- James Bullard, St. Louis Fed President
US consumer confidence unexpectedly worsened in March for the third consecutive month due to concerns of increasing petrol prices and mounting expenses, while the complex labour market situation is undermining any rise in salaries and wages, even though increasing number of people are being employed. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary Consumer Confidence Index dropped to 90.0 points in March, compared with the final 91.7 seen in the prior month, when it had declined to a fresh three-month low. The consumer confidence index reached its all-time high in January 2000, at 112, decreasing thereafter. The gauge has never climbed above 100 again since 2004.
Meanwhile, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said that the Fed's inflation and employment goals have essentially been met and it would be "prudent" to hike interest rates. Bullard was among the majority of Fed officials who voted to keep rates on hold at the central bank's two-day meeting last week, and he has expressed concern recently about a decline in inflation expectations. However, those expectations have been moving higher lately, and Bullard said that he now feels "inflation net of the oil price shock is reasonably close to target." Yet, he did not indicated when the next interest rate hike should occur.
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