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The attached document represents the most complete and accurate version available
based on original files from the FOMC Secretariat at the Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System.
Please note that some material may have been redacted from this document if that
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Content last modified 02/09/2012.

Class II FOMC - Restricted (FR)

Part 1

January 25, 2006

CURRENT ECONOMIC
AND FINANCIAL CONDITIONS
Summary and Outlook

Prepared for the Federal Open Market Committee
by the staff of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Class II FOMC - Restricted (FR)

January 25, 2006

Summary and Outlook

Prepared for the Federal Open Market Committee
by the staff of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Domestic Developments
The underlying pace of economic activity appears to be well maintained. Although the
increase in real GDP last quarter seems to have been a fair bit smaller than we had
anticipated in the December Greenbook, the unexpected weakness was concentrated in
categories—exports, federal spending, and inventory investment—in which a first-quarter
rebound is likely. Elsewhere, motor vehicle sales have already turned up after their dip in
the fall, and consumer outlays for other goods have been advancing briskly. Other timely
indicators—including consumer sentiment and initial claims for unemployment
insurance—are consistent with solid near-term growth. That said, information on
housing activity has been supportive of our view that a cooling in that sector is under
way. All told, we now project that real GDP will rise at an annual rate of 4 percent in the
current quarter after a 2½ percent advance last quarter.
Looking further ahead, we expect real GDP to increase 3¾ percent in 2006 as a whole
and 3 percent in 2007. Reduced impetus from monetary and fiscal policy, as well as
smaller gains in household wealth, should restrain economic growth relative to its pace in
recent years. These forces will be partly offset by a diminished drag from increases in oil
prices and, in 2006, by the recovery and rebuilding associated with last year’s hurricanes.
With only modest changes in our conditioning assumptions, the contour of output growth
is similar to that in the previous Greenbook. The projected pace of expansion is expected
to keep the unemployment rate close to its fourth-quarter average of 5 percent during the
next two years.
The recent data on core consumer price inflation have, on balance, been quite close to our
expectations. However, an increase in spot and futures prices for crude oil and an
upward revision to our projected path for nonfuel import prices imply somewhat greater
cost pressures than we had anticipated. In response, we have nudged up our forecast of
core consumer price inflation 0.1 percentage point this year. We now project that core
PCE prices will increase 2.2 percent in 2006 and 1.8 percent in 2007; as in our previous
forecast, core inflation falls back next year as the indirect effects of previous increases in
energy and nonfuel import prices diminish.
Key Background Factors
With inflationary pressures a touch higher in this forecast, we have built in a slightly
more restrictive monetary policy than in the last Greenbook. Our projection is now
conditioned on the assumption that the Committee will raise the target federal funds rate
25 basis points at both the January and March meetings. The target rate is assumed to
remain at 4¾ percent through the middle of 2007 and then to step down 25 basis points in
I-1

I-2

Part I: Summary and Outlook, January 25, 2006

response to a decline in inflation and a slight widening of the output gap. This path for
the federal funds rate is a little higher than that implied by futures quotes, which suggest
that market participants expect the funds rate to start reversing course late this year and to
be back to 4¼ percent by the end of 2007.
Long-term Treasury yields have moved down about 10 basis points since the December
Greenbook. We anticipate that yields will edge up during the next two years as investors’
expectations for monetary policy come in line with the staff’s assumption. Corporate
yields and long-term mortgage rates are also expected to creep up over the forecast
period.
Broad equity price indexes are little changed, on net, since our last projection. We
continue to assume that stock prices will increase at an annual rate of 6½ percent, a pace
that would roughly maintain risk-adjusted parity with the returns on long-term Treasury
securities. Regarding house prices, we still expect the OFHEO repeat-transactions index
to decelerate from an 11½ percent increase in 2005 to a 5½ percent rise in 2006 and a
2½ percent gain in 2007.
We currently estimate that last year’s hurricanes depressed real GDP growth in 2005
about 0.3 percentage point and will boost growth this year roughly 0.5 percentage point.
Both of these figures are a little larger than in the last Greenbook. Exports of chemicals
and petroleum products have not recovered as quickly as we had anticipated, and we have
not seen a compensating bulge in inventory accumulation. The process of replacing the
lost housing stock also seems to be off to a slower start than we had expected. These
factors imply greater restraint in 2005 and greater stimulus in 2006. In addition, the
Bureau of Economic Analysis raised its estimate of the real value of housing lost because
of the hurricanes by about one-fifth, and we have increased the total amount of rebuilding
in our forecast.
Our outlook for fiscal policy over the next two years remains largely the same. As in the
December Greenbook, we assume that federal outlays and tax cuts related to the
hurricanes will total $85 billion, of which $70 billion will occur during the forecast
period. Real defense spending should rise at a moderate pace in 2006 and then flatten out
in 2007 as outlays in Iraq decline and other defense spending continues to expand slowly.
On the nondefense side, real purchases excluding hurricane relief are projected to
increase about 1 percent in 2006 and to be unchanged in 2007. Notwithstanding the
complications surrounding the launch of the new Medicare drug benefit, we believe that

Domestic Developments

I-3

spending on this program will ramp up quickly this year. All told, we expect the unified
budget deficit to increase from $318 billion in fiscal year 2005 to $347 billion in fiscal
2006 and $353 billion in fiscal 2007. 1 These amounts are very close to those in the
December Greenbook. Under our assumptions, fiscal policy imparts a 0.4 percentage
point impetus to real GDP growth in 2006 and is roughly neutral in 2007.
Brisk growth in tax receipts is easing the budget pressures faced by state and local
governments. As a result, we expect spending to rise more rapidly over the projection
period than in the past several years.
The foreign exchange value of the dollar has declined, on net, since the December
Greenbook, and we have reduced our projection for the level of the broad real dollar in
the current quarter by 1¾ percent. From this lower level, we are projecting the broad real
dollar to depreciate 1⅓ percent per year. Incoming data on economic growth abroad have
been a shade stronger than we had expected, and we have marked up our projection
accordingly. We now anticipate that foreign economic activity will expand 3½ percent
on average in 2006 and 2007.
The spot price of West Texas intermediate (WTI) crude oil has jumped about $7 per
barrel since early December, and futures prices for oil over the next two years have
moved up roughly $6 per barrel on average. Against a backdrop of strong world oil
demand, concerns about the reliability of oil supply from several countries—in particular,
Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, and Russia—seem to have provoked the recent price increases.
Consistent with futures quotes, we expect the price of WTI to edge up from its current
level of $67 per barrel to $69 per barrel by the end of the year and then to remain close to
that level through 2007.
Recent Developments and the Near-Term Outlook
We estimate that real GDP rose at an annual rate of just 2½ percent in the fourth quarter,
below our December Greenbook projection of 3½ percent. Incoming data on exports,
federal spending, and inventory investment outside the motor vehicle sector have been
notably weaker than we had anticipated. However, we see little reason to carry this
weakness forward; indeed, we have taken the lower levels of spending in these areas in
the fourth quarter as reason to expect somewhat faster growth in the first quarter. More1

As in past Greenbooks, we assume that the Congress will extend most of the provisions of the tax
code due to expire during the forecast period, including individual AMT relief and the research and
experimentation tax credit.

I-4

Part I: Summary and Outlook, January 25, 2006

Summary of the Near-Term Outlook
(Percent change at annual rate except as noted)
2005:Q4
Measure

Real GDP
Private domestic final purchases
Personal consumption expenditures
Residential investment
Business fixed investment
Government outlays for consumption
and investment

2006:Q1

Dec.
GB

Jan.
GB

Dec.
GB

Jan.
GB

3.4
1.8
0.7
9.3
4.8

2.4
1.9
1.1
7.6
4.0

3.7
5.2
4.8
2.7
9.1

4.1
4.5
4.5
-.4
7.3

1.6

.2

3.7

4.1

Contribution to growth
(percentage points)
Inventory investment
Net exports

2.2
-.7

2.1
-1.4

-1.0
-.4

-.6
.0

over, data on consumer spending and business fixed investment have come in fairly close
to our projection. Putting the pieces together, we are now looking for real GDP growth
of 4 percent in the first quarter, a touch above the December Greenbook forecast of 3¾
percent.
Private payrolls increased 188,000 on average in November and December, a gain nearly
in line with our projection in the December Greenbook. Our forecast calls for further
gains of this magnitude in the first quarter, as is consistent with the low readings on
initial claims for unemployment insurance.
Industrial production advanced at a rapid rate in both November and December, spurred
by recovery from the disruptions caused by the hurricanes, especially in the energy
sector. In the factory sector, motor vehicle assemblies dropped in the last two months of
the year as automakers tried to keep their inventories in check, but other manufacturing
output rose nearly 1 percent in November and nearly ½ percent in December.
On the spending side, we now estimate that real consumer outlays moved up at an annual
rate of just 1 percent last quarter, held down by a payback for the spike in motor vehicle
purchases caused by last summer’s employee pricing programs. Excluding motor
vehicles, consumer outlays appear to have increased about 3¾ percent in the fourth
quarter, close to their third-quarter pace. For the current quarter, we expect that real

Domestic Developments

I-5

disposable income will move ahead smartly and support continued solid growth in
spending; preliminary January readings on consumer sentiment and chain-store sales are
consistent with this view. In addition, motor vehicle sales rebounded late last year, and
our industry contacts anticipate sales to decline just a little in January. All told, we
project that consumer spending will increase at an annual rate of 4½ percent this quarter.
After running at an average annual rate of about 1.74 million units between May and
November, single-family housing starts fell sharply in December to 1.58 million units.
Existing home sales also turned down notably in December. The declines in these series
were larger than we had expected. However, starts can be quite volatile, and worse-thannormal weather in many parts of the country appears to have contributed to the low
reading; favorable weather in January likely will spur construction relative to its
underlying fundamentals. Moreover, anecdotes and other indicators of housing demand
are more consistent with a moderate cooling in this market than a pronounced downturn.
We project that real residential investment will be little changed in the first quarter after
increasing rapidly in the fourth quarter.
Real investment in equipment and software appears to have increased at an annual rate of
just 3½ percent in the fourth quarter, and we are projecting a pickup to 6¾ percent in the
first quarter. Business purchases of light motor vehicles declined last quarter, reversing
part of their surge earlier in the year, and we are forecasting a small increase this quarter.
Outlays for aircraft are also likely to increase because Boeing plans to step up deliveries
of its 737 model. Meanwhile, the data on orders and shipments of durable goods through
November are consistent with moderate first-quarter gains for other equipment. We
estimate that real outlays for nonresidential structures rose at a 5½ percent pace in the
fourth quarter and will increase briskly again in the first quarter on the strength of a
continued surge in drilling and mining activity.
On the basis of only partial data, we think that real inventory investment outside the
motor vehicle sector remained low in the fourth quarter. With no backup evident in
inventory-sales ratios and few reports of discomfort regarding firms’ inventory positions,
we suspect that the low level of stockbuilding in the fall may reflect hurricane-related
production disruptions. Accordingly, we are looking for non-motor-vehicle inventory
accumulation to perk up in the current quarter. As for motor vehicles, inventories appear
to be a touch on the high side, and we project that automakers will run off stocks a bit this
quarter.

