- William C. Dudley, New York Fed President
The US manufacturing sector growth slowed in November to its lowest rate since January, while indicators of new orders and output also declined to their lowest levels since the beginning of the year. Markit said its final US Manufacturing PMI gauge fell to 54.8 from October's final reading of 55.9. The new orders sub-index declined to 55.0 from 57.1 in October. Output, meanwhile, was unchanged from the flash reading, dropping to 55.6 from October's final reading of 57.8. The decline in the headline index, as well as in the new orders and output sub-indexes, marked their third straight monthly falls. The employment sub-index, however, was unchanged from the flash estimate, slightly rising from October's reading.
While, the rest of the world worries about plunging oil prices and their impact on economies, Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer and New York Fed President William C. Dudley noted that sharp declines in oil prices will bolster US economic growth by fuelling spending, playing down concerns that falling energy costs may potentially push inflation further below the official goal. The Fed's closely watched gauge of price pressures rose 1.4% in October from the same month a year ago. In addition to that, Dudley confirmed the nation's economy is resilient to withstand rate hike next year, as well as consumer price growth would start to accelerate towards the Fed's 2% inflation goal in 2015.
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