Head of Philadelphia Fed Sees Brighter Economic Skies For Our Region
By Pat Loeb
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The head of the Fed in Philadelphia is telling local businessmen not to look for any improvement in the housing market this year.
But otherwise, he says, the economic outlook is for modest growth and declining unemployment in our region.
Charles Plosser, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, says local manufacturing has strengthened and unemployment regionally is a full point lower than nationally, so he expects 2012 to be a good year.
"I think the region is doing reasonably well and in some cases better than the national average," he told the gathering this morning at the Philadelphia Country Club in Gladwyne, Pa.
Plosser admits that small businessmen and retailers are nervous and there's some uncertainty, but Plosser is known for his optimism. In fact, he noted that he disagrees with the Fed's recent announcement that it expects to keep interest rates near zero through 2014.
"I was worried that the signal was going to be read as, 'The economy is not as good as some people thought it was,' " he said.
Plosser says he doesn't know how long the recovery is going to take but he doesn't think it helps to announce that the Fed expects it to last nearly three more years.
