October 31–November 1 · Published November 22, 2017
Statement·Presser·Minutes
JYJanet L. YellenOctober 31–November 1, 2017 FOMC Minutes
Our reading
The minutes read consistent with the statement because both documents describe the same economic conditions—such as a strengthening labor market, solid economic activity despite hurricane disruptions, soft core inflation, and low market-based inflation compensation—and both conclude that maintaining the federal funds rate target range at 1 to 1-1/4 percent is appropriate, while expecting gradual future increases.
Our reading compares the minutes of the October 31–November 1 FOMC meeting with the FOMC statement issued at the end of that meeting, three weeks before the minutes were published.
Vote
- Lael Brainard
- William C. Dudley
- Charles L. Evans
- Patrick Harker
- Robert S. Kaplan
- Neel Kashkari
- Jerome H. Powell
- Randal K. Quarles
- Janet L. Yellen
From the minutes
FOMC minutes
Voting for this action: Janet L. Yellen, William C. Dudley, Lael Brainard, Charles L. Evans, Patrick Harker, Robert S. Kaplan, Neel Kashkari, Jerome H. Powell, and Randal K. Quarles.
Voting against this action: None.
Consistent with the Committee's decision to leave the target range for the federal funds rate unchanged, the Board of Governors voted unanimously to leave the interest rates on required and excess reserve balances unchanged at 1-1/4 percent and voted unanimously to approve establishment of the primary credit rate (discount rate) at the existing level of 1-3/4 percent.4
It was agreed that the next meeting of the Committee would be held on Tuesday-Wednesday, December 12-13, 2017. The meeting adjourned at 10:30 a.m. on November 1, 2017.
What changed from the previous meeting’s minutes
- PCE price inflation for September was reported at 1.6 percent, up from the August estimate of about 1-1/2 percent.
- Core PCE price inflation was reported at 1.3 percent in September, a specific figure not given previously.
- A couple of participants discussed alternative monetary policy frameworks, such as price-level targeting, which were not mentioned before.
- Several participants expressed concern that monetary policy actions or communications may have contributed to a decline in longer-run inflation expectations.
- Members agreed that future statements might not need to mention the balance sheet normalization program, a change from prior detailed references.
- Randal K. Quarles replaced Stanley Fischer as a voting member of the FOMC.
Summary generated automatically from the two documents.