I-6

Part I: Summary and Outlook, January 25, 2006

Real federal defense spending slumped in the fourth quarter, but, given the level of
appropriations, we expect this decline to be reversed in the first quarter. On the
nondefense side, outlays spiked last quarter because of the hurricanes and are expected to
retreat somewhat this quarter. Putting these pieces together, we are looking for total real
federal purchases to decrease at an annual rate of nearly 3 percent in the fourth quarter
and to climb more than 6 percent in the first quarter. We project that real spending by
state and local governments will increase moderately in both the fourth and first quarters.
We estimate that net exports deducted nearly 1½ percentage points from real GDP
growth in the fourth quarter and will be a neutral influence in the first quarter. Given the
hurricanes’ disruption of domestic production of oil, chemicals, and related products,
imports of these items surged last quarter, and export growth was held down. The
recovery of domestic output in these sectors should have the reverse effect on net exports
in the current quarter, restraining import growth and spurring a rebound on the export
side.
Core consumer price inflation was close to our expectations, on balance, in November
and December. The core CPI for November rose a touch more than we had anticipated,
but core PCE prices came in a bit below our projection, with the difference stemming
largely from the BEA’s estimate of prices that are not based on market transactions. Core
CPI inflation in December matched our forecast. All told, we have edged up our
projection of core CPI inflation in the first quarter 0.2 percentage point, to an annual rate
of 2.6 percent, but we have trimmed our forecast for core PCE price inflation
0.2 percentage point, to 2.0 percent. Meanwhile, consumer energy prices have climbed
more rapidly than we had expected. We now project that overall PCE prices will rise at
an annual rate of 2.1 percent this quarter.
The Longer-Run Outlook for the Economy
We expect real GDP to increase 3¾ percent in 2006 and 3 percent in 2007. Compared
with the past several years, economic growth will be damped by tighter monetary policy,
more-modest increases in household wealth, and reduced stimulus from fiscal policy.
These forces will be offset, in part, by a diminished drag on growth from the enormous
increase in oil prices since early 2004. The hurricanes depressed economic activity in
2005, but recovery and rebuilding should provide a boost to growth this year; apart from
this effect, we project that real GDP would increase a little more than 3 percent in both
2006 and 2007, down from 3¾ percent in the past two years.

I-7

Domestic Developments

Projections of Real GDP
(Percent change at annual rate from end of
preceding period except as noted)
Measure
Real GDP
Previous

2005: 2006:
H2
H1

2006

2007

3.3
3.9

3.9
3.6

3.7
3.5

3.0
3.0

2.4
2.9

4.4
4.3

3.8
3.5

2.8
2.8

PCE
Previous

2.6
2.4

4.0
4.0

3.5
3.6

3.3
3.4

Residential investment
Previous

7.4
8.5

1.2
2.1

2.0
.7

-1.1
.1

BFI

6.2
6.9

7.8
9.6

7.6
8.3

5.5
5.5

Government purchases
Previous

1.5
2.4

2.8
2.7

2.1
2.1

1.5
1.5

Exports
Previous

3.6
6.1

6.5
4.3

6.4
4.9

5.3
4.8

Imports
Previous

7.0
6.8

3.1
3.7

4.4
5.0

5.4
6.0

Final sales
Previous

Previous

Contribution to growth
(percentage points)
Inventory change
Previous
Net exports
Previous

.8
.9

-.4
-.7

-.1
-.1

.2
.2

-.7
-.5

.2
-.1

-.1
-.3

-.3
-.5

Our outlook for economic growth over the next two years is a little stronger than in the
December Greenbook. The stimulative effects of a lower dollar and greater hurricanerelated contributions to spending growth are only partly offset by the negative effect of
the upward revision to oil prices.
Household spending. With labor income advancing at a solid pace and energy prices
flattening out, real disposable income is projected to climb at an average annual rate of
nearly 4½ percent in 2006 and 2007 after just edging up in 2005. Consumption should
increase somewhat less rapidly than income, as households partially reverse the decline

I-8

Part I: Summary and Outlook, January 25, 2006

in the personal saving rate that occurred last year when they smoothed spending in the
face of weak real income growth. We also expect that the increase in interest rates will
restrain outlays and that smaller gains in equity and house prices than in recent years will
imply a waning impetus to consumption from wealth. Altogether, we are expecting real
consumer spending to increase at an average annual rate of nearly 3½ percent during the
next two years and the saving rate to rise to 1½ percent by the end of 2007.
As noted, we continue to expect that housing activity will decelerate this year. The effect
of the step-up in mortgage rates relative to the low levels of recent years is likely to be
offset only in part by rising household income and the repair or replacement of houses
damaged or destroyed by the hurricanes. Real outlays in the residential sector, which
surged almost 9 percent last year, are expected to rise 2 percent in 2006 and to edge down
in 2007. We are expecting single-family housing starts to hover in the neighborhood of
1.70 million units.
Business spending. We anticipate that real business investment in equipment and
software will increase 7½ percent this year and 6¼ percent in 2007, compared with an
8¼ percent rise in 2005. In the high-tech category, our outlook for moderate spending
growth is consistent with investment plans by telecom service providers and market
analysts’ earnings expectations for producers of high-tech equipment and software.
Outside of high-tech, favorable investment fundamentals should support a significant
increase in spending in 2006, but gains are likely to be smaller in 2007 as the growth of
business output diminishes.
Real outlays for nonresidential structures are expected to rise 7¾ percent this year and
3½ percent in 2007. Recent increases in the prices of oil and natural gas should generate
another jump in spending for drilling and mining this year; however, with energy prices
roughly flat going forward, outlays in this category should decelerate in 2007.
Meanwhile, declining vacancy rates and somewhat more-encouraging anecdotes suggest
that the long-awaited pickup in other nonresidential construction may finally get under
way this year.
With inventories reasonably well aligned with sales, inventory investment is a roughly
neutral influence on real GDP growth over the forecast period. The projected trajectory
of stockbuilding implies a continued gradual downtrend in the inventory-sales ratio over
the next two years.

Domestic Developments

I-9

Government spending. Real federal consumption plus investment is projected to rise
1¾ percent in 2006 and to be flat in 2007. As noted, we expect defense spending to post
a moderate gain in 2006 and then to flatten as a downturn in Iraq-related outlays offsets
continued slow growth in other areas. After its hurricane-related pop at the end of 2005,
nondefense spending is likely to decline in 2006 and hold steady in 2007. We project
that real purchases by state and local governments will increase 2½ percent both this year
and next.
Net exports. We expect that net exports will make a deduction from real GDP growth
averaging less than ¼ percentage point in 2006 and 2007—comparable to the drag in
2005 and a somewhat smaller negative effect than in the December Greenbook.
Supported by solid economic growth abroad, real exports should expand at an average
annual rate of about 5¾ percent in the next two years; this pace is somewhat above that in
our previous projection owing primarily to the lower projected path for the dollar and a
somewhat delayed recovery from the hurricanes (which deferred some export growth
from late last year into early this year). Real imports are projected to increase nearly
5 percent on average during the next two years; we have trimmed our forecast for real
import growth principally because of an upward revision to import prices. (These topics
are discussed in more detail in the International Developments section of Part 1.)
Aggregate Supply, the Labor Market, and Inflation
As in the December Greenbook, we project that potential output will increase 3¼ percent
in both 2006 and 2007. 2 We estimate that the level of actual output was 0.6 percentage
point below the level of potential output at the end of last year. We expect this gap to
narrow in 2006 as GDP growth exceeds the growth of potential and then to widen in 2007
as GDP growth slows. On balance, the output gap finishes the projection period at
0.4 percentage point, a touch wider than in the previous Greenbook.
Productivity and the labor market. Output per hour in the nonfarm business sector
increased 2¾ percent last year, less than our estimate of structural productivity growth.
As a result, the levels of actual and structural productivity are now nearly aligned. For
2006 and 2007, we expect that productivity will increase at close to its structural rate—

2

The Census Bureau estimate of population growth in 2005 came in slightly above the Census
projection, as has been the case for several years. In light of these data, we revised up slightly our
projection of population growth; this, in turn, implies slightly higher potential output growth.

I-10

Part I: Summary and Outlook, January 25, 2006

Decomposition of Structural Labor Productivity
(Percent change, Q4 to Q4, except as noted)
Measure
Structural labor productivity
Previous
Contributions1
Capital deepening
Previous
Multifactor productivity
Previous
Labor composition
MEMO
Potential GDP
Previous

1974- 1996- 20012005 2006 2007
95 2000 04
1.5
1.5

2.5
2.5

3.3
3.3

3.2
3.2

3.1
3.1

3.0
3.0

.7
.7
.5
.5
.3

1.4
1.4
.8
.8
.3

.7
.7
2.3
2.3
.2

1.0
1.0
2.0
2.0
.3

.9
1.0
1.9
1.9
.2

1.0
1.0
1.8
1.8
.2

3.0
3.0

3.4
3.4

3.2
3.2

3.1
3.1

3.2
3.2

3.3
3.2

NOTE. Components may not sum to totals because of rounding. For multiyear
periods, the percent change is the annual average from Q4 of the year preceding the
first year shown to Q4 of the last year shown.
1. Percentage points.

about 3 percent per year. Monthly increases in private payrolls should average 130,000
this year and then decline to 55,000 next year as economic growth slows. 3
The average unemployment rate of 5.0 percent in the fourth quarter of last year was lower
than would be consistent with the historical relationship between the output and
unemployment-rate gaps. Therefore, we expect the rate to stay at its fourth-quarter level
through this year despite the narrowing of the output gap. As the output gap widens
again in 2007, we project that the unemployment rate will tick up, to 5.1 percent, a level
just above our estimate of the NAIRU. The labor force participation rate drifts down a
few tenths of a percentage point during the projection period and finishes next year at
65.8 percent, in line with our estimate of its trend.
Prices and labor costs. Since the December Greenbook, we have boosted our forecast
for nonfuel import prices in response to the lower dollar, higher non-energy commodity

3

We estimate that trend payroll growth is currently in the neighborhood of 100,000 per month and that
trend private payroll growth is near 85,000 per month. These figures are below recent norms because
changing demographics appear to be causing the trend labor force participation rate to tilt downward.

