Monetary Policy Report to the Congress for July 22, 1999

Section 1

Report submitted to the Congress on July 22, 1999, pursuant to the Full Employment and
Balanced Growth Act  of 1978  


Monetary Policy and the Economic Outlook  

The U.S. economy has continued to perform well in 1999. The ongoing economic expansion has
moved into a near-record ninth year, with real output expanding vigorously, the unemployment
rate hovering around lows last seen in 1970, and underlying trends in inflation remaining
subdued. Responding to the availability of new technologies at increasingly attractive prices,
firms have been investing heavily in new capital equipment; this investment has boosted
productivity and living standards while holding down the rise in costs and prices.  

Two of the major threats faced by the economy in late 1998--economic downturns in many
foreign nations and turmoil in financial markets around the world--receded over the first half of
this year. Economic conditions overseas improved on a broad front. In Asia, activity picked up
in the emerging-market economies that had been battered by the financial crises of 1997. The
Brazilian economy--Latin America's largest--exhibited a great deal of resilience with support
from the international community, in the wake of the devaluation and subsequent floating of the
real in January. These developments, along with the considerable easing of monetary policy in
late 1998 and early 1999 in a number of regions, including Europe, Japan, and the United States,
fostered a markedly better tone in the world's financial markets. On balance, U.S. equity prices
rose substantially, and in credit markets, risk spreads receded toward more typical levels.
Issuance of private debt securities ballooned in late 1998 and early 1999, in part making up for
borrowing that was postponed when markets were disrupted.  

As these potentially contractionary forces dissipated, the risk of higher inflation in the United
States resurfaced as the greatest concern for monetary policy. Although underlying inflation
trends generally remained quiescent, oil prices rose sharply, other commodity prices trended up,
and prices of non-oil imports fell less rapidly, raising overall inflation rates. Despite
improvements in technology and business processes that have yielded striking gains in
efficiency, the robust growth of aggregate demand, fueled by rising equity wealth and readily
available credit, produced even tighter labor markets in the first half of 1999 than in the second
half of 1998. If this trend were to continue, labor compensation would begin climbing
increasingly faster than warranted by productivity growth and put upward pressure on prices.
Moreover, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) was concerned that as economic
activity abroad strengthened, the firming of commodity and other prices might also foster a less
favorable inflation environment. To gain some greater assurance that the good inflation
performance of the economy would continue, the Committee decided at its June meeting to
reverse a portion of the easing undertaken last fall when global financial markets were disrupted;
the Committee's target for the overnight federal funds rate, a key indicator of money market
conditions, was raised from 4-3/4 percent to 5 percent.  


Monetary Policy, Financial Markets, and the Economy over the First Half of 1999  

The FOMC met in February and March against the backdrop of continued rapid expansion of the
U.S. economy. Demand was strong, employment growth was brisk, and labor markets were
tight. Nonetheless, price inflation was still low, held in check by a substantial gain in
productivity, ample manufacturing capacity, and low inflation expectations.  

Activity was supported by a further settling down of financial markets in the first quarter after a
period of considerable turmoil in the late summer and fall of 1998. In that earlier period, which
followed Russia's moratorium on a substantial portion of its debt payments in mid-August, the
normal functioning of U.S. financial markets had been impaired as investors cut back sharply
their credit risk exposures and market liquidity dried up. The Federal Reserve responded to these
developments by trimming its target for the overnight federal funds rate by 75 basis points in
three steps. In early 1999, the devaluation and subsequent floating of the Brazilian real in
mid-January heightened concerns for a while, but market conditions overall improved
considerably.  

At its February and March meetings, the FOMC left the stance of monetary policy unchanged.
The Committee expected that the growth of output might well slow sufficiently to bring
production into close enough alignment with the economy's enhanced potential to forestall the
emergence of a trend of rising inflation. Although domestic demand was still increasing rapidly,
it was anticipated to moderate over time in response to the buildup of large stocks of business
equipment, housing units, and durable goods and more restrained expansion in wealth in the
absence of appreciable further increases in equity prices. Furthermore, the FOMC, after taking
account of the near-term effects of the rise in crude oil prices, saw few signs that cost and price
inflation was in the process of picking up. The unusual combination of very high labor resource
utilization and sustained low inflation suggested considerable uncertainty about the relationship
between output and prices. In this environment, the Committee concluded that it could wait for
additional information about the balance of risks to the economic expansion.  

By the time of the May FOMC meeting, demand was still showing considerable forward
momentum, and growth in economic activity still appeared to be running in excess of the rate of
increase of the economy's long-run capacity to expand output. Borrowers' heavy demands for
credit were being met on relatively favorable terms, and wealth was further boosted by rapidly
rising equity prices. Also, the economic and financial outlook for many emerging-market
countries was brighter. Trends in inflation were still subdued, although consumer prices--even
apart from a big jump in energy prices--were reported to have registered a sizable rise in April.  

At its May meeting, the FOMC believed that these developments tilted the risks toward further
robust growth that would exert additional pressure on already taut labor markets and ultimately
show through to inflation. Moreover, a turnaround in oil and other commodity markets meant
that prices of these goods would no longer be holding down inflation, as they had over the past
year. Yet, the economy to date had shown a remarkable ability to accommodate increases in
demand without generating greater underlying inflation trends, as the continued growth of labor
productivity had helped to contain cost pressures. The uncertainty about the prospects for prices,
demand pressures, and productivity was large, and the Committee decided to defer any policy
action. However, in light of its increased concern about the outlook for inflation, the Committee
adopted an asymmetric directive tilted toward a possible firming of policy. The Committee also
wanted to inform the public of this significant revision in its view, and it announced a change in
the directive immediately after the meeting. The announcement was the first under the
Committee's policy of announcing changes in the tilt of the domestic directive when it wants to
communicate a major shift in its view about the balance of risks to the economy or the likely
direction of its future actions.  

In the time leading up to the FOMC's June meeting, economic activity in the United States
continued to move forward at a brisk pace, and prospects in a number of foreign economies
showed additional improvement. Labor markets tightened slightly further. The federal funds
rate, however, remained at the lower level established in November 1998, when the Committee
took its last of three steps to counter severe financial market strains. With those strains largely
gone, the Committee believed that the time had come to reverse some of that accommodation,
and it raised the targeted overnight federal funds rate 25 basis points, to 5 percent. Looking
ahead, the Committee expected demand to remain strong, but it also noted the possibility that a
further pickup in productivity could allow the economy to accommodate this demand for some
time without added inflationary pressure. In light of these conflicting forces in the economy, the
FOMC returned to a symmetric directive. Nonetheless, with labor markets already tight, the
Committee recognized that it needed to stay especially alert to signs that inflationary forces were
emerging that could prove inimical to the economic expansion.  


Economic Projections for 1999 and 2000  

The members of the Board of Governors and the Federal Reserve Bank presidents see good
prospects for sustained, solid economic expansion through next year. For this year, the central
tendency of their forecasts of growth of real gross domestic product is 3-1/2 percent to 3-3/4
percent, measured as the change between the fourth quarters of 1998 and 1999. For 2000, the
forecasts of real GDP are mainly in the 2-1/2 percent to 3 percent range. With this pace of
expansion, the civilian unemployment rate is expected to remain close to the recent 4-1/4 percent
level over the next six quarters.  

The increases in income and wealth that have bolstered consumer demand over the first half of
this year and the desire to invest in new high-technology equipment that has boosted business
demand during the same period should continue to stimulate spending over the quarters ahead.
However, several factors are expected to exert some restraint on the economy's momentum by
next year. With purchases of durable goods by both consumers and businesses having risen still
further and running at high levels, the stocks of such goods probably are rising more rapidly than
is likely to be desired in the longer run, and the growth of spending should moderate. The
increase in market interest rates should help to damp spending as well. And unless the
extraordinary gains in equity prices of the past few years are extended, the impetus to spending
from increases in wealth will diminish.  

Federal Reserve policymakers believe that this year's rise in the consumer price index (CPI) will
be larger than that in 1998, largely because of the rebound in retail energy prices that has already
occurred. Crude oil prices have moved up sharply, reversing the decline posted in 1998 and
leading to a jump in the CPI this spring. For next year, the FOMC participants expect the
increase in the CPI to remain around this year's pace, with a central tendency of 2 percent to
2-1/2 percent. Futures market quotes suggest that the prevailing expectation is that the rebound
in oil prices has run its course now, and ample industrial capacity and productivity gains may
help limit inflationary pressures in coming months as well. With labor utilization very high,
though, and demand still strong, significant risks remain even after the recent policy firming that
economic and financial conditions may turn out to be inconsistent with keeping costs and prices
from escalating.  

