Collins: Observations on Housing and the Economy

Hello, everyone. I’m so pleased to be here today. One of the most enjoyable parts of my job is meeting with business and community leaders to learn more about our local economies—their challenges and opportunities, their long-established businesses and new industries. It’s fitting that I started my visit in Schenectady, known as “The City that Lights and Hauls the World.” And now I’m here at the Albany NanoTech Complex, a hub for innovative, cutting-edge nanotechnologies. Both cities, just 20 miles apart, have made—and continue to make—important contributions to our regional and national economies. I’ll talk a bit about that today, although my focus will be on the U.S. economy. I’ll discuss what the soft and hard data are telling us, and how the totality of the data is informing my outlook for the economy. Before I go further, I must 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. FED’S WILLIAMS: MODESTLY RESTRICTIVE MONETARY POLICY GIVES SPACE TO EXAMINE NEW DATA U.S. ECONOMY IN GOOD PLACE, JOB MARKET IS STILL SOLID UNCERTAINTY, TARIFFS AND REDUCED IMMIGRATION WILL SLOW ECONOMY U.S. ECONOMY LIKELY TO GROW AROUND 1% THIS YEAR EXPECTS UNEMPLOYMENT… Fed's Williams expects unemployment rate to rise to around 4.5% by year’s end. Fed's Williams: Tariffs will boost inflation to 3% this year