Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said in a speech that, “while the economy is still far from our policy goals of maximum employment and price stability, progress is being made and the economic outlook is brightening”.
“Sizable support from fiscal and monetary policy, vaccination deployment, and the resiliency shown by households and businesses, all point to a pickup in activity in the second half of this year and for continued progress, albeit uneven progress, as some sectors recover faster than others,” she added.
In the Q&A session, Mester said she expects the US economy to grow by 6% or more this year. Unemployment rate is expected to drop to 4.5% or even lower by year-end. She noted that uptick inflation expectations is due to improvements in economic outlook. “I’m not too concerned about inflation moving too high at this point,” she said.
