MNI POLICY: Fed's Bostic: 'Fairly comfortable' Standing Pat

-- Strongly Favor Weighing Incoming Data Over Coming Months

By Evan Ryser

     NEW YORK (MNI) - Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said

Thursday that he is comfortable with the current stance of monetary policy in

the face of "gathering storm clouds" that include trade policy and slowing

global growth. 

     "I am fairly comfortable standing pat with policy and strongly favor

weighing the incoming data, both macro and micro, over the coming months before

deciding on any further adjustments," Bostic said in prepared remarks for the

Money Marketeers of New York University.  

     "I do think that the economy today is on a solid footing and is likely to

remain so," Bostic said. 

     Bostic said that the unemployment rate is near historic lows and inflation

is "more or less at target."

     Bostic, not an FOMC voter this year, noted in his first public remarks

since the Fed's decision to cut interest rates last week to a band of 1.50% to

1.75% that the labor market is doing well. 

     "[L]abor market conditions are tight. In contrast to earlier in the

recovery, wage growth has moved up moderately, though perhaps not as much as

some would expect given a very low unemployment rate."  

     Bostic said the current economic environment is "one marked by heightened

uncertainty surrounding trade tensions and tariffs."

     "Regarding trade policy uncertainty, the feedback I receive and the survey

evidence my staff analyzes suggest that it is largely a nonissue for most

firms," Bostic said. "Trade policy's impact on the business sector as a whole

remains modest."

--MNI Washington Bureau; +1 202 371 2121; email: evan.ryser@marketnews.com

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