Powell Q&A: Beige book showed modest growth but not very fast

Beige book showed modest growth but not very fast.Right now is unusual. Risks to employment is to the downside and inflation is to the upside.Over the summer labor market has softened. Focus on inflation needs to moderate to a more balanced approachWe will look at labor market, growth data, inflation data and ask if policy is in the right place.If policy is not in the right place, we will move it thereAggregate households are in good shape.It is not a time of elevated financial stability risks.Cannot say that labor market is really solid anymoreNASDAQ index moves to new session lows. We are not targeting prices for financial assets. Equity prices are fairly highly valuedThe hiring rate has really droppedNot hiring may be one of the ways of passing off tariffs costsAI could be the reason for lack of hiring for new grads but can’t say it’s the main reasonTariff pass-through has been later and less than expectedOur forecast is for tariffs to be a one-time passthrough, finished by year-endIt’s a reasonable base case that pass through will be done by year endThat’s almost everyone’s base case
This article was written by Greg Michalowski at investinglive.com.

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