Although interest rates currently are a bit higher than anticipated in the economic assumptions
underlying the budget projections in the Administration's Mid-Session Review, there is no
apparent tension between the Administration's plans and the Federal  Reserve policymakers'
views. In fact, Federal Reserve officials project somewhat faster growth in real GDP and slightly
lower unemployment rates into 2000 than the Administration does, while the Administration's
projections for inflation are within the Federal Reserve's central tendencies. 


Money and Debt Ranges for 1999 and 2000  

At its meeting in late June, the FOMC reaffirmed the ranges for 1999 growth of money and debt
that it had established in February: 1 percent to 5 percent for M2, 2 percent to 6 percent for M3,
and 3 percent to 7 percent for debt of the domestic nonfinancial sectors. The FOMC set the same
ranges for 2000 on a provisional basis.  

As has been the case since the mid-1990s, the FOMC views the ranges for money growth as
benchmarks for growth under conditions of price stability and the historically typical
relationship between money and nominal income. The disruption of the historically typical
pattern of the velocities of M2 and M3 (the ratio of nominal GDP to the aggregates) during the
1990s implies that the Committee cannot establish, with any confidence, specific target ranges
for expected money growth for a given year that will be consistent with the economic
performance that it desires. However, persistently fast or slow money growth can accompany, or
even precede, deviations from desirable economic outcomes. Thus, the behavior of the monetary
aggregates, evaluated in the context of other financial and nonfinancial indicators, will continue
to be of interest to Committee members in their policy deliberations.  

The velocities of M2 and M3 declined again in the first half of this year, albeit more slowly than
in 1998. The Committee's easing of monetary policy in the fall of 1998 contributed to the
decline, but only to a modest extent. It is not clear what other factors led to the drop, although
the considerable increase in wealth relative to income resulting from the substantial gains in
equity prices over the past few years may have played a role. Investors could be rebalancing
their portfolios, which have become skewed toward equities, by reallocating some wealth to
other assets, including those in M2.  

Even if the velocities of M2 and M3 were to return to their historically typical patterns over the
balance of 1999 and in 2000, M2 and M3 likely would be at the upper bounds of, or above, their
longer-term price-stability ranges in both years, given the Committee's projections of nominal
GDP growth. This relatively rapid expansion in nominal income reflects faster expected growth
in productivity than when the price-stability ranges were established in the mid-1990s and
inflation that is still in excess of price stability. The more rapid increase in productivity, if it
persists for a while and is sufficiently large, might in the future suggest an upward adjustment to
the money ranges consistent with price stability. However, considerable uncertainty attends the
trend in productivity, and the Committee chose not to adjust the ranges at its most recent
meeting.  

Debt of the nonfinancial sectors has expanded at roughly the same pace as nominal income this
year--its typical pattern. Given the stability of this relationship, the Committee selected a growth
range for the debt aggregate that encompasses its expectations for debt growth in both years. The
Committee expects growth in nominal income to slow in 2000, and with it, debt growth.
Nonetheless, growth of this aggregate is projected to remain within the range of 3 percent to 7
percent.  
Monetary Policy Report to the Congress for July 22, 1999

Section 2 


Economic and Financial Developments in 1999  

The economy has continued to grow rapidly so far this year. Real gross domestic product rose
more than 4 percent at an annual rate in the first quarter of 1999, and available data point to
another significant gain in the second quarter.\1 The rise in activity has been brisk enough to
produce further substantial growth of employment and a reduction in the unemployment rate to
4-1/4 percent. Growth in output has been driven by strong domestic demand, which in turn has
been supported by further increases in equity prices, by the continuing salutary effects of
government saving and inflows of foreign investment on the cost of capital, and by more
smoothly functioning financial markets as the turbulence that marked the latter part of 1998
subsided. Against the background of the easing of monetary policy last fall and continuing
robust economic activity, investors became more willing to advance funds to businesses; risk
spreads have receded and corporate debt issuance has been brisk.  

Inflation developments were mixed over the first half of the year. The consumer price index
increased more rapidly owing to a sharp rebound in energy prices. Nevertheless, price inflation
outside of the energy area generally remained subdued despite the slight further tightening of
labor markets, as sizable gains in labor productivity and ample industrial capacity held down
price increases.  


The Household Sector  


Consumer Spending  

Real personal consumption expenditures surged 6-3/4 percent at an annual rate in the first
quarter, and more recent data point to a sizable further advance in the second quarter. The
underlying fundamentals for the household sector have remained extremely favorable. Real
incomes have continued to rise briskly with strong growth of employment and real wages, and
consumers have benefited from substantial gains in wealth. Not surprisingly, consumer
confidence--as measured, for example, by the University of Michigan Survey Research Center
(SRC) and Conference Board surveys--has remained quite upbeat in this environment.  

Growth of consumer spending in the first quarter was strong in all expenditure categories.
Outlays for durable goods rose sharply, reflecting sizable increases in spending on electronic
equipment (especially computers) and on a wide range of other goods, including household
furnishings. Purchases of cars and light trucks remained at a high level, supported by declining
relative prices as well as by the fundamentals that have buoyed consumer spending more
generally. Outlays for nondurable goods were also robust, reflecting in part a sharp increase in
expenditures for apparel. Finally, spending on services climbed steeply as well early this year,
paced by sizable increases in spending on recreation and brokerage services. In the second
quarter, consumers apparently boosted their purchases of motor vehicles further. In all, real
personal consumption expenditures rose at more than a 4 percent annual rate in April and May,
an increase that is below the first-quarter pace but is still quite rapid by historical standards.  

Real disposable income increased at an annual rate of 3-1/2 percent in the first quarter, with the
strong labor market generating marked increases in wages and salaries. Even so, income grew
less rapidly than expenditures, and the personal saving rate declined further; indeed, by May the
saving rate had moved below negative 1 percent. Much of the decline in the saving rate in recent
years can be explained by the sharp rise in household net worth relative to disposable income
that is associated with the appreciation of households' stock market assets since 1995. This rise
in wealth has given households the wherewithal to spend at levels beyond what current incomes
would otherwise allow. As share values moved up further in the first half of this year, the
wealth-to-income ratio continued to edge higher despite the absence of saving out of disposable
income.  


Residential Investment  

Housing activity remained robust in the first half of this year. In the single-family sector,
positive fundamentals and unseasonably good weather helped boost starts to a pace of 1.39
million units in the first quarter--the highest level of activity in twenty years. This extremely
strong level of building activity strained the availability of labor and some materials; as a result,
builders had trouble achieving the usual seasonal increase in the second quarter, and starts edged
off to a still-high pace of 1.31 million units. Home sales moderated in the spring: Sales of both
new and existing homes were off some in May from their earlier peaks, and consumers'
perceptions of homebuying conditions as measured by the Michigan SRC survey have declined
from the very high marks recorded in late 1998 and early this year. Nonetheless, demand has
remained quite robust, even in the face of a backup in mortgage interest rates: Builders'
evaluations of new home sales remained very high at mid-year, and mortgage applications for
home purchases showed strength into July.  

With strong demand pushing up against limited capacity, home prices have risen substantially,
although evidence is mixed as to whether the rate of increase is picking up. The quality-adjusted
price of new homes rose 5 percent over the four quarters ended in 1999:Q1, up from 3-1/4
percent over the preceding four-quarter period. The repeat sales index of existing home prices
also rose about 5 percent between 1998:Q1 and 1999:Q1, but this series posted even larger
increases in the year-earlier period. On the cost side, tight supplies have led to rising prices for
some building materials; prices of plywood, lumber, gypsum wallboard, and insulation have all
moved up sharply over the past twelve months. In addition, hourly compensation costs have
been rising relatively rapidly in the construction sector.  

Starts of multifamily units surged to 384,000 at an annual rate in the first quarter and ran at a
pace a bit under 300,000 units in the second quarter. As in the single-family sector, demand has
been supported by strong fundamentals, builders have been faced with tight supplies of some
materials, and prices have been rising briskly: Indeed, apartment property values have been
increasing at around a 10 percent annual rate for three years now.  


