Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee

Orders and shipments of capital goods posted a strong gain early in the third quarter. In particular, orders and shipments of equipment outside the high-tech and transportation sector registered a robust increase in July, and data on computer production and shipments of high-tech goods pointed to solid increases in business demand for high-tech. In contrast, indicators of spending for transportation equipment were mixed. Aircraft shipments in July and public information on Boeing's deliveries suggested that domestic spending on aircraft was retreating somewhat in the current quarter. While fleet sales of light vehicles appeared to have moved up in July and August, sales of medium and heavy trucks remained below the second-quarter average. More generally, surveys of business conditions suggested that increases in business activity were somewhat slower in August than in the second quarter.

Book-value data for the manufacturing and trade sectors excluding motor vehicles and parts suggested that inventory accumulation stepped down noticeably in July from the second-quarter pace. Inventories of light motor vehicles rose again in July and August. The number of manufacturing purchasing managers who viewed their customers' inventory levels as too low in August slightly exceeded the number who saw them as too high.

The U.S. international trade deficit narrowed slightly in July, as exports increased more than imports. Sharp increases in exports of both aircraft and automobiles contributed importantly to the overall gain. Exports of agricultural products and consumer goods were also strong. In contrast, exports of industrial supplies and semiconductors exhibited declines. The value of imported goods and services was boosted by a large increase in imports of automotive products. Higher imports of capital goods excluding aircraft, computers, and semiconductors and of oil also contributed to the overall gain in imports.

Economic growth slowed in the second quarter in most advanced foreign economies, except the United Kingdom. The step-down was most pronounced in Japan, where GDP contracted, but was also substantial in the euro area, where total domestic demand rose only slightly. Although growth remained robust in Canada, data late in the quarter, including retail sales, indicated a more significant weakening in activity. This softness appeared to have continued into the third quarter in some economies. In July, indicators for Europe generally moderated, on balance, from their second-quarter levels; those for Canada and Japan, however, slowed more notably. Most of the readings available on economic developments after August 9, when financial turmoil intensified, were measures of confidence. They dropped, on average, but otherwise were consistent with the indicators reported for July.

Data through July suggested that economic activity in emerging-market countries remained robust. Output in the Asian economies soared in the second quarter, and several countries posted growth at or near double-digit rates. In Latin America, output in Mexico and Venezuela rebounded sharply from earlier weakness. Indicators for China in July pointed to only a modest slowing of output growth from its torrid pace in the first half of the year. The scant data for August received thus far provided little indication that the turmoil in financial markets had a significant negative impact on real economic activity in emerging-market economies.

After rapid price increases earlier this year, U.S. headline consumer price inflation was moderate in both June and July. Although food prices continued their string of sizable increases, energy prices fell in June and July and gasoline prices appear to have dropped further in August. Core PCE prices rose 0.2 percent in June and 0.1 percent in July. On a twelve-month-change basis, core PCE inflation in July was below the comparable rate twelve months earlier. Step-downs in price inflation for prescription drugs, motor vehicles, and nonmarket services accounted for nearly all of the deceleration in core PCE prices. Although owners' equivalent rent decelerated over the past year, this change was largely offset by an acceleration in tenants' rent and lodging away from home. Household surveys indicated that the median expectation for year-ahead inflation declined in August and edged down further in early September to a level only slightly above the reading at the turn of the year; the median expectation of longer-term inflation in early September remained in the range seen over the past couple of years. The producer price index for core intermediate materials rose only modestly in July. Compensation per hour decelerated in the second quarter. Nonetheless, the increase over the four quarters ending in the second quarter was noticeably above the increase in the preceding four quarters and well above the rise in the employment cost index over the same period.

At its August meeting, the FOMC decided to maintain its target for the federal funds rate at 5-1/4 percent. In the statement, the Committee acknowledged that financial markets had been volatile in recent weeks, credit conditions had become tighter for some households and businesses, and the housing correction was ongoing. The Committee reiterated its view that the economy seemed likely to continue to expand at a moderate pace over coming quarters, supported by solid growth in employment and incomes and a robust global economy. Readings on core inflation had improved modestly in recent months. However, a sustained moderation in inflation pressures had yet to be convincingly demonstrated. Moreover, the high level of resource utilization had the potential to sustain these pressures. Although the downside risks to growth had increased somewhat, the Committee repeated that its predominant policy concern remained the risk that inflation would fail to moderate as expected. Future policy adjustments would depend on the outlook for both inflation and economic growth, as implied by incoming information. The FOMC's policy decision and the accompanying statement were about in line with market expectations, and reactions in financial markets were muted.