I-11

Domestic Developments

The Outlook for the Labor Market
(Percent change, Q4 to Q4, except as noted)
Measure
Output per hour, nonfarm business
Previous
Nonfarm private payroll employment
Previous
Household survey employment
Previous
Labor force participation rate1
Previous
Civilian unemployment rate1
Previous
MEMO
GDP gap2
Previous

2004

2005

2006

2007

2.6
2.6
1.8
1.8
1.3
1.3
66.0
66.0
5.4
5.4

2.7
3.2
1.6
1.6
1.9
1.8
66.1
66.1
5.0
5.0

3.1
2.7
1.4
1.4
1.1
1.1
66.0
66.0
5.0
5.0

2.8
2.8
.6
.6
.7
.7
65.8
65.8
5.1
5.0

-.9
-.9

-.6
-.3

-.1
.0

-.4
-.3

1. Percent, average for the fourth quarter.
2. Percent difference between actual and potential GDP in the fourth quarter of the
year indicated. A negative number indicates that the economy is operating below
potential. (In previous Greenbooks, we expressed the GDP gap with the opposite
sign, so that a positive number indicated that actual output fell short of potential.)

prices, and our revised view that the expiration of the Multifibre Arrangement is not
exerting much restraint on prices of imported apparel and textiles. The higher path for
nonfuel import prices and the indirect effects of higher oil prices have led us to nudge up
our projection of core consumer price inflation 0.1 percentage point this year. We now
anticipate that core PCE prices will increase 2.2 percent this year and 1.8 percent next
year. As in our previous forecast, core inflation slows in 2007, reflecting diminished
indirect effects of earlier increases in energy prices and nonfuel import prices.
We project that overall PCE prices will rise 2.3 percent this year and 1.8 percent next
year. These figures are 0.2 percentage point and 0.1 percentage point above their
December Greenbook counterparts owing to higher energy price inflation in both years
and slightly higher core inflation in 2006.
Our forecast calls for the employment cost index to move up nearly 4¼ percent in both
2006 and 2007 after a projected 3 percent rise in 2005. We are also expecting the
productivity and costs measure of compensation per hour to rise more rapidly in the next
few years than in 2005. The increase in nominal compensation last year fell short of the

I-12

Part I: Summary and Outlook, January 25, 2006

Inflation Projections
(Percent change, Q4 to Q4, except as noted)
Measure
PCE chain-weighted price index
Previous

2004 2005 2006 2007
3.1
3.1

2.9
2.8

2.3
2.1

1.8
1.7

2.9
2.9

2.1
2.1

2.4
2.4

2.2
2.1

17.9
17.9

21.5
19.4

3.6
1.4

.6
-.6

2.2
2.2

1.8
1.8

2.2
2.1

1.8
1.8

3.4
3.4

3.7
3.5

2.6
2.3

2.0
1.9

Excluding food and energy
Previous

2.1
2.1

2.1
2.1

2.5
2.4

2.2
2.1

GDP chain-weighted price index
Previous

2.9
2.9

2.9
2.7

2.2
2.3

2.0
1.9

ECI for compensation of private
industry workers1
Previous

3.8
3.8

3.0
3.0

4.2
4.2

4.1
4.0

Compensation per hour,
nonfarm business sector
Previous

5.8
5.8

3.3
3.6

5.3
5.3

5.2
5.1

Prices of core nonfuel imports
Previous

3.7
3.7

2.3
2.3

2.9
1.7

1.1
.8

Food and beverages
Previous
Energy
Previous
Excluding food and energy
Previous
Consumer price index
Previous

1. December to December.

pace that we would expect given previous years’ increases in consumer prices and labor
productivity, and we anticipate that compensation growth going forward will be more in
line with our reading of fundamentals.
Financial Flows and Conditions
The growth of domestic nonfinancial debt is projected to step down from 9 percent in
2005 to 7½ percent this year and then to slow a little further next year. This contour,
which is quite similar to that in the December Greenbook, mainly reflects our forecast of
a reduced pace of borrowing by households and by state and local governments.

Domestic Developments

I-13

We continue to expect that the growth of mortgage debt will decrease notably over the
course of the projection as house price appreciation slows and mortgage rates remain
close to their current levels. Even though we expect growth of consumer credit to pick
up slightly from last year’s subdued pace, the projected deceleration of mortgage debt
shows through to the top line. All told, overall household debt is forecast to expand
8 percent this year and 6¾ percent next year, rates significantly below last year’s pace of
10½ percent.
The debt of state and local governments expanded nearly 11 percent in 2005 on a steady
pace of issuance for capital projects and a surge in advance refunding issues. With
interest rates up from their lows and with fewer opportunities for additional advance
refundings, we expect debt growth in this sector to decline to 4½ percent in 2006 and to
edge down further to 3¼ percent in 2007. By contrast, our outlook for a slightly wider
federal budget deficit this year and next leads us to expect that federal debt will expand a
bit faster over the projection period than in 2005.
The debt of nonfinancial corporations is projected to grow at roughly last year’s pace,
expanding at an average rate of about 7 percent in both 2006 and 2007. We expect that
the pace of debt growth will be tempered by firms drawing upon the large stocks of liquid
assets that they have accumulated in recent years.
In 2006, we expect M2 to expand 5½ percent, a little below the projected growth of
nominal GDP, because of the lagged effects of previous increases in opportunity cost.
These effects are expected to taper off, and in 2007, growth of M2 is anticipated to match
the 5 percent increase in nominal GDP.
Alternative Simulations
In this section we evaluate several risks to the staff forecast using simulations of the
FRB/US model. In the first scenario, long-term interest rates rise substantially as the
term premium reverses its decline over the past year and a half. In the second, aggregate
demand proves unexpectedly robust. The third simulation addresses the downside risks
to aggregate spending presented by a more rapid increase in the saving rate. We then
consider two scenarios relating to the staff’s inflation outlook: The first assesses the
implications of a NAIRU of 4¼ percent, and the second examines the consequences of a
set of adverse cost shocks. We explore each of these five risks first under the assumption
that the federal funds rate is held at its Greenbook path and then under the assumption

I-14

Part I: Summary and Outlook, January 25, 2006

Alternative Scenarios
(Percent change, annual rate, from end of preceding period, except as noted)

2005

Measure and scenario

2006

2007

H1

H2

H1

H2

Real GDP
Baseline
Higher term premium
With monetary policy response
Stronger aggregate demand
With monetary policy response
Higher saving rate
With monetary policy response
Low NAIRU
With monetary policy response
Adverse cost shocks
With monetary policy response
Market-based funds rate

3.6
3.6
3.6
3.6
3.6
3.6
3.6
3.6
3.6
3.6
3.6
3.6

3.3
3.3
3.3
3.3
3.3
3.3
3.3
3.3
3.3
3.3
3.3
3.3

3.9
3.6
3.6
4.7
4.7
3.4
3.4
4.0
4.0
3.8
3.8
3.9

3.4
1.8
2.0
4.1
3.9
2.9
3.1
3.5
3.5
3.3
3.3
3.5

3.0
1.3
1.8
4.3
4.0
2.6
2.9
3.1
3.2
3.1
2.8
3.2

Civilian unemployment rate1
Baseline
Higher term premium
With monetary policy response
Stronger aggregate demand
With monetary policy response
Higher saving rate
With monetary policy response
Low NAIRU
With monetary policy response
Adverse cost shocks
With monetary policy response
Market-based funds rate

5.1
5.1
5.1
5.1
5.1
5.1
5.1
5.1
5.1
5.1
5.1
5.1

5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0

5.0
5.0
5.0
4.9
4.9
5.1
5.1
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0

5.0
5.3
5.3
4.7
4.8
5.2
5.2
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.1
5.0

5.1
6.2
6.0
4.3
4.4
5.5
5.4
5.0
5.0
5.2
5.3
5.0

PCE prices excluding food and energy
Baseline
Higher term premium
With monetary policy response
Stronger aggregate demand
With monetary policy response
Higher saving rate
With monetary policy response
Low NAIRU
With monetary policy response
Adverse cost shocks
With monetary policy response
Market-based funds rate

2.1
2.1
2.1
2.1
2.1
2.1
2.1
2.1
2.1
2.1
2.1
2.1

1.6
1.6
1.6
1.6
1.6
1.6
1.6
1.6
1.6
1.6
1.6
1.6

2.2
1.9
1.9
2.0
2.0
2.2
2.2
2.1
2.1
2.2
2.2
2.2

2.2
2.0
2.0
2.1
2.1
2.2
2.2
2.0
2.0
2.5
2.5
2.2

1.8
1.5
1.6
1.9
1.8
1.7
1.8
1.5
1.5
2.4
2.3
1.9

1. Percent, average for the final quarter of the period.

Domestic Developments

I-15

that monetary policy responds to changes in the outlook as suggested by the Taylor rule. 4
A final simulation traces out the consequences of a path for the federal funds rate
consistent with current readings from the futures market.
Higher term premium. We expect bond yields to edge up over the projection period but
recognize the risk of a more substantial jump in yields given the unusually low level of
the term premium. In this scenario, the term premium increases sharply over the first half
of this year, reversing the decline seen since mid-2004 and boosting Treasury yields a full
percentage point relative to baseline. Yields on private securities rise even more as risk
spreads increase in response to weaker economic activity. Higher interest rates reduce
consumption and investment, causing real GDP growth under the baseline path for
monetary policy to slow to 2¾ percent in 2006 and 1¼ percent in 2007. The
unemployment rate rises to 6¼ percent by late 2007, and core PCE inflation falls to
1½ percent. If monetary policy responds to weaker activity along the lines indicated by
the Taylor rule, the federal funds rate—starting from the middle of this year—declines
steadily to about 2¼ percent by the end of 2007. Under this more-accommodative stance,
real GDP expands 1¾ percent in 2007, the unemployment rate climbs to 6 percent, and
the decline in inflation is a bit less pronounced.
Stronger aggregate demand. Aggregate spending may grow more rapidly than we have
projected for any of several reasons: The predicted slowing in residential investment
may not materialize; E&S spending may step up rather than decelerate; and households
may be less inclined than we expect to boost their saving. Regardless of the source, such
outcomes would imply a higher equilibrium real federal funds rate than is currently
assumed in the staff projection. In this scenario, we boost all categories of private
domestic spending enough to imply a short-term equilibrium rate that is 1½ percentage
points higher than in the baseline forecast. Under the baseline monetary policy, these
assumptions cause real GDP to grow 4½ percent in 2006 and 4¼ percent in 2007 and
reduce the unemployment rate to 4¼ percent by the end of 2007. The strong pace of
growth is accompanied by a 1 percentage point rise in the yield on ten-year Treasury
notes as investors come to anticipate a substantially tighter monetary policy beyond the
forecast period. This in turn prompts a modest appreciation of the dollar, which initially
restrains core PCE inflation. However, this effect is more than offset later by tighter
labor and product markets, and inflation ends up a touch above baseline. Under the
4

In the Taylor-rule scenarios, the federal funds rate is assumed to move 1 percentage point relative to
baseline for each percentage point deviation of the output gap from baseline and to move 1½ percentage
points for each percentage point deviation of the four-quarter average of core PCE inflation from baseline.

I-16

Part I: Summary and Outlook, January 25, 2006

Taylor rule, the federal funds rate increases to 6 percent by late 2007, which prevents the
unemployment rate from falling appreciably below 4½ percent and keeps inflation close
to baseline.
Higher saving rate. The staff projects that the saving rate will increase to 1½ percent by
the end of 2007, a level consistent with our assessment of the historical relationship
between consumption, income, interest rates, and wealth. Nonetheless, considerable
uncertainty continues to surround the outlook for consumption, and other factors could
further boost household saving over the projection period. For example, the staff’s
projected slowing in housing activity and equity extraction could restrain household
spending more than we have assumed; alternatively, households could reverse the recent
decline in the saving rate more aggressively than in our baseline projection. In this
scenario, the saving rate rises to 2½ percent by the end of next year, 1 percentage point
above the Greenbook baseline. Under the baseline monetary policy, real GDP
decelerates to 3¼ percent in 2006 and 2½ percent in 2007, and the unemployment rate
climbs to 5½ percent by the end of next year. Reflecting increased slack, core PCE
inflation is a touch below baseline next year. Under the Taylor rule, the federal funds
rate drifts down to 3¾ percent by the end of 2007; this monetary easing raises aggregate
spending enough to return GDP growth to baseline by 2007, thereby leaving core PCE
inflation little changed.
Low NAIRU. Taken together, the evidence from a range of wage and price models is
consistent with the staff’s NAIRU of 5 percent, but the confidence interval around our
estimate is wide. The relatively low readings on the employment cost index for the first
three quarters of 2005 could be read as suggesting a greater degree of labor market slack
than is assumed in the baseline projection. Moreover, many of the structural changes to
the labor market that contribute to the decline in the staff’s current estimate of the
NAIRU between the mid-1980s and 2000 have arguably continued to put downward
pressure on the natural rate of unemployment.5 In this scenario we assume that the
NAIRU is, and for some time has been, 4¼ percent—roughly one standard error below
the staff estimate. Under the baseline monetary policy, real GDP growth is a touch
stronger than in the staff projection because the lower NAIRU implies higher long-run
levels of household income and corporate earnings, which boost consumption and
investment spending. Reflecting the larger margin of slack in this scenario, core PCE
inflation is 2 percent in 2006 and falls to 1½ percent in 2007. In implementing the
5

For example, the share of the population receiving disability payments through the Social Security
program has continued to rise, and the real minimum wage has declined further.