Household Finance  

In addition to rising wealth and rapid income growth, the strong expenditures of households on
housing and consumer goods over the first half of 1999 were encouraged by the decline in
interest rates in the latter part of 1998. Households borrowed heavily to finance spending. Their
debt expanded at a 9-1/2 percent annual rate in the first quarter, up from the 8-3/4 percent pace
over 1998, and preliminary data for the second quarter indicate continued robust growth.
Mortgage borrowing, fueled by the vigorous housing market and favorable mortgage interest
rates, was particularly brisk in the first quarter, with mortgage debt rising at an annual rate of 10
percent. In the second quarter, mortgage rates moved up considerably, but preliminary data
indicate that borrowing was still substantial.  

Consumer credit growth accelerated in the first half of 1999. It expanded at about an 8 percent
annual rate compared with 5-1/2 percent for all of 1998. The growth of nonrevolving credit
picked up, reflecting brisk sales and attractive financing rates for automobiles and other
consumer durable goods. The expansion of revolving credit, which includes credit card loans,
slowed a bit from its pace in 1998.  

Households apparently have not encountered added difficulties meeting the payments associated
with their greater indebtedness, as measures of household financial stress improved a bit on
balance in the first quarter. Personal bankruptcies dropped off considerably, although part of the
decline may reflect the aftermath of a surge in filings in late 1998 that occurred in response to
pending legislation that would limit the ability of certain debtors to obtain forgiveness of their
obligations. Delinquency rates on several types of household loans edged lower. Delinquency
and charge-off rates on credit card debt moved down from their 1997 peaks but remained at
historically high rates. A number of banks continued to tighten credit card lending standards this
year, as indicated by banks' responses to Federal Reserve surveys.  


The Business Sector  


Fixed Investment  

Real business fixed investment appears to have posted another huge increase over the first half
of 1999. Investment spending continued to be driven by buoyant expectations of sales prospects
as well as by rapidly declining prices of computers and other high-tech equipment. In recent
quarters, spending also may have been boosted by the desire to upgrade computer equipment in
advance of the rollover to the year 2000. Real investment has been rising rapidly for several
years now; indeed, the average increase of 10 percent annually over the past five years
represents the most rapid sustained expansion of investment in more than thirty years. Although
a growing portion of this investment has gone to cover depreciation on purchases of short-lived
equipment, the investment boom has led to a notable upgrading and expansion of the capital
stock and in many cases has embodied new technologies. These factors likely have been
important in the nation's improved productivity performance over the past few years.  

Real outlays for producers' durable equipment increased at an annual rate of 9-1/2 percent in the
first quarter of the year, after having surged nearly 17 percent last year, and may well have
re-accelerated in the second quarter. Outlays on communications equipment were especially
robust in the first quarter, driven by the ongoing effort by telecommunications companies to
upgrade their networks to provide a full range of voice and data transmission services. Purchases
of computers and other information processing equipment were also up notably in the first
quarter, albeit below last year's phenomenal spending pace, and shipments of computers surged
again in April and May. Shipments of aircraft to domestic carriers apparently soared in the
second quarter, and business spending on motor vehicles, including medium and heavy trucks as
well as light vehicles, has remained extremely strong as well.  

Real business spending for nonresidential structures has been much less robust than for
equipment, and spending trends have varied greatly across sectors of the market. Real spending
on office buildings and lodging facilities has been increasing impressively, while spending on
institutional and industrial structures has been declining--the last reflecting ample capacity in the
manufacturing sector. In the first quarter of this year, overall spending on structures was
reported in the national income and product accounts to have moved up at a solid 5-3/4 percent
annual rate, reflecting a further sharp increase in spending on office buildings and lodging
facilities. However, revised source data indicate a somewhat smaller first-quarter increase in
nonresidential construction and also point to a slowing in activity in April and May from the
first-quarter pace. 


Inventory Investment  

Inventory-sales ratios in many industries dropped considerably early this year, as the pace of
stockbuilding by nonfarm businesses, which had slowed notably over 1998, remained well
below the surge of consumer and business spending in the first quarter. Although production
picked up some in the spring, final demand remained quite strong, and available monthly data
suggest that businesses accumulated inventories in April and May at a rate not much different
from the modest first-quarter pace.  

In the motor vehicle sector, makers geared up production in the latter part of 1998 to boost
inventories from their low levels after last summer's strikes. Nevertheless, as with the business
sector overall, motor vehicle inventories remained on the lean side by historical standards in the
early part of this year as a result of surprisingly strong vehicle sales. As a consequence,
manufacturers boosted the pace of assemblies in the second quarter to the highest level in twenty
years. With no noticeable signs of a slowing in demand, producers have scheduled third-quarter
output to remain at the lofty heights of the second quarter.  


Corporate Profits and Business Finance  

The economic profits of nonfinancial U.S. corporations rose considerably in the first quarter,
even after allowing for the depressing effect in the fourth quarter of payments associated with
the settlement between the tobacco companies and the states. Despite the growth of profits,
capital expenditures by nonfinancial businesses continued to outstrip internal cash flow.
Moreover, borrowing requirements were enlarged by the net reduction in equity outstanding, as
the substantial volume of retirements from merger activity and share repurchase programs
exceeded the considerable volume of gross issuance of both initial and seasoned public equities.
As a result, businesses continued to borrow at a brisk pace: Aggregate debt of the nonfinancial
business sector expanded at a 9-1/2 percent annual rate in the first quarter. As financial market
conditions improved after the turmoil of the fall, businesses returned to the corporate bond and
commercial paper markets for funding, and corporate bond issuance reached a record high in
March. Some of the proceeds were used to pay off bank loans, which had soared in the fall, and
these repayments curbed the expansion of business loans at banks. Partial data for the second
quarter indicate that borrowing by nonfinancial businesses slowed somewhat.  

Risk spreads have receded on balance this year from their elevated levels in the latter part of
1998. From the end of December 1998 through mid-July, investment-grade corporate bond
yields moved up from historically low levels, but by less than yields on comparable Treasury
securities, and the spread between these yields narrowed to a level somewhat above that
prevailing before the Russian crisis. The rise in investment-grade corporate bond yields was
restrained by investors' apparently increased willingness to hold such debt, as growing optimism
about the economy and favorable earnings reports gave investors more confidence about the
prospective financial health of private borrowers. Yield spreads on below-investment-grade
corporate debt over comparable Treasury securities, which had risen considerably in the latter
part of 1998, also retreated. But in mid-July, these spreads were still well above the thin levels
prevailing before the period of financial turmoil but in line with their historical averages.  

In contrast to securities market participants, banks' attitudes toward business lending apparently
became somewhat more cautious over the first half of the year, according to Federal Reserve
surveys. The average spread of bank lending rates over the FOMC's intended federal funds rate
remained elevated. On net, banks continued to tighten lending terms and standards this year,
although the percentage that reported tightening was much smaller than in the fall.  

The overall financial condition of nonfinancial businesses was strong over the first half of the
year, although a few indicators suggested a slight deterioration. In the first quarter, the ratio of
net interest payments to corporate cash flow remained close to the modest levels of 1998, as low
interest rates continued to hold down interest payments. Delinquency rates for commercial and
industrial loans from banks ticked up, but they were still modest by historical standards.
Similarly, over the first half of the year, business failures--measured as the ratio of liabilities of
failed businesses to total liabilities--stepped up from the record low in 1998. The default rate on
below-investment-grade bonds rose to its highest level in several years, an increase stemming in
part from defaults by companies whose earnings were impaired by the drop in oil and other
commodity prices last year. The total volume of business debt that was downgraded exceeded
slightly the volume of debt that was upgraded.  


The Government Sector  


Federal Government  

The incoming news on the federal budget continues to be quite favorable. Over the first eight
months of fiscal year 1999--the period from October through May--the unified budget registered
a surplus of about $41 billion, compared with $16 billion during the comparable period of fiscal
1998. If the latest projections from the Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional
Budget Office are realized, the unified budget for fiscal 1999 as a whole will show a surplus of
around $100 billion to $120 billion, or more than 1 percent of GDP--a striking turnaround from
the outsized budget deficits of previous years, which approached 5 percent of GDP in the early
1990s. 

As a result of this turnaround, the federal government is now contributing positively to the pool
of national saving. In fact, despite the recent drop in the personal saving rate, gross saving by
households, businesses, and governments has remained above 17 percent of GDP in recent
quarters--up from the 14 percent range that prevailed in the early 1990s. This well-maintained
pool of national savings, together with the continued willingness of foreigners to finance our
current account deficits, has helped hold down the cost of capital, thus contributing to our
nation's investment boom.  

