WASHINGTON: The Federal Reserve on Thursday slashed its growth forecast for the US economy this year to 1.7-2.0 percent, as the central bank's policy board turned more pessimistic about second half growth.
But it boosted its expectations for next year, expecting a pickup to 2.5-3.0 percent, and said unemployment should fall from the current 8.1 percent to 7.6-7.9 percent.
The previous forecasts from the Federal Open Market Committee, in June, were 1.9-2.0 percent for this year and 2.2-2.8 percent in 2013.
The fresh forecasts came as the FOMC announced a new $40 billion a month "QE3" quantitative easing program aimed at buying in bonds to press down long-term interest rates to help growth and boost employment.
Comments
Comments are closed.