Domestic Developments

I-17

scenario under the Taylor rule, we assume that the Committee considers the NAIRU to be
5 percent, which means that it perceives labor and product markets to be tighter than they
actually are. As a result, even though inflation in this scenario is lower than the
Greenbook forecast, the federal funds rate averages only 12 basis points below the
baseline path in 2007. Accordingly, the change in monetary policy has little incremental
effect on the economy. By contrast, if the Committee quickly comes to recognize that the
NAIRU is 4¼ percent, the federal funds rate under the Taylor rule will average about
60 basis points below its baseline path. This results in GDP growth of 4 percent in 2006
and almost 3½ percent in 2007, while core PCE inflation in 2007 is a little over
1½ percent.
Adverse cost shocks. The surprising persistence and magnitude of recent adverse cost
shocks (most notably increases of energy and import prices) raise the possibility of a
continued deterioration in this component of the inflation outlook. This scenario explores
the implications of further adverse cost surprises arising from three sources: an additional
$10 per barrel increase in the price of oil, an exogenous 4 percent jump in the level of
core intermediate materials prices, and 2 additional percentage points in the average rate
of change of nonfuel import prices over 2006 and 2007. In broad terms, these shocks are
similar in magnitude to those that affected the supply side of the economy during 2004.
Under the baseline monetary policy assumption, core PCE inflation runs close to
2½ percent in both 2006 and 2007. Real household income and real corporate earnings
increase more slowly than in the baseline projection, which in turn depresses domestic
spending; however, the higher inflation rate also reduces the real interest rate and thereby
the real exchange rate, which stimulates spending. On balance, real GDP is about the
same as in the baseline. Under the Taylor rule, the federal funds rate increases to
5 percent by the end of 2006 and remains there through 2007. Relative to baseline, this
less accommodative policy subtracts about ¼ percentage point from real GDP growth in
2007, thereby limiting somewhat the pickup in inflation.
Market-based funds rate. Quotes from futures markets imply a path for the federal
funds rate that is about 20 basis points lower, on average, than the baseline path through
2007. Taking on board the market’s path for the funds rate modestly boosts real activity
in the second half of this year and in 2007; as a result, the unemployment rate ends up at
5 percent late next year, and inflation is a touch stronger.

I-18

Part I: Summary and Outlook, January 25, 2006

Selected Greenbook Projections and
70 Percent Confidence Intervals Derived from
Historical Forecast Errors and FRB/US Simulations
Measure

Real GDP
(percent change, Q4 to Q4)
Projection
Confidence interval
Greenbook forecast errors1
FRB/US stochastic simulations
Civilian unemployment rate
(percent, Q4)
Projection
Confidence interval
Greenbook forecast errors1
FRB/US stochastic simulations
PCE prices
excluding food and energy
(percent change, Q4 to Q4)
Projection
Confidence interval
Greenbook forecast errors2
FRB/US stochastic simulations

2005

2006

2007

3.4

3.7

3.0

3.2–3.6
3.2–3.6

2.1–5.3
2.2–5.3

1.3–4.7
1.2–5.0

5.0

5.0

5.1

5.0–5.0
4.9–5.0

4.5–5.5
4.3–5.6

4.2–6.0
4.1–6.0

1.8

2.2

1.8

1.7–1.9
1.8–1.9

1.6–2.8
1.6–2.9

.9–2.8
1.0–2.8

NOTE. Shocks underlying stochastic simulations are randomly drawn from the
1978–2004 set of model equation residuals.
1. 1978–2004.
2. 1981–2004.

I-19

Class II FOMC - Restricted (FR)

Forecast Confidence Intervals and Alternative Scenarios
Confidence Intervals Based on FRB/US Stochastic Simulations
(Scenarios assume baseline federal funds rate
except in the case of the market-based funds rate)
Greenbook baseline
Higher term premium
Stronger aggregate demand
Higher saving rate

Low NAIRU
Adverse cost shocks
Market-based funds rate

Real GDP
4-quarter percent change

7

7

6

90 percent interval

6

5

5

4

4

3

3

2

2

70 percent interval

1

1

0

0

-1

-1
2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Unemployment Rate
Percent

7.0

7.0

6.5

6.5

6.0

6.0

5.5

5.5

5.0

5.0

4.5

4.5

4.0

4.0

3.5

3.5

3.0

3.0
2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

PCE Prices excluding Food and Energy
4-quarter percent change

3.5

3.5

3.0

3.0

2.5

2.5

2.0

2.0

1.5

1.5

1.0

1.0

0.5

0.5

0.0

0.0
2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

I-20
Class II FOMC - Restricted (FR)

Evolution of the Staff Forecast
Change in Real GDP
Percent, Q4/Q4
4.5

4.5

2006

2005

4.0

4.0

3.5

3.5

2007

3.0

3.0

2.5

2.5
1/21

3/11

4/28

6/23

8/5

9/15

11/3 12/8

1/26

3/16

4/28

2004

6/22

8/4

9/14

10/26 12/7

1/25

3/22

5/3

2005

6/21

8/3

9/13 10/18 12/6

2006

Greenbook publication date

Unemployment Rate
5.6

Percent, fourth quarter
5.6

5.4

5.4
2005

5.2

5.2
2006
2007

5.0

5.0

4.8

4.8
1/21

3/11

4/28

6/23

8/5

9/15

11/3 12/8

1/26

3/16

4/28

2004

6/22

8/4

9/14

10/26 12/7

1/25

3/22

5/3

2005

6/21

8/3

9/13 10/18 12/6

2006

Greenbook publication date

Change in PCE Prices excluding Food and Energy
Percent, Q4/Q4
2.5

2.5

2007

2.0

2.0

1.5

1.5
2006
2005

1.0

1.0

0.5

0.5
1/21

3/11

4/28

6/23

8/5

2004

9/15

11/3 12/8

1/26

3/16

4/28

6/22

8/4

9/14

10/26 12/7

2005

Greenbook publication date

1/25

3/22

5/3

6/21

8/3

2006

9/13 10/18 12/6

6.5
6.6
6.3
5.5
5.1
4.8

6.8
6.5
5.9
5.0
7.0
6.4
6.2
5.2

Two-quarter2
2005:Q2
Q4
2006:Q2
Q4
2007:Q2
Q4

Four-quarter3
2004:Q4
2005:Q4
2006:Q4
2007:Q4

Annual
2004
2005
2006
2007
7.0
6.4
6.1
5.3

6.8
6.4
6.0
5.0

6.5
6.3
6.3
5.6
5.1
4.9

7.0
6.0
7.6
5.1
6.3
6.3
5.8
5.4
5.2
5.0
4.9
4.8

1/25/06

4.2
3.7
3.6
3.1

3.8
3.7
3.5
3.0

3.6
3.9
3.6
3.3
3.0
2.9

3.8
3.3
4.3
3.4
3.7
3.5
3.4
3.2
3.1
3.0
2.9
2.9

12/7/05

4.2
3.6
3.6
3.2

3.8
3.4
3.7
3.0

3.6
3.3
3.9
3.4
3.0
2.9

3.8
3.3
4.1
2.4
4.1
3.8
3.6
3.3
3.0
3.0
3.0
2.9

1/25/06

Real GDP

2.6
2.8
2.4
1.9

3.1
2.8
2.1
1.7

2.8
2.9
2.2
2.1
1.8
1.6

2.3
3.3
3.6
2.1
1.9
2.5
2.1
2.0
1.8
1.7
1.7
1.6

12/7/05

2.6
2.8
2.6
2.0

3.1
2.9
2.3
1.8

2.8
3.1
2.4
2.2
1.9
1.7

2.3
3.3
3.7
2.4
2.1
2.7
2.3
2.1
1.9
1.8
1.8
1.7

1/25/06

PCE price index

January 25, 2006

2.0
2.0
2.0
1.9

2.2
1.8
2.1
1.8

2.1
1.6
2.2
2.1
1.8
1.8

2.4
1.7
1.2
2.1
2.2
2.2
2.1
2.0
1.9
1.8
1.8
1.8

12/7/05

2.0
2.0
2.0
2.0

2.2
1.8
2.2
1.8

2.1
1.6
2.2
2.2
1.9
1.8

2.4
1.7
1.4
1.9
2.0
2.3
2.3
2.1
1.9
1.9
1.8
1.8

1/25/06

5.5
5.1
5.0
5.0

-.5
-.4
.0
.0

-.3
-.1
.0
.0
.0
.0

5.3
5.1
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0

12/7/05

5.5
5.1
5.0
5.1

-.4
-.4
.0
.1

-.3
-.1
.0
.0
.1
.0

5.2
5.1
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.1
5.1
5.1

1/25/06

Core PCE price index Unemployment rate1

Changes in GDP, Prices, and Unemployment
(Percent, annual rate except as noted)

1. Level, except for two-quarter and four-quarter intervals.
2. Percent change from two quarters earlier; for unemployment rate, change is in percentage points.
3. Percent change from four quarters earlier; for unemployment rate, change is in percentage points.