This year's increase in the federal surplus has reflected continued rapid growth of receipts in
combination with a modest increase in outlays. Federal receipts were 5 percent higher in the first
eight months of fiscal 1999 than in the year-earlier period. With profits leveling off from last
year, receipts of corporate taxes have stagnated so far this fiscal year. However, individual
income tax payments are up appreciably, reflecting the solid gains in household incomes and
perhaps also a rise in capital gains realizations large enough to offset last year's reduction in
capital gains tax rates. At the same time, federal outlays increased only 2-1/2 percent in nominal
terms and barely at all in real terms during the first eight months of the fiscal year, relative to the
comparable year-earlier period. Spending growth has been restrained in major portions of both
the discretionary (notably, defense) and nondiscretionary (notably, net interest, social security,
and Medicare) categories--although this year's emergency supplemental spending bill, at about
$14 billion, was somewhat larger than similar bills in recent years.  

As for the part of federal spending that is counted in GDP, real federal outlays for consumption
and gross investment, which had changed little over the past few years, declined at a 2 percent
annual rate in the first quarter of 1999. A drop in real defense outlays more than offset a rise in
nondefense expenditures in the first quarter. And despite the military action in the Balkans and
the recent emergency spending bill, defense spending appears to have declined in the second
quarter as well. 

The budget surpluses of the past two years have led to a notable decline in the stock of federal
debt held by private investors as a share of GDP. Since its peak in March 1997, the total volume
of Treasury debt held by private investors has fallen by nearly $130 billion. The Treasury has
reduced its issuance of interest-bearing marketable debt in fiscal 1999. The decrease has been
concentrated in nominal coupon issues; in 1998, by contrast, the Treasury retired both bill and
coupon issues in roughly equal  measure. Offerings of inflation-indexed securities have remained
an important part of the Treasury's overall borrowing program: Since the beginning of fiscal
1999, the Treasury has sold nearly $31 billion of such securities.  


State and Local Governments  

The fiscal condition of state and local governments has remained quite positive as well.
Revenues have been boosted by increases in tax collections due to strong growth of
private-sector incomes and expenditures--increases that were enough to offset an ongoing trend
of tax cuts. Meanwhile, outlays have continued to be restrained. In all, at the state level, fiscal
1999 looks to have been the seventh consecutive year of improving fiscal positions; of the
forty-six states whose fiscal years ended on June 30, all appear to have run surpluses in their
general funds.  

Real expenditures for consumption and gross investment by states and localities, which had been
rising only moderately through most of 1998, jumped at a 7-3/4 percent annual rate in the first
quarter of this year. This increase was driven by a surge in construction expenditures that was
helped along by unseasonably favorable weather, and spending data for April and May suggest
that much of this rise in construction spending was offset in the second quarter. As for
employment, state and local governments added jobs over the first half of the year at about the
same pace as they did last year.  

Debt of state and local governments expanded at a 5-1/2 percent rate in the first quarter. The low
interest rate environment and strong economy encouraged the financing of new projects and the
refunding of outstanding higher-rate debt. Borrowing slowed to a more modest pace in the
second quarter, as yields on long-dated municipal bonds moved up, but by less than those on
comparable Treasury securities. The credit quality of municipal securities improved further over
the first half of the year, with more issues being upgraded than downgraded.  


External Sector  


Trade and the Current Account  

The current account deficit reached $274 billion at an annual rate in the first quarter of 1999, a
bit more than 3 percent of GDP, compared with $221 billion and 2-1/2 percent of GDP for 1998.
A widening of the deficit on trade in goods and services, to $215 billion at an annual rate in the
first quarter from $173 billion in the fourth quarter of 1998, accounted for the deterioration in
the current account balance. Data for April and May indicate that the trade deficit increased
further in the second quarter.  

The quantity of imports of goods and services again grew vigorously in the first quarter. The
annual rate of growth of imports, at 13-1/2 percent, continued the rapid pace seen over 1998 and
reflected the strength of U.S. domestic demand and the effects of past dollar appreciation.
Imports of consumer goods, automotive products, computers, and semiconductors were
particularly robust. Preliminary data for April and May suggest that real import growth remained
strong, as nominal imports rose steadily and non-oil import prices posted a moderate decline.  

The volume of exports of goods and services declined at an annual rate of 5 percent in the first
quarter. The decline partially reversed the strong increase in the fourth quarter of last year. The
weakness of economic activity in a number of U.S. trading partners and the strength of the dollar
damped demand for U.S. exports. Declines were registered in aircraft, machinery, industrial
supplies, and agricultural products. Exports to Asia generally turned down in the first quarter
from the elevated levels recorded in the fourth quarter, when they were boosted by record
deliveries of aircraft to the region. Preliminary data for April and May suggest that real exports
advanced slightly.  


Capital Account  

Foreign direct investment in the United States and U.S. direct investment abroad remained
robust in the first quarter, reflecting brisk cross-border merger and acquisition activity. On
balance, net capital flows through direct investment registered a modest outflow in the first
quarter compared with a huge net inflow in the fourth quarter. Fourth-quarter inflows were
swollen by several large mergers. Net foreign purchases of U.S. securities also continued to be
quite sizable but again were well below the extraordinary pace of the fourth quarter. Most of the
slowdown in the first quarter is attributable to a reduced demand for Treasury securities on the
part of private investors abroad. But capital inflows from foreign official sources also slowed in
the first quarter. U.S. residents on net sold foreign securities in the first quarter, but at a slower
rate than in the previous quarter.  


The Labor Market  


Employment and Labor Supply  

Labor demand remained very strong during the first half of 1999. Payroll employment increased
about 200,000 per month on average, which, although less rapid than the 244,000 pace
registered over 1998, is faster than the growth of the working-age population. With the labor
force participation rate remaining about flat at just over 67 percent, the unemployment rate
edged down further from an average of 4-1/2 percent in 1998 to 4-1/4 percent in the first half of
this year--the lowest unemployment rate seen in the United States in almost thirty years.
Furthermore, the pool of potential workers, including not just the unemployed but also
individuals who are out of the labor force but report that they want a job, declined late last year
to the lowest share of the labor force since collection of these data began in 1970--and it has
remained near that low this year. Not surprisingly, businesses in many parts of the country have
perceived workers to be in very short supply, as evidenced by high levels of help-wanted
advertising and surveys showing substantial difficulties in filling job openings.  

Employment gains in the private service-producing sector remained sizable in the first six
months of the year and more than accounted for the rise in nonfarm payrolls over this period.
Payrolls continued to rise briskly in the services industry, with firms providing business services
(such as help supply services and computer services) adding jobs especially rapidly. Job gains
were quite sizable in retail trade as well. Within the service-producing sector, only the finance,
insurance, and real estate industry has slowed the pace of net hiring from last year's rate,
reflecting, in part, a slower rate of job gains in the mortgage banking industry as the refinancing
wave has ebbed.  

Within the goods-producing sector, the boom in construction activity pushed payrolls in that
industry higher in the first six months of this year. But in manufacturing, where employment
began declining more than a year ago in the wake of a drop in export demand, payrolls
continued to fall in the first half of 1999; in all, nearly half a million factory jobs have been shed
since March 1998. Despite these job losses, manufacturing output continued to rise in the first
half of this year, reflecting large gains in labor productivity.  


Labor Costs and Productivity  

Growth in hourly compensation, which had been on an upward trend since 1995, appears to have
leveled off and, by some measures, has slowed in the past year. According to the employment
cost index (ECI), hourly compensation costs increased 3 percent over the twelve months ended
in March, down from 3-1/2 percent over the preceding twelve-month period. Part of both the
earlier acceleration and more recent deceleration in the ECI apparently reflected swings in
commissions, bonuses, and other types of "variable" compensation, especially in the finance,
insurance, and real estate industry. But in addition, part of the recent deceleration probably
reflects the influence of restrained price inflation in tempering nominal wage increases.
Although down from earlier increases, the 3 percent rise in the ECI over the twelve months
ended in March was well above the rise in prices over this period and therefore was enough to
generate solid gains in workers' real pay.  

The deceleration in the ECI through March has been most pronounced in the wages and salaries
component, whose twelve-month change slowed 3/4 percentage point from a year earlier. More
recently, data on average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers may point to
a leveling off, but no further slowing, of wage growth: This series was up at about a 4 percent
annual rate over the first six months of this year, about the same as the increase over 1998.
Growth in the benefits component of the ECI slowed somewhat as well in the year ended in
March, to a 2-1/4 percent increase. However, employers' costs for health insurance are one
component of benefits that has been rising more rapidly of late. After showing essentially no
change from 1994 through 1996, the ECI for health insurance accelerated to a 3-3/4 percent pace
over the twelve months ended in March.  

