Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 142,000 in August, and the unemployment rate changed little at 4.2 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job ...

Good morning. I always appreciate the opportunity to speak before members of the Council on Foreign Relations.1 Before I get started, let me give the standard Fed disclaimer that the views I express today are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) or others in the Federal Reserve System. Just as you’d expect, I’ll be speaking today about the “e” word—by which, of course, I mean the economy. I’ll talk about where it’s headed, and the process of getting supply and demand in better balance and bringing inflation back down to the FOMC’s 2 percent longer-run goal. I’ll also discuss the progress made toward the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate goals of maximum employment and price stability, as well as the path ahead for monetary policy. post: FED’S WILLIAMS: MONETARY POLICY CAN BE MOVED TO MORE NEUTRAL STANCE DEPENDING ON DATA. post: WILLIAMS: FED POLICY HAS BEEN EFFECTIVE IN RESTORING PRICE STABILITY WILLIAMS: CONFIDENCE RISING THAT INFLATION PRESSURES ARE EBBING WILLIAMS: INFLATION EXPECTATIONS REMAIN WELL ANCHORED post: In speech just after release of jobs data, NY Fed Williams says “it is now appropriate to dial down the degree of restrictiveness in the stance of policy by reducing the target range for the federal funds rate.”

post: FED''S WILLIAMS: JOBS DATA IS CONSISTENT WITH A COOLING ECONOMY. post: FED'S WILLIAMS: I WANT TO LOOK AT LATEST JOBS REPORT DATA MORE CLOSELY. post: FED'S WILLIAMS: LOWERING RATES IS ABOUT HELP KEEP JOB MARKET IN BALANCE post: Williams seems fine with 25. Pressed over why the Fed isn't in a bigger hurry to get rates down to neutral, Williams says that monetary policy is "well positioned" and "on a path" that can prevent undesirable weakness in the labor market.