7.0
6.0
7.6
5.6
6.5
6.0
5.7
5.3
5.3
4.9
4.8
4.8

12/7/05

Nominal GDP

Quarterly
2005:Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
2006:Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
2007:Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4

Interval

Class II FOMC
Restricted (FR)

I-21

9.5
9.5
5.7
5.7
8.3
8.3
-2.0
-2.0
-645
-645
7.5
7.4

Residential investment
Previous

Business fixed invest.
Previous
Equipment & software
Previous
Nonres. structures
Previous

Net exports2
Previous2
Exports
Imports

-2
-2
3
-4

2.5
2.5
2.4
3.7
-.2
2.6

-614
-614
10.7
-.3

8.8
8.8
10.9
10.9
2.7
2.7

10.8
10.8

3.4
3.4
7.9
3.6
2.3

5.6
5.6
4.5
4.5

3.3
3.3

Q2

7.3
7.7

4.1
4.2
9.3
3.5
3.3

4.6
4.7
4.8
5.0

4.1
4.3

Q3

-13
-13
-8
-5

2.9
3.2
7.4
10.0
2.4
.2

-617
-621
2.5
2.4

8.5
8.9
10.6
10.9
2.2
3.1

2005

43
50
45
-1

.2
1.6
-2.9
-11.7
17.6
2.0

-655
-639
4.8
11.9

4.0
4.8
3.5
2.2
5.5
12.8

7.6
9.3

1.1
.7
-14.6
5.3
2.4

.3
1.1
1.9
1.8

2.4
3.4

Q4

28
21
27
0

4.1
3.7
6.2
11.5
-3.4
2.9

-654
-651
7.2
4.4

7.3
9.1
6.7
7.7
9.0
12.8

-.4
2.7

4.5
4.8
18.1
5.2
1.8

4.7
4.8
4.5
5.2

4.1
3.7

Q1

21
10
20
1

1.5
1.7
.1
1.9
-3.6
2.3

-645
-647
5.9
1.9

8.3
10.1
8.1
10.4
8.9
9.1

2.8
1.4

3.4
3.2
8.0
3.7
2.4

4.0
3.9
3.9
3.9

3.8
3.5

Q2

25
21
24
1

1.3
1.4
-.2
1.2
-2.9
2.1

-645
-653
5.5
3.6

7.8
7.8
8.0
7.7
7.1
7.9

2.6
-1.1

3.1
3.2
5.7
3.7
2.4

3.4
3.1
3.7
3.5

3.6
3.4

Q3

2006

37
43
36
1

1.7
1.7
.6
.5
.9
2.3

-659
-673
7.2
7.7

6.9
6.3
7.2
6.8
6.1
5.0

2.9
-.3

3.1
3.2
5.3
3.7
2.4

2.9
2.5
3.6
3.3

3.3
3.2

Q4

51
62
51
1

1.5
1.5
.0
.0
.0
2.4

-681
-698
3.2
6.8

5.4
6.2
5.9
7.4
4.2
3.0

.8
-.4

3.3
3.5
5.5
3.9
2.6

2.4
2.5
3.4
3.5

3.0
3.1

Q1

41
52
40
1

1.5
1.5
.0
.0
.0
2.4

-675
-699
5.4
2.3

5.9
5.5
6.9
6.8
3.5
2.2

-.5
.6

3.3
3.4
5.3
3.9
2.6

3.4
3.3
3.3
3.5

45
52
44
1

1.5
1.5
.0
.0
.0
2.4

-680
-708
5.3
4.5

5.7
5.3
6.5
6.4
3.6
2.5

-2.2
.3

3.3
3.4
5.2
3.9
2.6

2.9
3.0
3.2
3.4

3.0
2.9

Q3

2007

3.0
3.0

Q2

Changes in Real Gross Domestic Product and Related Items
(Percent, annual rate except as noted)

1. Change from fourth quarter of previous year to fourth quarter of year indicated.
2. Billions of chained (2000) dollars.

58
58
62
-2

3.5
3.5
2.6
5.3
2.8

Personal cons. expend.
Previous
Durables
Nondurables
Services

Change in bus. inventories2
Previous2
Nonfarm2
Farm2

3.5
3.5
4.1
4.1

Final sales
Previous
Priv. dom. final purch.
Previous

1.9
1.9
2.4
3.0
1.1
1.6

3.8
3.8

Real GDP
Previous

Govt. cons. & invest.
Previous
Federal
Defense
Nondefense
State & local

Q1

Item

Class II FOMC
Restricted (FR)

61
63
60
1

1.5
1.5
.0
.0
.0
2.4

-696
-728
7.3
8.2

5.0
5.0
5.8
6.0
3.0
2.5

-2.6
-.2

3.3
3.4
5.0
3.9
2.6

2.4
2.6
3.1
3.4

2.9
2.9

Q4

22
23
25
-3

1.8
2.3
2.3
.9
5.0
1.6

-633
-630
6.3
5.3

6.7
7.0
8.3
8.0
2.1
4.0

8.8
9.3

3.0
2.9
.8
4.4
2.7

3.5
3.7
3.8
3.9

3.4
3.7

20051

28
24
27
1

2.1
2.1
1.7
3.7
-2.3
2.4

-651
-656
6.4
4.4

7.6
8.3
7.5
8.2
7.8
8.7

2.0
.7

3.5
3.6
9.1
4.0
2.2

3.8
3.5
3.9
4.0

3.7
3.5

20061

50
57
49
1

1.5
1.5
.0
.0
.0
2.4

-683
-708
5.3
5.4

5.5
5.5
6.3
6.7
3.6
2.5

-1.1
.1

3.3
3.4
5.2
3.9
2.6

2.8
2.8
3.2
3.5

3.0
3.0

20071

January 25, 2006

I-22

69
69
72
-3

Change in bus. inventories2
Previous2
Nonfarm2
Farm2

56
56
58
-1

.4
.4
-2.2
-3.5
.3
1.7

-379
-379
6.5
11.2

7.8
7.8
7.5
7.5
8.8
8.8

-1.9
-1.9

4.1
4.1
4.7
3.0
4.5

2.9
2.9
4.3
4.3

2.2
2.2

20001
.2
.2

-32
-32
-32
0

5.0
5.0
6.4
6.5
6.3
4.2

-399
-399
-11.9
-7.6

-9.6
-9.6
-9.0
-9.0
-11.1
-11.1

1.4
1.4

2.8
2.8
10.8
1.9
1.6

1.5
1.5
1.0
1.0

20011

12
12
15
-2

4.0
4.0
7.8
8.4
6.8
2.1

-471
-471
3.8
9.7

-6.5
-6.5
-3.4
-3.4
-14.9
-14.9

7.0
7.0

1.9
1.9
1.2
2.1
1.9

.8
.8
1.1
1.1

1.9
1.9

20021

15
15
15
0

1.9
1.9
5.5
7.5
1.6
.0

-521
-521
6.0
5.1

5.6
5.6
7.2
7.2
1.2
1.2

11.8
11.8

3.8
3.8
9.2
4.1
2.5

4.0
4.0
4.4
4.4

4.0
4.0

20031

1. Change from fourth quarter of previous year to fourth quarter of year indicated.
2. Billions of chained (2000) dollars.

4.2
4.2
4.2
4.3
4.1
4.2

Govt. cons. & invest.
Previous
Federal
Defense
Nondefense
State & local

-296
-296
5.6
12.1

3.6
3.6

Residential investment
Previous

Net exports2
Previous2
Exports
Imports

4.9
4.9
7.3
4.9
4.4

Personal cons. expend.
Previous
Durables
Nondurables
Services

7.7
7.7
10.8
10.8
-.9
-.9

4.2
4.2
5.3
5.3

Final sales
Previous
Priv. dom. final purch.
Previous

Business fixed invest.
Previous
Equipment & software
Previous
Nonres. structures
Previous

4.7
4.7

19991

52
52
50
2

2.1
2.1
4.2
4.9
2.8
.9

-601
-601
6.1
10.6

10.9
10.9
13.8
13.8
2.7
2.7

6.6
6.6

3.8
3.8
5.2
4.6
3.1

3.6
3.6
4.8
4.8

3.8
3.8

20041

Changes in Real Gross Domestic Product and Related Items
(Percent, annual rate except as noted)

Real GDP
Previous

Item

Class II FOMC
Restricted (FR)

22
23
25
-3

1.8
2.3
2.3
.9
5.0
1.6

-633
-630
6.3
5.3

6.7
7.0
8.3
8.0
2.1
4.0

8.8
9.3

3.0
2.9
.8
4.4
2.7

3.5
3.7
3.8
3.9

3.4
3.7

20051

28
24
27
1

2.1
2.1
1.7
3.7
-2.3
2.4

-651
-656
6.4
4.4

7.6
8.3
7.5
8.2
7.8
8.7

2.0
.7

3.5
3.6
9.1
4.0
2.2

3.8
3.5
3.9
4.0

3.7
3.5

20061

50
57
49
1

1.5
1.5
.0
.0
.0
2.4

-683
-708
5.3
5.4

5.5
5.5
6.3
6.7
3.6
2.5

-1.1
.1

3.3
3.4
5.2
3.9
2.6

2.8
2.8
3.2
3.5

3.0
3.0

20071

January 25, 2006

I-23

.5
.5
.6
.6
.6
.6
-.1
-.1
-.4
-.4
.7
-1.1

Residential investment
Previous

Business fixed invest.
Previous
Equipment & software
Previous
Nonres. structures
Previous

Net exports
Previous
Exports
Imports

-2.1
-2.1
-2.1
-.1

.5
.5
.2
.2
.0
.3

1.1
1.1
1.1
.0

.9
.9
.8
.8
.1
.1

.6
.6

2.4
2.4
.6
.7
1.0

5.5
5.5
3.9
3.9

3.3
3.3

Q2

-.4
-.4
-.4
.0

.5
.6
.5
.5
.1
.0

-.1
-.2
.3
-.4

.9
.9
.8
.8
.1
.1

.4
.5

2.9
3.0
.8
.7
1.4

4.6
4.7
4.2
4.4

4.1
4.3

Q3

2005

2.1
2.2
1.9
.2

.0
.3
-.2
-.6
.4
.2

-1.4
-.7
.5
-1.9

.4
.5
.3
.2
.1
.3

.5
.6

.8
.5
-1.3
1.1
1.0

.3
1.2
1.7
1.6

2.4
3.4

Q4

-.6
-1.0
-.6
.0

.8
.7
.4
.5
-.1
.4

.0
-.4
.7
-.7

.8
.9
.5
.6
.2
.3

.0
.2

3.2
3.3
1.3
1.1
.8

4.7
4.7
3.9
4.4

4.1
3.7

Q1

-.2
-.4
-.3
.0

.3
.3
.0
.1
-.1
.3

.3
.1
.6
-.3

.9
1.1
.6
.8
.3
.3

.2
.1

2.4
2.2
.6
.8
1.0

4.0
3.8
3.4
3.4

3.8
3.5

Q2

.1
.4
.1
.0

.2
.3
.0
.1
-.1
.3

.0
-.2
.6
-.6

.8
.8
.6
.6
.2
.2

.2
-.1

2.2
2.3
.5
.8
1.0

3.4
3.1
3.2
3.0

3.6
3.4

Q3

2006

.4
.7
.4
.0

.3
.3
.0
.0
.0
.3

-.5
-.7
.8
-1.3

.7
.7
.6
.5
.2
.2

.2
.0

2.2
2.2
.4
.8
1.0

2.9
2.5
3.1
2.9

3.3
3.2

Q4

.5
.6
.5
.0

.3
.3
.0
.0
.0
.3

-.8
-.9
.3
-1.1

.6
.7
.5
.6
.1
.1

.0
.0

2.3
2.4
.4
.8
1.1

2.4
2.5
2.9
3.0

3.0
3.1

Q1

-.4
-.3
-.4
.0

.3
.3
.0
.0
.0
.3

.2
.0
.6
-.4

.6
.6
.5
.5
.1
.1

.0
.0

2.3
2.4
.4
.8
1.1

3.4
3.3
2.9
3.0

3.0
3.0

Q2

Contributions to Changes in Real Gross Domestic Product
(Percentage points, annual rate except as noted)

1. Change from fourth quarter of previous year to fourth quarter of year indicated.

.3
.3
.4
-.1

2.4
2.4
.2
1.1
1.2

Personal cons. expend.
Previous
Durables
Nondurables
Services

Change in bus. inventories
Previous
Nonfarm
Farm

3.5
3.5
3.6
3.6

Final sales
Previous
Priv. dom. final purch.
Previous

.4
.4
.2
.1
.0
.2

3.8
3.8

Real GDP
Previous

Govt. cons. & invest.
Previous
Federal
Defense
Nondefense
State & local

Q1

Item

Class II FOMC
Restricted (FR)