A second measure of hourly compensation--the Bureau of Labor Statistics' measure of
compensation per hour in the nonfarm business sector, which is derived from compensation
information from the national accounts--has been rising more rapidly than the ECI in the past
few years and has also decelerated less so far this year. Nonfarm compensation per hour
increased 4 percent over the four quarters ended in the first quarter of 1999, 1 percentage point
more than the rise in the ECI over this period. One reason these two compensation measures
may diverge is that the ECI does not capture certain forms of compensation, such as stock
options and hiring, retention, and referral bonuses, whereas nonfarm compensation per hour does
measure these payments./2 Although the two compensation measures differ in numerous other
respects as well, the series' divergence may lend support to anecdotal evidence that these
alternative forms of compensation have been increasing especially rapidly in recent years.
However, because nonfarm compensation per hour can be revised substantially, one must be
cautious in putting much weight on the most recent quarterly figures from this series.  

Rapid productivity growth has made it possible to sustain these increases in workers'
compensation without placing great pressure on businesses' costs. Labor productivity in the
nonfarm business sector posted another sizable gain in the first quarter of 1999, and the increase
over the four quarters ended in the first quarter of 1999 was 2-1/2 percent. Indeed, productivity
has increased at a 2 percent pace since 1995--well above the trend of roughly 1 percent per year
that had prevailed over the preceding two decades./3 This recent productivity performance is all
the more impressive given that businesses are reported to have had to divert considerable
resources toward avoiding computer problems associated with the century date change, and
given as well that businesses may have had to hire less-skilled workers than were available
earlier in the expansion when the pool of potential workers was not so shallow. Part of the
strength in productivity growth over the past few years may have been a cyclical response to the
rapid growth of output over this period. But productivity may also be reaping a more persistent
payoff from the boom in business investment and the accompanying introduction of newer
technologies that have occurred over the past several years.  

Even these impressive gains in labor productivity may not have kept up fully with increases in
firms' real compensation costs of late. Over the past two years, real compensation, measured by
the ECI relative to the price of nonfarm business output, has increased the same hefty 2-1/2
percent per year as labor productivity; however, measured instead using nonfarm compensation
per hour, real compensation has increased somewhat more than productivity over this period,
implying a rising share of compensation in total national income. A persistent period of real
compensation increases in excess of productivity growth would reduce firms' capacity to absorb
further wage gains without putting upward pressure on prices.  


Prices  

Price inflation moved up in early 1999 from a level in 1998 that was depressed by a transitory
drop in energy and other commodity prices. After increasing only about 1-1/2 percent over 1998,
the consumer price index rose at a 2-1/4 percent annual rate over the first six months of this
year, driven by a sharp turnaround in prices of gasoline and heating oil. However, the so-called
"core" CPI, which excludes food and energy items, rose at an annual rate of only 1.6 percent
over this period--a somewhat smaller increase than that registered over 1998 once adjustment is
made for the effects of changes in CPI methodology: According to a new research series from
the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the core CPI would have increased 2.2 percent over 1998
had 1999 methods been in place in that year./4  

The moderation of the core CPI in recent years has reflected a variety of factors that have helped
hold inflation in check despite what has been by all accounts a very tight labor market. Price
increases have been damped by substantial growth in manufacturing capacity, which has held
plant utilization rates in most industries at moderate (and in some cases subpar) levels, thereby
reinforcing competitive pressures in product markets. Furthermore, rapid productivity growth
helped hold increases in unit labor costs to low levels even as compensation growth was picking
up last year. The rise in compensation itself has been constrained by moderate expectations of
inflation, which have been relatively stable. According to the Michigan SRC survey, the median
of one-year-ahead inflation expectations, which was about 2-1/2 percent late last year, averaged
2-3/4 percent in the first half of this year.  

The quiescence of inflation expectations, at least through the early part of this year, in turn may
have come in part from the downward movement in overall inflation last year resulting from
declines in prices of imports and of oil and other commodities. These price declines have not
been repeated more recently. This year's rise in energy prices is the clearest example, but
commodity prices more generally have been turning up of late. The Journal of Commerce
industrial price index has moved up about 6 percent so far this year after having declined about
10 percent last year, with especially large increases posted for prices of lumber, plywood, and
steel. These price movements are starting to be seen at later stages of processing as well: The
producer price index for intermediate materials excluding food and energy, which gradually
declined about 2 percent over the fifteen months through February 1999, retraced about half of
that decrease by June. Furthermore, non-oil import prices, although continuing to fall this year,
have moved down at a slower rate than that of the past couple of years when the dollar was
rising sharply in foreign exchange markets. Non-oil import prices declined at a 1-1/4 percent
annual rate over the first half of 1999, after having fallen at a 3 percent rate, on average, over
1997 and 1998.  

Some other broad measures of prices also showed evidence of acceleration early this year. The
chain-type price index for GDP--which covers prices of all goods and services produced in the
United States--rose at about a 1-1/2 percent annual rate in the first quarter, up from an increase
of about 1 percent last year. A portion of this acceleration reflected movements in the chain-type
price index for personal consumption expenditures (PCE) that differed from movements in the
CPI. 

Although the components of the CPI are key inputs into the PCE price index, the two price
measures differ in a variety of respects: They use different aggregation formulas; the weights are
derived from different sources; the PCE measure does not utilize all components of the CPI; and
the PCE measure is broader in scope, including not just the out-of-pocket expenditures by
households that are captured by the CPI, but also the portion of expenditures on items such as
medical care and education that are paid by insurers or governments, consumption of items such
as banks' checking services that are provided without explicit charge, and expenditures made by
nonprofit institutions. Although PCE prices typically rise a bit less rapidly than the CPI, the PCE
price measure was unusually restrained relative to the CPI in the few years through 1998,
reflecting a combination of the above factors.  

Last year's sharp drop in retail energy prices and the subsequent rebound this spring reflected
movements in the price of crude oil. The spot price of West Texas intermediate (WTI) crude oil,
which had stood at about $20 per barrel through most of 1997, dropped sharply over 1998 and
reached $11 per barrel by the end of the year, reflecting in part a weakening in demand for oil
from the distressed Asian nations and increases in supply from Iraq and other countries. But oil
prices jumped this year as the OPEC nations agreed on production restraints aimed at firming
prices, and the WTI spot price reached $18 per barrel in April and has moved still higher more
recently. As a result, gasoline prices, which dropped 15 percent over 1998, reversed almost all of
that decline over the first six months of this year. Prices of heating fuel also rebounded after
dropping in 1998. In all, the CPI for energy rose at a 10 percent annual rate over the
December-to-June period.  

Consumer food prices increased moderately over the first six months of the year, rising at a
1-3/4 percent annual rate. Despite the upturn in commodity prices generally, farm prices have
remained quite low and have helped to hold down food price increases. Spot prices of wheat,
soybeans, and sugar have moved down further this year from already depressed levels at the end
of 1998, and prices of corn and coffee have remained low as well.  

The CPI for goods other than food and energy declined at about a 1/2 percent annual rate over
the first six months of 1999, after having risen 1-1/4 percent over 1998. The 1998 increase
reflected a sharp rise in tobacco prices in December associated with the settlement of litigation
between the tobacco companies and the states; excluding tobacco, the CPI for core goods was
about flat last year. The decline in the first half of this year was concentrated in durable goods,
where prices softened for a wide range of items, including motor vehicles. The CPI for
non-energy services increased about 2-1/2 percent at an annual rate in the first half, down a little
from the increase over 1998. Increases in the CPI for rent of shelter have slowed thus far in
1999, rising at a 2-1/2 percent annual rate versus a 3-1/4 percent rise last year. However, airfares
and prices of medical services both have been rising more rapidly so far this year.  


Debt and the Monetary Aggregates  


Debt and Depository Intermediation  

The total debt of the U.S. household, government, and nonfinancial business sectors increased at
about a 6 percent annual rate from the fourth quarter of 1998 through May, a little above the
midpoint of its growth range of 3 percent to 7 percent. Nonfederal debt expanded briskly at
about a 9 percent annual pace, in association with continued strong private domestic spending on
consumer durable goods, housing, and business investment. By contrast, federal debt contracted
at a 3 percent annual rate, as budget surpluses reined in federal government financing needs.  

