WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A million or more jobs were likely created in April, but that would not be enough to push the Federal Reserve to begin discussing whether to pare its $120 billion in monthly asset purchases, Atlanta Fed Bank President Raphael Bostic said on Thursday.
Bostic said he is expecting “a really strong number, and that would be encouraging,” when the latest jobs figures are released on Friday morning.
But in terms of opening debate about when to tighten monetary policy, given the roughly 8.5 million jobs still missing compared to before the pandemic, “I have in my head that we are not out of the woods … I am going to keep my head down.”
(Reporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by Chris Reese)