.2
.0
.2
.0

.3
.3
.0
.0
.0
.3

-.2
-.3
.6
-.8

.6
.6
.5
.5
.1
.1

-.1
.0

2.3
2.4
.4
.8
1.1

2.8
3.0
2.8
3.0

3.0
2.9

Q3

2007

.5
.4
.5
.0

.3
.3
.0
.0
.0
.3

-.6
-.7
.8
-1.4

.5
.6
.5
.5
.1
.1

-.2
.0

2.3
2.4
.4
.8
1.1

2.4
2.6
2.7
2.9

2.9
2.9

Q4

.0
.0
-.1
.0

.4
.4
.2
.0
.1
.2

-.2
-.1
.6
-.8

.7
.7
.6
.6
.1
.1

.5
.5

2.1
2.1
.1
.9
1.1

3.5
3.7
3.3
3.3

3.4
3.7

20051

-.1
-.1
-.1
.0

.4
.4
.1
.2
-.1
.3

-.1
-.3
.7
-.7

.8
.9
.6
.6
.2
.2

.1
.0

2.5
2.5
.7
.8
.9

3.8
3.5
3.4
3.4

3.7
3.5

20061

.2
.2
.2
.0

.3
.3
.0
.0
.0
.3

-.3
-.5
.6
-.9

.6
.6
.5
.5
.1
.1

-.1
.0

2.3
2.4
.4
.8
1.1

2.8
2.8
2.8
3.0

3.0
3.0

20071

January 25, 2006

I-24

2.5
2.5
2.1
2.1
.9
.9
-1.2
-1.2

2.5
2.5
3.2
3.2
5.5
5.5
2.2
2.2

ECI, hourly compensation2
Previous2
Nonfarm business sector
Output per hour
Previous
Compensation per hour
Previous
Unit labor costs
Previous
4.4
4.6
4.1
3.7
-.3
-.9

3.2
3.2

3.3
3.1
3.7
3.6
50.0
49.8
1.3
1.3
1.4
1.2
5.3
5.3
1.4
1.4

Q3

1.0
2.8
3.0
4.4
2.0
1.5

3.7
3.7

2.6
2.2
2.4
2.1
8.9
2.0
2.6
2.6
1.9
2.1
3.1
2.5
2.4
2.2

Q4

3.5
2.4
4.3
4.6
.8
2.2

4.1
4.1

2.1
2.7
2.1
1.9
3.0
-2.8
2.1
2.5
2.0
2.2
2.5
2.0
2.6
2.4

Q1

2.7
2.4
5.4
5.3
2.6
2.9

4.2
4.2

2.5
2.4
2.7
2.5
7.5
6.1
2.5
2.5
2.3
2.2
3.0
2.8
2.5
2.4

Q2

3.1
3.0
5.6
5.5
2.5
2.5

4.2
4.2

2.2
2.2
2.3
2.1
2.7
1.7
2.5
2.4
2.3
2.1
2.6
2.3
2.5
2.4

Q3

2006

2.9
2.9
5.6
5.5
2.6
2.6

4.3
4.2

2.0
2.0
2.1
2.0
1.3
.8
2.4
2.3
2.1
2.0
2.3
2.1
2.4
2.3

Q4

Changes in Prices and Costs
(Percent, annual rate except as noted)

1. Change from fourth quarter of previous year to fourth quarter of year indicated.
2. Private-industry workers.

2.6
2.6
3.3
3.3
28.6
28.6
3.5
3.5
1.7
1.7
4.0
4.0
2.0
2.0

3.1
3.1
2.3
2.3
3.6
3.6
1.0
1.0
2.4
2.4
2.5
2.5
2.6
2.6

GDP chain-wt. price index
Previous
PCE chain.-wt. price index
Previous
Energy
Previous
Food
Previous
Ex. food & energy
Previous
CPI
Previous
Ex. food & energy
Previous

Q2

Q1

2005

Item

Class II FOMC
Restricted (FR)

2.8
3.0
5.4
5.3
2.6
2.3

4.2
4.1

2.2
2.2
1.9
1.8
1.1
-.2
2.3
2.2
1.9
1.9
2.2
2.0
2.3
2.2

Q1

2.8
2.8
5.2
5.1
2.3
2.3

4.1
4.0

1.9
1.9
1.8
1.7
.7
-.4
2.2
2.1
1.9
1.8
2.1
1.9
2.2
2.1

Q2

2.8
2.8
5.2
5.1
2.3
2.2

4.1
4.0

1.9
1.8
1.8
1.7
.4
-.8
2.1
2.1
1.8
1.8
2.0
1.8
2.1
2.1

Q3

2007

2.7
2.7
5.1
5.0
2.3
2.3

4.1
4.0

1.9
1.8
1.7
1.6
.0
-1.3
2.1
2.1
1.8
1.8
1.9
1.8
2.1
2.1

Q4

2.7
3.2
3.3
3.6
.6
.4

3.0
3.0

2.9
2.7
2.9
2.8
21.5
19.4
2.1
2.1
1.8
1.8
3.7
3.5
2.1
2.1

20051

3.1
2.7
5.3
5.3
2.1
2.5

4.2
4.2

2.2
2.3
2.3
2.1
3.6
1.4
2.4
2.4
2.2
2.1
2.6
2.3
2.5
2.4

20061

2.8
2.8
5.2
5.1
2.4
2.3

4.1
4.0

2.0
1.9
1.8
1.7
.6
-.6
2.2
2.1
1.8
1.8
2.0
1.9
2.2
2.1

20071

January 25, 2006

I-25

2.1 2.0
16.5 17.2
7.0
-3.4
-3.4
.5
.5
24.5 19.7 -15.2 46.8
10.5 10.9 10.2 11.1
10.3 10.6 10.0 10.9
-298 -297
7
21
13.4 13.1
1.7 1.6

Housing starts6
Light motor vehicle sales6

Income and saving
Nominal GDP5
Real disposable pers. income5
Previous5
Personal saving rate3
Previous3

Corporate profits7
Profit share of GNP3
Excluding FR Banks3

Net federal saving8
Net state & local saving8

Gross national saving rate3
Net national saving rate3

5.1
7.4
6.7
-.2
.0

13.4 13.2
-1.6 1.5

-415 -306
-6
3

7.6
-2.0
-.7
-1.8
-1.5

2.1 2.0
17.9 15.8

.5
5.0
5.0
-.2
-.1

Q2
.4
5.0
5.0
-.1
.0

Q3
.3
5.0
5.0
-.1
.0

Q4

6.3
4.7
4.4
.1
.4

5.8
4.4
4.3
.4
.6

5.4
4.3
4.2
.7
.9

13.1 13.4 13.5 13.6
1.7 2.1 2.3 2.3

-353 -344 -339 -329
21
26
28
31

21.8 7.3 1.8 -5.2
11.5 11.5 11.4 11.2
11.3 11.3 11.2 11.0

6.3
4.5
5.1
-.2
.1

2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1
16.7 16.9 17.0 17.0

6.3 7.5 5.7 4.5
8.3 6.4 5.0 3.7
5.6 5.5 5.1 4.4
5.5 6.0 4.7 3.8
80.2 80.8 81.2 81.5
79.8 80.4 80.8 81.0

.6
5.0
5.0
-.4
-.2

Q1

2006

.3
5.1
5.0
-.3
-.1

Q2
.3
5.1
5.0
-.3
-.2

Q3
.3
5.1
5.0
-.4
-.3

Q4

5.0
4.2
4.0
1.3
1.3

4.9
3.9
4.0
1.4
1.4

4.8
4.0
4.0
1.6
1.6

13.4 13.4 13.4 13.3
2.0 2.1 2.0 2.1

-361 -356 -359 -351
30
30
28
30

-4.4 -4.0 -3.2 1.9
10.9 10.7 10.5 10.4
10.7 10.5 10.3 10.2

5.2
4.8
4.6
1.0
1.2

2.1 2.1 2.0 2.0
17.0 17.0 17.0 17.1

3.4 2.7 2.7 2.7
2.9 2.7 2.8 2.9
3.6 2.9 3.0 3.0
3.1 3.0 3.2 3.4
81.7 81.7 81.7 81.7
81.1 81.1 81.1 81.3

.3
5.0
5.0
-.2
.0

Q1

2007

13.2
1.5

-329
6

16.7
11.1
10.9

6.4
.4
.6
-.2
.0

2.1
16.9

2.7
2.4
3.9
3.4
79.6
79.2

2.0
5.0
5.0
-.6
-.3

20051

13.6
2.3

-341
27

6.0
11.2
11.0

6.0
4.5
4.5
.7
.9

2.1
16.9

6.0
5.9
5.2
5.0
81.5
81.0

1.8
5.0
5.0
-.1
.0

20061

13.3
2.1

-357
30

-2.4
10.4
10.2

5.0
4.2
4.2
1.6
1.6

2.0
17.0

2.9
2.8
3.1
3.2
81.7
81.3

1.0
5.1
5.0
-.4
-.3

20071

January 25, 2006

1. Change from fourth quarter of previous year to fourth quarter of year indicated, unless otherwise indicated.
2. Change, millions.
3. Percent, annual values are for the fourth quarter of the year indicated.
4. Percent difference between actual and potential GDP; a negative number indicates that the economy is operating below potential. (In previous
Greenbooks, we expressed the GDP gap with the opposite sign, so that a positive number indicated that actual output fell short of potential.)
Annual values are for the fourth quarter of the year indicated.
5. Percent change, annual rate.
6. Level, millions, annual values are annual averages.
7. Percent change, annual rate, with inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments.
8. Billions of dollars, annual values are annual averages.

