Federal Reserve's Barkin Optimistic About Economic Growth in 2025

According to Odaily, Federal Reserve official Barkin expressed optimism about the economic outlook for 2025 in a prepared speech. He stated that he anticipates more potential for economic growth than decline, suggesting that recent business optimism may be linked to expectations of economic expansion. Barkin's positive outlook is partly due to his belief that consumer spending momentum will sustain healthy economic growth in the coming months. Barkin noted that with rising business optimism and a labor supply unlikely to continue its strong growth, the current labor market balance is more likely to favor hiring over layoffs. He also predicted that cost-conscious consumers, observed in recent months, will pressure businesses to limit price increases, which should help keep inflation down. However, Barkin acknowledged that inflation has not yet returned to the Federal Reserve's 2% target, stating, "We have more work to do, but we believe it is not necessary to take restrictive measures as before to achieve this goal."