Bullard: Tapering more likely if jobs improve

NEW YORK, MarketWatch, (21/9) — St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said on Friday that continuing improvement in job growth will increase the probability of tapering the Federal Reserve’s bond-buying program. But he also noted that given low inflation, the Fed can afford to be patient in assessing its asset purchases. Bullard’s comments, prepared for a luncheon organized by the New York Association for Business Economics in midtown Manhattan, reinforce what Fed officials have emphasized for a while: that bond buys depend on incoming economic data. Since the Fed started its third round of quantitative easing in September 2012, the labor market has improved substantially, Bullard said. Nonfarm payrolls rose by an average of about 184,000 per month from September 2012 to August 2013, up from an average of about 141,000 jobs per month from March 2012 to August 2012. “To the extent that these two important labor market indicators continue to show improvement, the likelihood of tapering policy action will continue to rise,” Bullard said. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bullard-tapering-more-likely-if-jobs-improve-2013-09-20