6.0
.2
.2
-.2
-.2

.3
5.0
5.0
-.6
-.3

1.4 3.8
.9 3.1
2.0 7.9
1.9 6.1
78.5 79.6
78.5 79.2

.5
5.0
5.0
-.4
-.4

3.8 1.6
3.8 1.6
4.5 1.3
4.5 1.3
78.7 78.5
78.7 78.5

.6
5.1
5.1
-.7
-.6

Industrial production5
Previous5
Manufacturing industr. prod.5
Previous5
Capacity utilization rate - mfg.3
Previous3

Q4

.5
5.2
5.3
-.7
-.7

Q3

Employment and production
Nonfarm payroll employment2
Unemployment rate3
Previous3
GDP gap4
Previous4

Q2

Q1

2005

Other Macroeconomic Indicators

Item

Class II FOMC
Restricted (FR)

I-26

-334
-0.5
0.3
0.3

0.7
0.8
0.8

-354

-421

-378

2157
2503
760
510
250
1742
-346
106

1933
2348
711
474
237
1637
-415
99

36

297
1
21

2153
2472
-318
-318
-494
175

0.4
0.4

-0.1

-336

-344

2370
2706
804
537
267
1902
-335
111

35

355
1
-8

2294
2641
-347
-346
-509
161

2006

Fiscal year
2005a

0.0
0.0

-0.0

-352

-357

2498
2849
834
561
273
2016
-351
113

35

365
0
-12

2409
2762
-353
-352
-534
181

2007

0.0
0.0

-0.6

-280

-302

2197
2495
760
509
251
1735
-298
101

22

165
2
10

452
628
-177
-177
-202
25

Q1a

0.1
0.1

0.0

-288

-307

2228
2525
763
512
251
1762
-297
107

33

-43
-11
8

665
620
45
45
-37
83

Q2a

36

73
-2
-1

549
618
-69
-69
-84
15

Q3a

0.1
0.1

1.0

-414

-425

2149
2564
783
529
254
1781
-415
109

2005

-0.0
0.1

-1.0

-298

-313

2309
2615
783
516
266
1832
-306
107

37

112
-1
8

530
650
-119
-123
-170
51

Q4

2006
Q3

35

-34
-19
-4

719
662
57
60
-24
81

35

93
0
-8

564
649
-85
-85
-96
11

Q4

25

126
10
-0

550
686
-136
-131
-196
59

Not seasonally adjusted

Q2

0.2
0.2

0.4

-354

-363

0.1
0.1

-0.1

-349

-353

0.0
0.0

-0.1

-344

-346

0.0
0.0

-0.1

-336

-336

Seasonally adjusted annual rates
2356
2392
2426
2456
2708
2735
2764
2785
806
811
815
820
538
544
548
552
267
267
267
268
1903
1925
1949
1965
-353
-344
-339
-329
112
112
112
113

16

183
21
-4

481
681
-200
-197
-219
19

Q1

Staff Projections of Federal Sector Accounts and Related Items
(Billions of dollars except as noted)

-0.0
-0.0

0.2

-364

-367

2491
2852
834
561
273
2018
-361
113

10

193
15
0

508
716
-209
-201
-231
23

Q1

-0.0
-0.0

-0.1

-355

-361

2511
2867
838
564
274
2029
-356
113

35

-42
-25
-4

761
690
71
56
-14
85

Q2

35

88
0
-8

590
670
-79
-75
-93
14

Q3

0.0
0.0

-0.0

-354

-363

2535
2894
842
567
275
2052
-359
113

2007

-0.0
-0.0

-0.1

-341

-354

2565
2915
846
569
276
2069
-351
113

25

137
10
-0

579
727
-147
-141
-208
61

Q4

January 25, 2006

1. Budget receipts, outlays, and surplus/deficit include corresponding social security (OASDI) categories. The OASDI surplus and the Postal Service surplus are excluded from the on-budget
surplus and shown separately as off-budget, as classified under current law.
2. Other means of financing are checks issued less checks paid, accrued items, and changes in other financial assets and liabilities.
3. Gross saving is the current account surplus plus consumption of fixed capital of the general government as well as government enterprises.
4. HEB is gross saving less gross investment (NIPA) of the federal government in current dollars, with cyclically sensitive receipts and outlays adjusted to the staff’s measure of potential output and the
NAIRU. Quarterly figures for change in HEB and FI are not at annual rates. The sign on Change in HEB, as a percent of nominal potential GDP, is reversed. FI is the weighted difference of discretionary
changes in federal spending and taxes in chained (2000) dollars, scaled by real GDP. The annual FI estimates are on a calendar year basis. Also, for FI and the change in HEB, positive values indicate
aggregate demand stimulus.
a--Actual

Fiscal indicators4
High-employment (HEB)
surplus/deficit
Change in HEB, percent
of potential GDP
Fiscal impetus (FI)
percent of GDP
Previous

NIPA federal sector
Receipts
Expenditures
Consumption expenditures
Defense
Nondefense
Other spending
Current account surplus
Gross investment
Gross saving less gross
investment3

36

378
-1
36

Means of financing
Borrowing
Cash decrease
Other2

Cash operating balance,
end of period

1880
2293
-413
-413
-568
155

2004a

Unified budget
Receipts1
Outlays1
Surplus/deficit1
Previous
On-budget
Off-budget

Item

Class II FOMC
Restricted (FR)

I-27

11.1
10.5
8.1
6.8

8.7
9.0
7.4
6.6

9.6
8.1
9.1
7.8
9.2
6.3
6.6
6.8
7.9
5.2
6.1
6.6

2004
2005
2006
2007

Quarter
2005:1
2
3
4
2006:1
2
3
4
2007:1
2
3
4

11.3
13.3
14.0
11.5
10.1
9.3
8.7
8.1
7.7
7.5
7.2
7.0

13.5
13.1
9.4
7.6

8.2
9.5
11.9
12.3

Home
mortgages

Households

2.7
4.3
5.3
-2.0
3.5
5.0
3.4
3.6
3.8
3.9
4.1
4.2

4.5
2.6
3.9
4.1

10.8
7.6
4.7
4.5

Consumer
credit

7.0
9.1
7.4
6.1
7.5
6.9
6.2
6.1
6.4
6.5
6.4
6.4

5.9
7.6
6.8
6.6

9.3
6.0
2.6
4.4

Business

12.0
6.1
12.6
11.0
5.2
5.0
3.7
3.7
3.4
3.4
3.0
3.0

7.6
10.8
4.5
3.2

1.3
8.9
11.1
8.2

State and local
governments

Change in Debt of the Domestic Nonfinancial Sectors
(Percent)

14.4
.1
5.1
7.8
15.0
.9
6.4
8.4
14.7
.2
5.6
8.6

9.0
7.0
7.8
7.4

-8.0
-.2
7.6
10.9

Federal
government

2.6.3 FOF

7.0
6.0
7.6
5.1
6.3
6.3
5.8
5.4
5.2
5.0
4.9
4.8

6.8
6.4
6.0
5.0

4.6
2.7
3.6
6.1

Memo:
Nominal
GDP

January 25, 2006

Note. Quarterly data are at seasonally adjusted annual rates.
1. Data after 2005:Q3 are staff projections. Changes are measured from end of the preceding period to end of period indicated except for annual nominal
GDP growth, which is calculated from Q4 to Q4.

9.1
11.2
11.5
8.6
8.6
8.3
7.5
7.1
6.8
6.7
6.5
6.4

8.6
8.6
9.7
9.9

Total

4.8
6.1
6.9
8.1

Total

Year
2000
2001
2002
2003

Period 1

Class II FOMC
Restricted (FR)

I-28

1011.6
887.3
90.9
111.4
47.0
-157.0
434.3
118.2
181.3
361.9
361.9
400.7

Households
Net borrowing 2
Home mortgages
Consumer credit
Debt/DPI (percent) 3

Business
Financing gap 4
Net equity issuance
Credit market borrowing

State and local governments
Net borrowing
Current surplus 5

Federal government
Net borrowing
Net borrowing (n.s.a.)
Unified deficit (n.s.a.)
826.2

306.9
306.9
319.7

181.9
199.4

-97.2
-362.0
599.1

1068.7
979.6
55.3
118.5

201.6
17.3

1794.7
-362.0
2156.7

2005

572.7

368.7
368.7
364.2

83.2
195.3

15.0
-253.0
577.9

911.5
792.2
86.1
121.4

205.4
14.7

1688.2
-253.0
1941.2

2006

560.1

376.1
376.1
364.1

62.8
204.3

193.2
-168.0
591.8

823.8
699.3
92.5
122.5

208.7
13.3

1686.5
-168.0
1854.5

2007

884.7

231.9
72.8
69.0

220.7
208.2

-234.8
-481.1
608.0

1233.6
1106.8
114.4
120.3

201.9
18.2

1813.1
-481.1
2294.2

Q3

Q4

503.8

359.0
112.2
119.3

199.0
167.7

-149.4
-378.6
511.0

946.5
947.8
-43.2
120.5

203.7
15.8

1637.0
-378.6
2015.6

2005

507.6

703.0
182.7
200.0

96.4
187.0

-126.3
-340.0
636.3

968.7
854.9
77.3
121.1

204.8
18.6

2064.3
-340.0
2404.3

Q1

569.9

42.2
-33.7
-57.0

94.8
194.1

25.6
-240.0
591.7

951.8
808.4
109.8
121.4

205.6
12.8

1440.5
-240.0
1680.5

2.6.4 FOF

Q2

Q3

664.8

314.3
93.4
85.0

70.8
197.7

54.0
-226.0
541.3

879.8
771.3
76.9
121.8

206.0
13.5

1580.2
-226.0
1806.2

2006

Flow of Funds Projections: Highlights
(Billions of dollars at seasonally adjusted annual rates except as noted)

Note. Data after 2005:Q3 are staff projections.
1. Average debt levels in the period (computed as the average of period-end debt positions) divided by nominal GDP.
2. Includes change in liabilities not shown in home mortgages and consumer credit.
3. Average debt levels in the period (computed as the average of period-end debt positions) divided by disposable personal income.
4. For corporations, excess of capital expenditures over U.S. internal funds.
5. NIPA state and local government saving plus consumption of fixed capital and net capital transfers.
n.s.a. Not seasonally adjusted.

796.9

197.0
16.4

Borrowing indicators
Debt (percent of GDP) 1
Borrowing (percent of GDP)

Depository institutions
Funds supplied

1769.0
-157.0
1926.0

2004

Domestic nonfinancial sectors
Net funds raised
Total
Net equity issuance
Net debt issuance

Category

Class II FOMC
Restricted (FR)

548.4

415.3
126.3
136.2

70.8
202.4

106.6
-206.0
542.2

845.7
734.1
80.5
122.0

206.7
13.9

1668.0
-206.0
1874.0

Q4

649.6

745.0
193.2
208.6

66.8
202.4

155.5
-168.0
574.3

832.2
715.5
85.3
122.1

207.8
16.2

2050.2
-168.0
2218.2

Q1

504.3

8.4
-42.2
-71.1

66.8
203.6

170.8
-168.0
596.3

823.4
701.6
90.0
122.3

208.6
10.8

1326.9
-168.0
1494.9

Q2

Q3

574.9

292.0
87.8
79.4

58.8
203.7

200.0
-168.0
595.4

820.5
692.3
96.0
122.6

209.1
12.6

1598.7
-168.0
1766.7

2007

511.5

459.0
137.3
147.2

58.8
207.4

246.7
-168.0
601.3

819.2
687.6
98.9
122.9

209.9
13.7

1770.3
-168.0
1938.3

Q4

January 25, 2006

I-29

(This page intentionally blank.)

Class II FOMC—Restricted (FR)

International Developments
The expansion abroad is forecast to continue at a healthy pace, a touch higher than in the
previous Greenbook. Recent data suggest that foreign inflation dipped in the fourth
quarter of 2005, as oil prices eased back a bit. Although foreign inflation is projected to
move back up somewhat, we expect it to remain contained, as tighter monetary policies
and stronger foreign currencies weigh on prices and the latest rebound in dollar oil prices
tails off.
Summary of Staff Projections
(Percent change from end of previous period, s.a.a.r.)
2005

Projection

Indicator
H1

Q3

2005:
Q4

2006

2007

Q1

Q2

H2

Foreign output
December GB

3.2
3.0

4.4
4.5

3.9
3.3

3.6
3.4

3.6
3.5

3.5
3.4

3.4
3.3

Foreign CPI
December GB

1.9
1.9

3.4
3.4

2.0
2.4

2.6
2.5

2.7
2.5

2.6
2.5

2.5
2.4

Note. Changes for years are measured as Q4/Q4; for half-years, Q2/Q4 or Q4/Q2.

