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发帖数: 4174 | 1 Fed says economic recovery on firmer footing
By The Associated Press
Posted: 03/16/2011 12:00:00 AM PDT
The Federal Reserve offered its most optimistic view of the U.S. economy
since the recession ended, even as Japan's nuclear crisis stoked new worries
around the globe.
The economic recovery is on "firmer footing" and the jobs market is "
improving gradually," the Fed declared in its statement released at the
conclusion of its meeting Tuesday.
That's a more upbeat tone from its previous meeting on Jan. 26, when Fed
policymakers said the rate of economic activity was "insufficient" to bring
about "significant improvement" in the job market.
The Fed also downplayed inflation risks. And it dropped the phrase "
disappointingly slow" in describing the progress made lowering the nation's
unemployment rate. That's a reflection of a nearly full percentage point
drop in just three months - the sharpest decline in unemployment since 1983.
And in a unanimous decision, the Fed said it was maintaining the pace of its
$600 billion Treasury bond-purchase program to help the economy grow more
strongly and to lower unemployment, which now stands at 8.9 percent.
The Fed made no mention of Japan's crisis, which caused stocks to plunge
earlier in the day.
"Finally, the Fed is giving us a more upbeat outlook. It is not the all-
clear signal. But the Fed is much more positive in terms of the
sustainability of the economic recovery going forward," said economist Chris
Rupkey at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
Rupkey and other economists |
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