The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s President and CEO Eric S. Rosengren
Keith Bedford | Reuters
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Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren believes the U.S. economy is on track for GDP growth of just 1.7% for the second half of 2019.
Asked by CNBC’s Steve Liesman how much he thinks the economy will grow by year’s end, the Fed official said his “overall view is it’s going to be around potential for the second half this year, so the third and fourth quarter. My estimate of potential is around 1.7%.”
“I think that data that we have is weaker than it was before, but it’s actually pretty consistent with getting around 1.7%,” he continued. “If we start getting much lower than that, then that implies a rising unemployment rate, and then we’d really want to think about what’s happening in the economy.”
The Fed approved its second quarter-point interest rate cut last month amid growing concerns that the U.S. economy could be set for slowing GDP growth heading into 2020. While Fed’s decision-making committee as a whole has not pointed to further cuts, members are split on how to adjust interest rates.
Three Fed regional presidents, including Rosengren each voted against the central bank’s 25-basis-point cut at the time. Rosengren has previously said he’d prefer to keep the funds rate steady while St. Louis Fed President James Bullard advocated for a steeper cut.