Credit extended by depository institutions slumped over the first half of 1999, after having
expanded quite briskly in 1998. A fair-sized portion of the expansion in 1998 came in the fourth
quarter and stemmed from the turmoil in financial markets. In that turbulent environment,
depository institutions postponed securitization of mortgages, and businesses shifted their
funding demand from securities markets to depository institutions, where borrowing costs in
some cases were governed by pre-existing lending commitments. Depository institutions also
acquired mortgage-backed securities and other private debt instruments in volume, as their yields
evidently rose relative to depository funding costs. As financial stresses unwound, securitization
resumed, business borrowers returned to securities markets, and net purchases of securities
slowed. From the fourth quarter of 1998 through June, bank credit rose at a 3 percent annualized
pace, after adjusting for the estimated effects of mark-to-market accounting rules.  


Monetary Aggregates  

The growth of M3, the broadest monetary aggregate, slowed appreciably over the first half of
1999. M3 expanded at a 6 percent annual pace from the fourth quarter of 1998 through June of
this year, placing this aggregate at the top of the 2 percent to 6 percent price-stability growth
range set by the FOMC at its February meeting. With depository credit growing modestly,
depository institutions trimmed the managed liabilities included in M3, such as large time
deposits. Growth of institutional money market mutual funds also moderated from its rapid pace
in 1998. Rates on money market funds tend to lag the movements in market rates because the
average rate of return on the portfolio of securities held by the fund changes more slowly than
market rates. In the fall, rates on institutional money market funds did not decline as fast as
market rates after the Federal Reserve eased monetary policy, and the growth of these funds
soared. As rates on these funds moved back into alignment with market rates this year, growth of
these funds ebbed.  

M2 advanced at a 6-1/4 percent annual rate from the fourth quarter of 1998 through June. M2
growth had been elevated in late 1998 by unsettled financial conditions, which raised the
demand for liquid money balances, and by the easing of monetary policy, which reduced the
opportunity costs of holding the assets included in the monetary aggregates. M2 growth
moderated over the first half of 1999, as the heightened demand for money waned; in June this
aggregate was above its 1 percent to 5 percent price-stability growth range. The growth in M2
over the first half of the year again outpaced that of nominal income, although the decline in M2
velocity--the ratio of nominal income to M2--was at a slower rate than in 1998. The decline this
year reflected in part a continuing lagged response to the policy easing in the fall; however, the
drop in M2 velocity was again larger than predicted on the basis of the historical relationship
between the velocity of M2 and the opportunity costs of holding M2--measured as the difference
between the rate on three-month Treasury bills and the average return on M2 assets. The reasons
for the decline of M2 velocity this year are not clear; the drop extends a trend in velocity evident
since mid-1997 and may in part owe to households' efforts to allocate some wealth to the assets
included in M2, such as deposits and money market mutual fund shares, after several years of
substantial gains in equity prices that greatly raised the share of wealth held in equities.  

M1 increased at a 2 percent annualized pace from the fourth quarter of 1998 through June, in
line with its advance in 1998. The currency component of M1 expanded quite rapidly. The
strength appeared to stem from domestic, rather than foreign, demand, perhaps reflecting
vigorous consumer spending, although currency growth was more robust than might be expected
for the rise in spending. The deposits in M1--demand deposits and other checkable
deposits--contracted further, as retail sweep programs continued to be introduced. These
programs, which first began in 1994, shift funds from a depositor's checking account, which is
subject to reserve requirements, to a special-purpose money market deposit account, which is
not. Funds are then shifted back to the checking account when the depositor's account balance
falls below a given level. The depository institution benefits from a retail sweep program
because the program cuts its reserve requirement and thus the amount of non-interest-bearing
reserve balances that it must hold at its Federal Reserve Bank. New sweep programs depressed
the growth of M1 by about 5-1/4 percentage points over the first half of 1999, somewhat less
than in previous years because most of the depository institutions that would benefit from such
programs had already implemented them.  

As a consequence of retail sweep programs, the balances that depository institutions are required
to hold at the Federal Reserve have fallen about 60 percent since 1994. This development has the
potential to complicate reserve management by the Federal Reserve and depository institutions
and thus raise the volatility of the federal funds rate. It would do so by making the demand for
balances at the Federal Reserve more variable and less predictable. Before the introduction of
sweeps, the demand for balances was high and stable because reserve balance requirements were
large, and the requirements were satisfied by the average of daily balances held over a
maintenance period. With sweep programs reducing required balances to low levels, depository
institutions have found that they target balances in excess of their required balances in order to
gain sufficient protection against unanticipated debits that could leave their accounts overdrawn
at the end of the day. This payment-related demand for balances varies more from day to day
than the requirement-related demand. Thus far, the greater variation in the demand for balances
has not made the federal funds rate appreciably more volatile, in part reflecting the successful
efforts of depository institutions and the Federal Reserve to adapt to lower balances. For its part,
the Federal Reserve has conducted more open market operations that mature the next business
day to better align daily supply with demand. Nonetheless, required balances at the Federal
Reserve could drop to levels at which the volatility of the funds rate becomes pronounced. One
way to address the problem of declining required balances would be to permit the Federal
Reserve to pay interest on the reserve balances that depository institutions hold. Paying interest
on reserve balances would reduce considerably the incentives of depository institutions to
develop reserve-avoidance practices that may complicate the implementation of monetary
policy.  


U.S. Financial Markets  

Yields on Treasury securities have risen this year in response to the ebbing of the financial
market strains of late 1998, surprisingly strong economic activity, concerns about the potential
for increasing inflation, and the consequent anticipation of tighter monetary policy. In January,
yields on Treasury securities moved in a narrow range, as lingering safe-haven demands for
dollar-denominated assets, owing in part to the devaluation and subsequent floating of the
Brazilian real, about offset the effect on yields of stronger-than-expected economic data. Over
subsequent months, however, yields on Treasury securities, especially at intermediate and long
maturities, moved up substantially. The demand for the safest and most liquid assets, which had
pulled down Treasury yields in the fall, abated as the strength in economic activity and favorable
earnings reports engendered optimism about the financial condition of private borrowers and
encouraged investors to buy private securities. In addition, rising commodity prices, tight labor
markets, and robust economic activity led market participants to conclude that monetary policy
would need to be tightened, perhaps in a series of steps. This view, accentuated by the FOMC's
announcement after its May meeting that it had adopted a directive tilted toward tightening
policy, also boosted yields. Between the end of 1998 and mid-July, Treasury yields added about
80 basis points to 110 basis points, on balance, with the larger increases in the intermediate
maturities. The rise in Treasury bill rates, anchored by the modest upward move in the FOMC's
target federal funds rate, was much less, about 10 basis points to 40 basis points.  

The recovery in fixed-income markets over the first half of the year was evident in a number of
indicators of market conditions. Market liquidity was generally better, and volatility was lower.
The relative demand for the most liquid Treasury securities--the most recently auctioned security
at each maturity--was not so acute, and yields on these securities were in somewhat closer
alignment with yields on issues that had been outstanding longer. Dealers were more willing to
put capital at risk to make markets, and bid-asked spreads in Treasury securities narrowed
somewhat, though, in June they were still a bit wider than had been typical. Market expectations
of asset price volatility, as reflected in prices on Treasury bond options contracts, receded on
balance. The implied volatility of bond prices dropped off until April and then turned back up,
as uncertainty about the timing and extent of a possible tightening of monetary policy increased.  

Yields on inflation-indexed Treasury securities have only edged up this year, and the spreads
between yields on nominal Treasury securities and those on comparable inflation-indexed
securities have widened considerably. Yields on inflation-indexed securities did not decline in
late 1998 like those of their nominal counterparts, in part because these securities were not
perceived as being as liquid as nominal Treasury securities. Thus, as the safe-haven demand for
nominal Treasury securities unwound and nominal yields rose, yields on inflation-indexed
securities did not move up concomitantly. Moreover, these yields were held down by some
improvement in the liquidity of the market for inflation-indexed securities, as suggested by
reports of narrower bid-asked spreads, which provided additional impetus for investors to
acquire these securities. Because of such considerations, the value of the yield spread between
nominal and inflation-indexed Treasury securities as an indicator of inflation expectations is
limited. Nonetheless, the widening of the spread this year may have reflected some rise in
inflation expectations. 