In the days after the August FOMC meeting, financial market participants appeared to become more concerned about liquidity and counterparty credit risk. Unsecured bank funding markets showed signs of stress, including volatility in overnight lending rates, elevated term rates, and illiquidity in term funding markets. On August 10, the Federal Reserve issued a statement announcing that it was providing liquidity to facilitate the orderly functioning of financial markets. The Federal Reserve indicated that it would provide reserves as necessary through open market operations to promote trading in the federal funds market at rates close to the target rate of 5-1/4 percent. The Federal Reserve also noted that the discount window was available as a source of funding.

On August 17, the FOMC issued a statement noting that financial market conditions had deteriorated and that tighter credit conditions and increased uncertainty had the potential to restrain economic growth going forward. The FOMC judged that the downside risks to growth had increased appreciably, indicated that it was monitoring the situation, and stated that it was prepared to act as needed to mitigate the adverse effects on the economy arising from the disruptions in financial markets. Simultaneously, the Federal Reserve Board announced that, to promote the restoration of orderly conditions in financial markets, it had approved a 50 basis point reduction in the primary credit rate to 5-3/4 percent. The Board also announced a change to the Reserve Banks' usual practices to allow the provision of term financing for as long as thirty days, renewable by the borrower. In addition, the Board noted that the Federal Reserve would continue to accept a broad range of collateral for discount window loans, including home mortgages and related assets, while maintaining existing collateral margins. On August 21, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced some temporary changes to the terms and conditions of the SOMA securities lending program, including a reduction in the minimum fee. The effective federal funds rate was somewhat below the target rate for a time over the intermeeting period, as efforts to keep the funds rate near the target were hampered by technical factors and financial market volatility. In the days leading up to the FOMC meeting, however, the funds rate traded closer to the target.

Short-term financial markets came under pressure over the intermeeting period amid heightened investor unease about exposures to subprime mortgages and to structured credit products more generally. Rates on asset-backed commercial paper and on low-rated unsecured commercial paper soared, and some issuers, particularly asset-backed commercial paper programs with investments in subprime mortgages, found it difficult to roll over maturing paper. These developments led several programs to draw on backup lines, exercise options to extend the maturity of outstanding paper, or even default. As a result, asset-backed commercial paper outstanding contracted substantially. Investors sought the safety and liquidity of Treasury securities, and yields on Treasury bills dropped sharply for a period; trading conditions in the bill market were impaired at times. Meanwhile, banks took measures to conserve their liquidity and were cautious about counterparties' exposures to asset-backed commercial paper. Term interbank funding markets were significantly impaired, with rates rising well above expected future overnight rates and traders reporting a substantial drop in the availability of term funding. Pressures eased a bit in mid-September, but short-term financial markets remained strained.

Conditions in corporate credit markets were mixed. Investment- and speculative-grade corporate bond spreads edged up; they were near their highest levels in four years, although they remained far below the peaks seen in mid-2002. Investment-grade bond issuance was strong in August as yields declined, but issuance of speculative-grade bonds was scant. Speculative-grade bond deals and leveraged loans slated to finance leveraged buyouts continued to be delayed or restructured. Bank lending to businesses surged in August, apparently because some banks funded leveraged loans that they had intended to syndicate to institutional investors and perhaps because some firms substituted bank credit for commercial paper. Although markets for nonconforming mortgages were impaired over the intermeeting period, the supply of conforming mortgages seemed to have been largely unaffected by recent developments. Broad stock price indexes were volatile but about unchanged, on net, over the intermeeting period. The foreign exchange value of the dollar against other major currencies fell, on balance.

Investors appeared to mark down significantly their expected path for the federal funds rate during the intermeeting period, evidently in response to the strains in money and credit markets and a few key data releases, including weaker-than-expected reports on housing activity and employment. Yields on nominal Treasury securities fell appreciably across the term structure. TIPS-based inflation compensation at the five-year horizon was about unchanged, while inflation compensation at longer horizons crept higher.

Growth of nonfinancial domestic debt was estimated to have slowed a little in the third quarter from the average pace in the first half of the year. The deceleration in total nonfinancial debt reflected a projected slowdown in borrowing across all major sectors of the economy excluding the federal government. Although it decelerated in the third quarter, business-sector debt continued to advance at a solid pace, boosted by a surge in business loans. In the household sector, mortgage borrowing was estimated to have slowed notably, as mortgage interest rates moved up, nonconforming mortgages became harder to obtain, and as home sales slowed and house prices decelerated. M2 increased at a brisk pace in August. The rise was led by a surge in liquid deposits and in retail money funds as investors adjusted their portfolios in response to the turmoil in financial markets.

CONTINUED

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