FOMC statement of April 29, 2020
This statement of the Federal Open Market Committee, compared sentence by sentence with the scheduled statement before it: what changed in the text, and how the Committee voted.
In short
The Federal Open Market Committee released this statement on April 29, 2020. Compared with the previous scheduled statement of January 29, 2020: 3 sentences changed, 10 were added, 7 were removed, and 1 stayed the same. In words: 280 added, 169 removed. The vote on this statement: Unanimous. On the January 29, 2020 statement: Unanimous.
FOMC statement · April 29, 2020
Changed sentences against the previous scheduled statement (January 29, 2020)
Unscheduled statements this comparison skips: March 3, 2020, March 15, 2020, March 23, 2020
1 unchanged · 3 changed · 10 added · 7 removed · words +280 / −169
- January 29, 2020
- Unanimous.
- April 29, 2020
- Unanimous.
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in December indicates that the labor market remains strong and that economic activity has been rising at a moderate rate.
Job gains have been solid, on average, in recent months, and the unemployment rate has remained low.
Although household spending has been rising at a moderate pace, business fixed investment and exports remain weak.
On a 12‐month basis, overall inflation and inflation for items other than food and energy are running below 2 percent.
Market-based measures of inflation compensation remain low; survey-based measures of longer-term inflation expectations are little changed.
Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability.
The Federal Reserve is committed to using its full range of tools to support the U.S. economy in this challenging time, thereby promoting its maximum employment and price stability goals.
The coronavirus outbreak is causing tremendous human and economic hardship across the United States and around the world.
The virus and the measures taken to protect public health are inducing sharp declines in economic activity and a surge in job losses.
Weaker demand and significantly lower oil prices are holding down consumer price inflation.
The disruptions to economic activity here and abroad have significantly affected financial conditions and have impaired the flow of credit to U.S. households and businesses.
The ongoing public health crisis will weigh heavily on economic activity, employment, and inflation in the near term, and poses considerable risks to the economic outlook over the medium term.
In light of these developments, the Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 1-1/2 0 to 1-3/4 1/4 percent.
The Committee judges that the current stance of monetary policy is appropriate to support sustained expansion of economic activity, strong labor market conditions, and inflation returning to the Committee's symmetric 2 percent objective.
The Committee expects to maintain this target range until it is confident that the economy has weathered recent events and is on track to achieve its maximum employment and price stability goals.
The Committee will continue to monitor the implications of incoming information for the economic outlook, including information related to public health, as well as global developments and muted inflation pressures, and will use its tools and act as it assesses appropriate to support the appropriate path of the target range for the federal funds rate economy.
In determining the timing and size of future adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate stance of monetary policy, the Committee will assess realized and expected economic conditions relative to its maximum employment objective and its symmetric 2 percent inflation objective.
To support the flow of credit to households and businesses, the Federal Reserve will continue to purchase Treasury securities and agency residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities in the amounts needed to support smooth market functioning, thereby fostering effective transmission of monetary policy to broader financial conditions.
In addition, the Open Market Desk will continue to offer large-scale overnight and term repurchase agreement operations.
The Committee will closely monitor market conditions and is prepared to adjust its plans as appropriate.
Show the unchanged sentence
This assessment will take into account a wide range of information, including measures of labor market conditions, indicators of inflation pressures and inflation expectations, and readings on financial and international developments.
Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System — the statement on federalreserve.gov · January 29, 2020
How to read this page
The page sets this statement of the Federal Open Market Committee next to the scheduled statement before it, sentence by sentence. The Fed’s sentences are shown as published, in English.
In a changed sentence, the words that were dropped are struck through and the new words are underlined. A sentence found only in the newer statement is marked as added; one found only in the older statement, as removed. Sentences that did not change are collapsed.
The counts say how many sentences fall into each of those groups, and how many words were added and removed. They count edits; they do not weigh them.
The vote lines show how the Committee voted on each statement and who voted against, as the statement itself reports it.
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