Bullard (Fed): I do not think a 50 basis point increase will help

The president of St. Louis Federal Reserve’s James Bullard said Tuesday that the US Federal Reserve prefers to raise interest rates in March and possibly again in May, although it appeared to reject the idea of ​​a 50 basis point increase in March, according to Reuters. .

“I do not think a 50 basis point increase in interest rates will really help us right now,” Bullard told Reuters.

At the same time, Bullard estimated that unemployment would fall below 3% this year, approaching levels that the US economy last saw in the early 1950s.

“I think unemployment will fall below 3% this year,” he said, although he warned that the report on new jobs to be published on Friday may not be “very good” due to the micron change, but that should not be the case. to deceive us “.

“This is a pretty strong economy and a very strong job market,” he added.

Source: Capital

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