Equity prices have climbed this year. Major equity price indexes posted gains of 10 percent to 31
percent, on balance, between the end of 1998 and July 16, when most of them established record
highs. The lift to prices from stronger-than-anticipated economic activity and corporate profits
apparently has offset the damping effect of rising bond yields. Prices of technology issues,
especially Internet stocks, have risen considerably on net, despite some wide swings in
sentiment. Share prices of firms producing primary commodities, which tumbled in the fall,
rebounded to post large price gains, perhaps because of the firming of commodity prices amid
perceptions that Asian economies were improving. Consensus estimates of earnings over the
coming twelve months have strengthened, but in June the ratio of these estimates to prices, as
measured by the S&P 500 index, was near the record low established in May. Meanwhile, real
interest rates, measured as the difference between the yield on the nominal ten-year Treasury
note and a survey-based measure of inflation expectations, moved up. Consequently, the risk
premium for holding equities remained quite small by historical standards.  


Year 2000 Preparedness  

The Federal Reserve and the banking system have largely completed preparing technical systems
to ensure that they will function at the century date change and are taking steps to deal with
potential contingencies. The Federal Reserve successfully completed testing all of its
mission-critical computer systems for year 2000 compliance, including its securities and funds
transfer systems. As a precaution to assure the public that sufficient cash will be available in the
event that demand for U.S. currency rises in advance of the century date change, the Federal
Reserve will increase considerably its inventory of currency by late 1999. In addition, the
Federal Reserve established a Century Date Change Special Liquidity Facility to supply
collateralized credit freely to depository institutions at a modest penalty to market interest rates
in the months surrounding the rollover. This funding should help financially sound depository
institutions commit more confidently to supplying loans to other financial institutions and
businesses in the closing months of 1999 and early months of 2000.  

All depository institutions have been subject to special year 2000 examinations by their banking
supervisors to ensure their readiness. Banks, in turn, have worked with their customers to
encourage year 2000 preparedness by including a review of a customer's year 2000 preparedness
in their underwriting or loan-review standards and documentation. According to the Federal
Reserve's May 1999 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey, a substantial majority of the
respondent banks have largely completed year 2000 preparedness reviews of their material
customers. Most banks reported that only a small portion of their customers have not made
satisfactory progress.  

Banks in the Federal Reserve's survey reported little demand from their clients for special
contingency lines of credit related to the century date change, although many expect demand for
such lines to increase somewhat as the year progresses. Almost all domestic respondents
reported that they are willing to extend such credit lines, although in some cases with tighter
standards or terms.  


International Developments  

Global economic prospects look considerably brighter than they did only a few months ago. To
an important degree, this improvement owes to the rebound in the Brazilian economy from the
turmoil experienced in January and February and to the fact that the fallout from Brazil on other
countries was much less than it might have been. The fear was that the collapse of the Brazilian
real last January would unleash a spiral of inflation and further devaluation and lead to a default
on government domestic debt, destabilizing financial markets and triggering an intensified flight
of capital from Brazil. In light of events following the Russian debt moratorium and collapse of
the ruble last year, concern existed that a collapse of the real could also have negative
repercussions in Latin America more broadly, and possibly even in global financial markets.  

Developments in Brazil turned out better than expected over the weeks after the floating of the
real in January. Between mid-January and early March, the real lost 45 percent of its value
against the dollar, reaching a low of 2.2 per dollar, but then started to recover after the Brazilian
central bank raised the overnight interest rate from 39 percent to 45 percent and made clear that
it gave a high priority to fighting inflation. By mid-May, the real had strengthened to 1.65 per
dollar, even while the overnight rate had been cut, in steps, from its March high. The overnight
rate was reduced further, to 21 percent by the end of June, but the real fell back only modestly
and stood at about 1.80 per dollar in mid-July. Brazil's stock market also rose sharply and was up
by about 65 percent in the year to date.  

Several favorable developments have worked to support the real and equity prices over the past
few months. Inflation has been lower than expected, with consumer price inflation at an annual
rate of around 8 percent for the first half of the year. Greater-than-expected real GDP growth in
the first quarter, though attributable in part to temporary factors, provided some evidence of a
bottoming out, and possible recovery, in economic activity over the first part of this year. And in
the fiscal arena, the government posted a primary surplus of more than 4 percent of GDP in the
first quarter--well above the goal in the International Monetary Fund program. The positive turn
of events has facilitated a return of the Brazilian government and private-sector borrowers to
international bond markets, albeit on more restrictive terms than those of a year ago.  

Since the middle of May, however, the road to recovery in Brazil has become bumpier. The
central government posted a fiscal deficit in May that was bigger than had been expected. In
addition, court challenges have called into question fiscal reforms enacted earlier this year that
were expected to improve the government's fiscal balance by about 1 percent of GDP. In May,
the rise in U.S. interest rates associated with the anticipated tightening in the stance of U.S.
monetary policy helped push Brady bond yield spreads up more than 200 basis points. Although
they narrowed some in June they widened recently on concerns about Argentina's economic
situation.  

The Brazilian crisis did trigger renewed financial stress throughout Latin America, as domestic
interest rates and Brady bond yield spreads increased sharply in January from levels that had
already been elevated by the Russian crisis. Nonetheless, these increases were generally smaller
than those that had followed the Russian crisis, and as developments in Brazil proved more
positive than expected, financial conditions in the rest of the region stabilized rapidly. Even so,
the combination of elevated risk premiums and diminished access to international credit markets,
as well as sharp declines in the prices of commodity exports, had significant consequences for
GDP growth, which began to slow or turn negative throughout the region in late 1998 and early
1999.  

Mexico appears to have experienced the least diminution in economic growth, likely because of
its strong trade links with the United States, where growth has been robust. A flattening in
Mexican GDP in the final quarter of 1998 has given way to renewed, but moderate, growth more
recently, and the Mexican peso has appreciated by about 5-1/2 percent relative to the dollar since
the start of the year. By contrast, economic activity in Argentina declined sharply in the first
quarter, in part because of the devaluation and relatively weak economic activity in Brazil,
Argentina's major trading partner. More recently the earlier recovery in Argentina's financial
markets appears to have backtracked as concern has increased about the medium- to long-run
viability of the currency peg to the dollar. Several countries in the region, including Venezuela,
Chile, and Colombia, also experienced sharp declines in output in the first quarter, stemming in
part from earlier declines in oil and other commodity prices.  

In emerging Asia, signs of recovery in financial markets and in real activity are visible in most
of the countries that experienced financial crises in late 1997. However, the pace and extent of
recovery is uneven across countries. The strongest recovery has been in Korea. In 1998, the
Korean won reversed nearly half of its sharp depreciation of late 1997. It has been little changed
on balance this year, as Korean monetary authorities have intervened to moderate its further
appreciation. Korean stock prices have also staged an impressive recovery--moving up about 75
percent so far in 1999. In the wake of its financial crisis, output in Korea fell sharply, with
industrial production down about 15 percent by the middle of last year. Since then, however,
production has bounced back. With the pace of the recovery accelerating this year, all of the
post-crisis drop in production has been reversed. This turnaround reflects both the improvement
in Korea's external position, as the trade balance has swung into substantial surplus, and the
government's progress in addressing the structural problems in the financial and corporate
sectors that contributed to the crisis.  

Financial markets in the Southeast Asian countries that experienced crises in 1997 (Thailand,
Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines) apparently were little affected by spillover
from Brazil's troubles earlier this year and have recovered on balance over the past year, with
exchange rates stabilizing and stock prices moving higher. Financial conditions have been
weakest in Indonesia, in large part a result of political uncertainty; but even so, domestic interest
rates have dropped sharply, and the stock market has staged an impressive rebound since April.
The recovery of economic activity in these countries has been slower and less robust than in
Korea, possibly reflecting slower progress in addressing structural weaknesses in the financial
and corporate sectors. However, activity appears to have bottomed out and has recently shown
signs of starting to move up in these countries.  

Financial markets in China and Hong Kong experienced some turbulence at the start of the year
when Chinese authorities put the Guangdong International Trust and Investment Corporation
(GITIC) into bankruptcy, leading to rating downgrades for some Chinese financial institutions,
including the major state commercial banks. The GITIC bankruptcy also raised concerns about
Hong Kong financial institutions, which are heavy creditors to Chinese entities. These concerns
contributed to a substantial increase in yield spreads between Hong Kong government debt and
U.S. Treasury securities and to a fall in the Hong Kong stock market of about 15 percent.
Spreads have narrowed since, falling from about 330 basis points on one-year debt in late
January to about 80 basis points by mid-May, and have remained relatively stable since then.
Equity prices also rebounded sharply, rising nearly 50 percent between mid-February and early
May. Despite sizable volatility in May and June, they are now roughly unchanged from early
May levels.  

