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Friday, January 20, 2012

Fed releases templates for FOMC Fed Funds rate projections

by Calculated Risk on 1/20/2012 08:05:00 PM

From the Federal Reserve: Federal Reserve releases templates for reporting FOMC participants' projections of the appropriate target federal funds rate

The Federal Reserve on Friday released blank templates showing the format of the two charts it will use on January 25 to report Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) participants' projections of the appropriate target federal funds rate. It also released a draft of an explanatory note that will accompany the projections.

The first chart, which will have shaded bars when released on January 25, will show FOMC participants’ projections for the timing of the initial increase in the target federal funds rate. The second chart, which will have dots representing policymakers’ individual projections when released on January 25, will show participants’ views of the appropriate path of the federal funds rate over the next several years and in the longer run.
From Luca Di Leo and Jon Hilsenrath at the WSJ: Fed Details How It Will Release Rate Forecasts
One of the new charts is a bar chart showing in which year officials expect to see the first short-term interest rate increase, with options ranging from 2012 all the way out to 2016. ... It was striking that the Fed charts go all the way out to 2016 — suggesting that some officials don’t see rate hikes for many more years.
These projections will be released next Wednesday as part of the usually quarterly economic projections.

Earlier:
Existing Home Sales in December: 4.61 million SAAR, 6.2 months of supply
Existing Home Sales: Inventory and NSA Sales Graph
Existing Home Sales graphs