Hilsenrath’s Take: March Rate Hike In Limbo, But “Fed Was Expecting A Slowdown”

Just days after Fed whisperer Goldman Sachs made its first (of many) revisions to its Fed rate hike schedule, and no longer expects a March rate hike (if still somehow seeing 3 rate hikes in 2016), moments ago Fed mouthpiece Jon Hilsenrath reiterated the Fed’s latest favorite catchphrase – that would be “watchfully waiting” for those who haven’t paid attention – , and said that today’s jobs report leave the Fed in limbo when it comes to the March rate hike decision. More importantly perhaps he adds that “Fed officials were expecting a slowdown.” However, when one adds the 105,000 in prior month revisions, was is this big?
As he writes in the WSJ, “Friday’s jobs report likely leaves Federal Reserve officials in a ” watchful waiting” mode as they consider whether to lift short-term interest rates at their next policy meeting in March.”
The reported increase of 151,000 jobs in January was a bit less than Wall Street analysts expected, but still enough to absorb new entrants into the labor force and reduce economic slack. Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen, in testimony to the Joint Economic Committee of Congress in December, said the economy needed to produce fewer than 100,000 jobs a month to absorb new entrants into the labor force and stabilize unemployment. Fed officials were expecting a slowdown. Payroll gains averaged 279,000 a month in the fourth quarter, too much for an economy that was barely growing.

This post was published at Zero Hedge on 02/05/2016.