MNI’s Fed watcher Steve Beckner has posted his take on the FOMC today … FOMC: Ends QE3, Keeps ‘Considerable Time’ for FFR

He takes a look ahead, and asks …

  • The next question plaguing Fed watchers, of course, is: When will the Fed start raising that key overnight money market rate?

In brief (bolding is mine):

  • There is no definite timetable
  • The FOMC qualified the “considerable time” period by adding, “However, if incoming information indicates faster progress toward the Committee’s employment and inflation objectives than the Committee now expects, then increases in the target range for the federal funds rate are likely to occur sooner than currently anticipated.” “Conversely, if progress proves slower than expected, then increases in the target range are likely to occur later than currently anticipated,”
  • FOMC acknowledged that labor markets had “improved further” … dropped reference to “significant underutilization of labor resources”… “underutilization of labor resources is gradually diminishing.”

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Long story, short: The FOMC remains data dependent.