Steven Wood Open Quotations

Labor markets are very strong and payroll employment should rise by 200,000 or more in February. The Federal Open Market Committee will continue to raise interest rates.

Some of the December strength and January weakness appears to be related to Y2K precautions; the (Federal Open Market Committee) will need a lot more evidence of a slowdown in consumer spending than this to convince them that further tightening is not warranted,

While these data will be welcome by the (Fed), two key questions remain. Will the second quarter spending slow down extend through the rest of the year? Economic fundamentals suggest they will. And will the spending slowdown be sufficient to relieve pressure on labor markets and inflation? At this point, that is still an open question.

While these data will be welcome by the (Fed), two key questions remain, ... Will the second quarter spending slow down extend through the rest of the year? Economic fundamentals suggest they will. And will the spending slowdown be sufficient to relieve pressure on labor markets and inflation? At this point, that is still an open question.

These data provide additional evidence that a soft-landing scenario is beginning to unfold, much to the (Federal Open Market Committee's) delight.

These data continue to show that the housing market remains resilient in the face of rising interest rates. This resiliency will make it more difficult for the (Federal Open Market Committee) to slow the economy,

Despite a robust economy and tight labor markets, inflation is still low and steady. These data provide some relief for the Federal Open Market Committee.

The FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's policy-making arm) will look at these data as being benign, ... No change in interest rates is expected at next week's meeting although the committee will retain its bias toward tightening.