In Japan, a few indicators suggest that recovery from a prolonged recession may be occurring.
Principally, first-quarter GDP growth at an annual rate of 7.9 percent was recorded--the first
positive growth in six quarters. This improvement reflects in part a shift toward more stimulative
fiscal and monetary policies. On the fiscal front, the government announced a set of measures at
the end of last year that were slated for implementation during 1999 and included permanent
cuts in personal and corporate income taxes, various investment incentives, and increases in
public expenditures. The large-scale fiscal expansion and concern about increases in the supply
of government bonds caused bond yields to more than double late last year and early this year, to
a level of about 2 percent on the ten-year bond.  

In mid-February, primarily because of concern about the prolonged weakness in economic
activity and pronounced deflationary pressures but also in response to the rising bond yields, the
Bank of Japan announced a reduction in the target for the overnight call-money rate and
subsequently guided the rate to its present level of 3 basis points by early March. This easing of
monetary policy had a stimulative effect on Japanese financial markets, with the yield on the
ten-year government bond falling more than 75 basis points, to 1.25 percent by mid-May. More
recently, the yield has risen to about 1.8 percent, partially in response to the release of
unexpectedly strong first-quarter GDP growth. Supportive monetary conditions, coupled with
restructuring announcements from a number of large Japanese firms and growing optimism
about the economic outlook, have fueled a rise in the Nikkei from around 14,400 over the first
two months of the year to over 18,500 in mid-July.  

The improved economic performance in Japan also reflects some progress on addressing
persistent problems in the financial sector. In March the authorities injected 7-1/2 trillion yen of
public funds into large financial institutions and began to require increased provisioning against
bad loans as well as improved financial disclosure. Although much remains to be done, these
actions appear to have stabilized conditions, at least temporarily, in the banking system, and the
premium on borrowing rates paid by leading Japanese banks declined to zero by March.  

The yen strengthened in early January, supported by the runup in long-term Japanese interest
rates, reaching about 110 per dollar--its highest level in more than two years. However, amid
apparent intervention by the Japanese authorities, the yen retreated to a level above 116 per
dollar, and it remained near that level until the mid-February easing of monetary policy and the
subsequent decline of interest rates when it depreciated to about 120 per dollar. In mid-June, the
Japanese authorities intervened in the foreign exchange market in an effort to limit appreciation
of the yen after the surprisingly strong first-quarter GDP release increased market enthusiasm for
that currency. The authorities noted that a premature strengthening of the yen was undesirable
and would weigh adversely on economic recovery.  

In the other major industrial countries, the pace of economic growth this year has been mixed.
Economic developments in Canada have been quite favorable. GDP rose 4-1/4 percent at an
annual rate in the first quarter after a fourth-quarter gain of 4-3/4 percent, with production fueled
by strong demand for Canadian products from the United States. Core inflation remains low,
near the lower end of the Bank of Canada's target range of 1 percent to 3 percent, although
overall inflation rose some in April and May. Oil prices and other commodity prices have risen,
and the current account deficit has narrowed considerably. These factors have helped the
Canadian dollar appreciate relative to the U.S. dollar by about 4 percent this year and have
facilitated a cut in short-term interest rates of 50 basis points by the Bank of Canada. Along with
rising long-term interest rates elsewhere, long rates have increased in Canada by about 30 basis
points over the course of this year. Even so, equity prices have risen about 12 percent since the
start of the year, although the rise in long-term rates has undercut some of the momentum in the
stock market.  

In the United Kingdom, output was flat in the first quarter, coming off a year in which GDP
growth had already slowed markedly. However, the effects of aggressive interest rate reductions
undertaken by the Bank of England in late 1998 and earlier this year appear to have emerged in
the second quarter, with gains in industrial production, retail sales volume, and business
confidence. Inflationary pressures have been well contained, benefiting in part from the
continued strength in sterling; the Bank of England cut interest rates, most recently in June, to
reduce the likelihood of inflation undershooting its target of 2-1/2 percent. Consistent with
expectations of an upturn in growth, equity prices have risen more than 15 percent, and
long-term bond yields have climbed nearly 80 basis points since the end of last year.  

First-quarter growth in the European countries that have adopted a common currency (euro area)
regained some momentum from its slow pace in late 1998 but was nevertheless below potential,
as production continued to react to the decline in export orders registered over the course of
1998 and in early 1999. Still, the drag on overall production from weak export demand from
Asia and eastern Europe appears to have lifted a bit in the past few months, although the signs of
a pickup in growth were both tentative and uneven across the euro area. In Germany, industrial
production was higher in April and May than in the preceding two months, and export orders
were markedly higher in those months than they had been at any time since the spring of 1998.
But in France, which had been the strongest of the three largest euro-area economies in 1998,
GDP growth was a meager 1-1/4 percent at an annual rate in the first quarter, and industrial
production slipped in April.  

On average in the euro area, inflation has remained quite tame, even as rising oil prices, a
declining euro, and, at least in Germany, an acceleration in wage rates have raised inflationary
pressures this year. The low average rate of inflation as well as the still sluggish pace of real
activity in some of the euro-area countries led the European Central Bank to lower the overnight
policy rate by 50 basis points in April, on top of cuts in short-term policy rates made by the
national central banks late last year that, on average, were worth about 60 basis points.  

Notwithstanding the easing of the policy stance, long-term government bond yields have risen
substantially from their January lows in the largest economies of the euro area. Ten-year rates
spiked in early March along with U.S. rates, fell back some through mid-May, and then resumed
an upward course around the time the FOMC adopted a tightening bias in mid-May. Since the
middle of June, a relatively sharp increase in yields has pushed them to about 100 basis points
above their values at the start of the year and has narrowed what had been a growing interest rate
differential between U.S. and European bonds. In addition to the pressure provided by the
increase in U.S. rates, the runup in European yields likely reflects the belief that short-term rates
have troughed, as the incipient recovery in Asia not only reduces the drag on European exports
but also attenuates deflationary pressures on European import prices. Concern about the fall in
the exchange value of the euro may also have contributed to an assessment that the next move in
short-term rates would be up. Gains in equity prices so far this year--averaging about 12-1/2
percent--are also suggestive of the belief that economic activity may be picking up, although the
range in share price movements is fairly broad, even considering only the largest economies:
French equity prices have risen about 20 percent, German prices are up 13 percent, and Italian
prices are up only 5 percent.  

The new European currency, the euro, came into operation at the start of the year, marking the
beginning of Stage Three of European Economic and Monetary Union. The rates of exchange
between the euro and the currencies of the eleven countries adopting the euro were set on
December 31; based on these rates, the value of the euro at the moment of its creation was
$1.16675. Trading in the euro opened on January 4, and after jumping on the first trading day,
its value has declined relative to the dollar almost steadily and is now about 13 percent below its
initial value. The course of the euro-dollar exchange rate likely has reflected in part the growing
divergence in both the cyclical positions and, until recently, long-term bond yields of the
euro-area economies and the United States. Concerns about fiscal discipline in Italy--the
government raised its 1999 deficit-to-GDP target from 2.0 percent to 2.4 percent--and about
progress on structural reforms in Germany and France have also been cited as contributing to
weakness in the euro, with the European Central Bank recently characterizing national
governments' fiscal policy plans as "unambitious."  

On balance the dollar has appreciated more than 4-1/2 percent against an index of the major
currencies since the end of last year, owing mainly to its strengthening relative to the euro.
Nevertheless, it remains below its recent peak in August of last year when the Russian debt
moratorium and subsequent financial market turmoil sent the dollar on a two-month downward
slide.  


 ---------------- FOOTNOTE
1.  All figures from the national income and product accounts cited here are subject to change in
the quinquennial benchmark revisions slated for this fall.  
2.  However, nonfarm compensation per hour captures the gains from the actual exercise of
stock options, whereas for analyzing compensation trends, one might prefer to measure the value
of the options at the time they are granted. 
3.  About 1/4 percentage point of the improvement in productivity growth since 1995 can be
attributed to changes in price measurement. The measure of real output underlying the
productivity figures since 1995 is deflated using CPI components that have been constructed
using a geometric-means formula; these components tend to rise less rapidly than the CPI
components that had been used in the output and productivity data before 1995. These smaller
CPI increases translate into more rapid growth of output and productivity in the later period.  
4.  The most important change this year was the introduction of the geometric-means formula to
aggregate price quotes within most of the detailed item categories. (The Laspeyres formula
continues to be used in constructing higher-level aggregates.) Although these geometric-means
CPIs were introduced into the official CPI only in January of this year, the BLS generated the
series on an experimental basis going back several years, allowing them to be built into the
national income and product accounts back to 1995.