Jefferson: Fed has enough data to make policy, but no question that official data is the gold standard

Thank you, President Nagel and the Bundesbank, for the opportunity to meet with you today.1 I am excited to be here. I cherish opportunities to talk with groups of young people such as this. I spent most of my career as a professor and university administrator. I am glad to return to those roots a bit today. I will make sure I leave plenty of time for questions. But I would like to start by speaking with you about a topic that's been on my mind, and I bet it has been on many of yours: artificial intelligence (AI). Often, when I gather with students, consumers, or businesspeople, the conversation quickly turns to AI. And it is easy to understand why—you do not even need to ask a chatbot! AI has the potential to transform how we work and how we live, and it could have a profound effect on the economy. Today, I will talk about AI's rapid growth and how I approach thinking about AI by examining it through the lens of the dual mandate given to the Federal Reserve by the U.S. Congress. That mandate instructs America's central bank to pursue maximum employment and price stability. I will describe the effects that AI may have on both sides of that mandate. Finally, I will briefly update you on my economic outlook before turning to your questions. FED VICE CHAIR JEFFERSON SAYS FED SHOULD PROCEED SLOWLY WITH FURTHER RATE CUTS AS POLICY APPROACHES NEUTRAL RATE JEFFERSON WILL DECIDE ON HIS VOTES MEETING BY MEETING, CITES POTENTIAL LACK OF GOVERNMENT DATA DUE TO SHUTDOWN JEFFERSON SAYS AVAILABLE INFORMATION SUGGESTS NOT MUCH…

Employment increased by 67,000 (+0.3%) in October, the second consecutive monthly increase, and the employment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 60.8%. The unemployment rate ...