the meeting notes mentioned.
But when it comes to race, there are some important notes: “The unemployment rates for African Americans and for Hispanics also moved up, and both rates were above those for Asians and for Whites,” according to the minutes.
Looking ahead, the Fed maintained a positive outlook while acknowledging various uncertainties. “The staff projection at the December meeting was for economic conditions to stay solid. Given the elevated uncertainty regarding specifics about the scope and timing of potential changes to trade, immigration, fiscal, and regulatory policies and their potential effects on the economy, the staff highlighted the difficulty of selecting and assessing the importance of such factors for the baseline projection and featured a number of alternative scenarios,” the notes said.
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