The spot price of West Texas intermediate (WTI) crude oil has risen sharply since the
December FOMC meeting to around $67 per barrel, largely because of concerns about
supply. Futures prices for delivery of oil throughout the forecast period have also moved
significantly higher.
The trade-weighted foreign exchange value of the dollar depreciated about 1¾ percent
over the intermeeting period. We again project that the broad real dollar will decline at a
moderate rate over the forecast period, reflecting the need to finance the large and
growing U.S. current account deficit.
Net exports of real goods and services are estimated to have made a negative arithmetic
contribution to the growth of U.S. GDP of nearly 1½ percentage points in the fourth
quarter, as rapid import growth—boosted by hurricane-related disruptions to domestic
production of refined petroleum, chemicals, and related products—swamped moderate
export growth. Our forecast for the contribution of net exports is neutral in the first
quarter of 2006 as the recovery of domestic refinery and chemicals production restrains

I-31

I-32 Class II FOMC—Restricted (FR)

Part I: Summary and Outlook, January 25, 2006

imports and boosts exports. Net exports are projected to make a roughly neutral
arithmetic contribution to growth this year and a negative contribution of about
⅓ percentage point in 2007.
The U.S. current account deficit was reported at just over $780 billion at an annual rate in
the third quarter and is estimated to have ballooned to about $895 billion, or 7 percent of
GDP, in the fourth quarter. The fourth-quarter rise in the current account deficit
primarily reflects the widening of the trade deficit but also a swing of the investment
income balance into negative territory and an increase in net unilateral transfers abroad;
foreign payments of hurricane-related insurance claims depressed net transfers in the
third quarter, and they likely returned to normal in the fourth. The deficit is expected to
widen to more than $1 trillion, or about 7½ percent of GDP, in 2007.
Oil Prices
The spot price of West Texas intermediate (WTI) crude oil closed at $66.75 per barrel on
January 24, an increase of roughly $7 per barrel since the time of the December
Greenbook. With data on inventories in the United States coming in at unseasonably
high levels, this upswing is believed to reflect primarily fears of supply disruptions. The
spot price moved up at the start of the year as the natural gas dispute between Russia and
Ukraine raised concerns about the reliability of Russia as an energy supplier. Later in
January, the spot price jumped higher on escalating tensions over Iran’s nuclear program
and a disruption by rebel activity of Nigerian oil supplies of around 200,000 barrels per
day (about 10 percent of Nigeria’s normal exports). Also, Iraq’s oil production fell in
December to 1.55 million barrels per day, continuing the gradual downward slide from
pre-war production of around 2.5 million barrels per day.
In addition to these recent developments, nearly 400,000 barrels per day of oil production
in the Gulf of Mexico remain shut in because of as-yet unrepaired damage from last
year’s hurricanes. Although the growth of world demand for oil slowed last year,
analysts expect relatively robust growth this year, given the continued solid outlook for
the world economy. The demand outlook combined with intensified concerns that
production capacity may struggle to keep pace have led market participants to expect
much of the recent increase in oil prices to persist: The price of the far-dated futures
contract (currently for delivery in December 2012) settled at $62.58 per barrel on
January 24, about $6 per barrel higher than at the time of the December Greenbook.

International Developments

Class II FOMC—Restricted (FR) I-33

In line with NYMEX futures prices, our projection calls for the spot price of WTI to edge
up, to more than $69 per barrel in the first quarter of 2007, and then to remain relatively
flat through the rest of the forecast period. Relative to the oil price outlook in the
December Greenbook, the current projection averages about $6 per barrel higher in 2006
and $6.50 per barrel higher in 2007. The projected path of the oil import price has been
revised up a similar amount.
International Financial Markets
The trade-weighted exchange value of the dollar against the major currencies declined
2 percent on net over the intermeeting period. The dollar fell about 3½ percent against
the Japanese yen, with much of that decline coming in mid-December amid market
reports that investors were liquidating speculative positions in some assets, including
gold, that had been financed by borrowing in yen. The dollar depreciated about 3 percent
versus the euro, reflecting increasing expectations of ECB tightening, but was down only
1 percent on net against sterling and was little changed against the Canadian dollar.
The dollar also depreciated about 1½ percent against the currencies of our other
important trading partners. The dollar fell 3 percent to 5 percent against a number of
Asian currencies, including the Korean won, Taiwan dollar, Singapore dollar, and Thai
baht.
The dollar depreciated about 1 percent on net versus the Mexican peso and
somewhat less against the Brazilian real.
On the basis of these developments, we have decreased the first-quarter value of the
broad real dollar 1¾ percent relative to the projection in the December Greenbook. As
noted, we continue to project that the broad real dollar will depreciate over the forecast
period, reflecting downward pressure on the dollar stemming from the need to finance the
increasing U.S. current account deficit. We have slightly reduced the projected rate of
real depreciation, to an annual rate of about 1⅓ percent, in light of our anticipation that
market expectations of U.S. interest rates will rise to come in line with the staff’s
financial assumptions.
The European Central Bank, the Bank of England, and the Bank of Japan kept their
monetary policy stances unchanged over the intermeeting period. Comments by officials
of the European Central Bank over the period were generally viewed as signaling an
increased likelihood of tightening in the next few months, which was reflected in a small

I-34 Class II FOMC—Restricted (FR)

Part I: Summary and Outlook, January 25, 2006

increase in euro short-term interest rates. In contrast, comments from the Bank of
England heightened market expectations for a cut in its policy rate in the near term. The
Bank of Canada increased its target for the overnight rate 25 basis points on January 24,
to 3.5 percent.
Benchmark ten-year yields were little changed on balance in the euro area. These rates
declined about 10 basis points in Japan and Canada and about 20 basis points in the
United Kingdom. Headline equity indexes rose 2 percent to 6 percent in the euro area,
United Kingdom, and Canada. Japanese equity prices were little changed on net. They
rose early in the period to multiyear highs but dropped sharply in mid-January on news of
an investigation of the financial reporting practices of the Japanese corporation Livedoor.
Equity indexes also rose over the period in most markets in Latin America and emerging
Asia.

The Desk did not intervene
during the period for the accounts of the System or the Treasury.
Foreign Industrial Countries
Real GDP growth in the advanced foreign economies is estimated to have remained
around 2½ percent in the fourth quarter. We project that growth will move up slightly in
the first half of this year before edging back down to 2½ percent for the remainder of the
forecast period. Our projection is slightly higher in the fourth quarter and in 2006
compared with the December Greenbook, in part because data showing continued
strength into the fourth quarter have improved our view of the prospects of some
industrial countries, especially in Europe. The four-quarter change in consumer prices is
expected to be pushed up by the path of energy prices in the near-term, rising to
1¾ percent in the current quarter, and to slow somewhat later in the year. Inflation in
2007 picks up a bit, boosted chiefly by developments in the euro area and Japan.
We estimate that euro-area real GDP rose just over 1½ percent in the fourth quarter.
Recent forward-looking indicators, such as sentiment and new orders, have been quite
positive. Accordingly, we project growth to strengthen to just above 2 percent during
2006, a pace almost ½ percentage point faster than in the previous Greenbook, before
slowing in 2007. An anticipated increase of 3 percentage points in the German valueadded tax starting in 2007 will shift demand and production into late 2006 from early
2007 and will also push up euro-area inflation about ¼ percentage point in 2007, to

International Developments

Class II FOMC—Restricted (FR) I-35

around 2 percent. We assume that the European Central Bank will raise its official
interest rates 50 basis points during the first half of this year on concerns about inflation.
GDP in the United Kingdom rose 2.6 percent (annual rate) in the fourth quarter, a pickup
of around 1 percentage point from the third quarter. We estimate that a good portion of
this pickup in growth is the result of a strong upswing in net exports. Some stronger data
on consumption and house prices have led us to mark up our forecast of GDP growth; it
now rises from around 2½ percent in the current quarter to just under 3 percent by the end
of the forecast period as consumption and investment growth improve. Twelve-month
inflation is projected to drop below 2 percent in the second half of this year and remain
there for the rest of the forecast. We assume that this moderation in inflation will allow
the Bank of England to keep its policy rates steady through the forecast period.
We estimate that Japanese GDP increased 2 percent in the fourth quarter. Positive
incoming data and a downward revision to the level of inventories have caused us to raise
our forecast a touch, to just above 1½ percent this year and next. We still do not expect
headline inflation to turn positive on a sustained basis until the second half of 2006.
Given recent statements by the Bank of Japan and Japanese government officials, we now
assume that the central bank will wait to raise interest rates until late this year.
The Canadian economy continues to expand at a robust pace. Real GDP growth is
projected to return to a 3½ percent pace in the first half of this year after an estimated dip
to 3 percent in the fourth quarter that mainly reflected transitory inventory movements.
We assume that the Bank of Canada will raise its target for the overnight interest rate
another 50 basis points by mid-year, causing growth to moderate slightly over the rest of
the forecast period. Headline twelve-month CPI inflation declined to 2.2 percent in
December. We forecast that inflation will remain above 2 percent during the first half of
this year, consistent with higher energy prices, and then inch down to around 2 percent
and remain there for the rest of the forecast period.
Emerging Market Economies
We project that output growth in the emerging market economies will moderate further
from the estimated 5¾ percent pace in the fourth quarter to about 4¾ percent in the
current quarter and remain near that rate for the rest of the forecast period. This growth
path is slightly stronger than that in the previous Greenbook and reflects recent data and
large revisions to Chinese GDP statistics.

I-36 Class II FOMC—Restricted (FR)

Part I: Summary and Outlook, January 25, 2006

Output in emerging Asia is estimated to have grown about 7¾ percent in the fourth
quarter, with the strength widespread across the region. We project that economic
growth will moderate somewhat to around a still-healthy 6 percent rate over the forecast
period, a touch higher than in the December Greenbook. Chinese real GDP growth for
the last twelve years was revised up about ½ percentage point, on average, and we have
carried that adjustment forward into the forecast period, raising our forecast for growth a
comparable amount. We still expect policy measures aimed at slowing investment to be
put in place soon. Accordingly, Chinese GDP growth is expected to moderate to around
8 percent over the forecast period. GDP in the rest of the region is projected to grow at
about a 5 percent annual rate over the forecast period, a projection supported by a robust
outlook for high-tech goods and solid growth in the United States and China.
Growth in Latin American output is estimated to have been 3¾ percent in the fourth
quarter, down considerably from the third-quarter pace of 6½ percent, which was boosted
by a rebound in Mexican growth after a weak second quarter. We project growth in Latin
America to edge up to close to 4 percent in 2006 and 2007. Mexican real GDP is forecast
to grow about 3¾ percent during this period, as service-sector output stays solid,
manufacturing output recovers from its recent weakness, and monetary conditions are
eased further. We expect Brazilian output to expand about 3 percent in each of the next
two years as monetary policy in that economy eases further as well.
Recent data for the emerging market economies point to a continuation of twelve-month
inflation at close to 3 percent in the fourth quarter. However, the pass-through of recent
oil price increases, declining fuel subsidies in Asia, and reduced slack in emerging
markets in general are expected to put upward pressure on prices. Accordingly, inflation
for the emerging market economies is expected to pick up, to near 4 percent by late 2006,
before dropping back to about 3½ percent by the end of 2007.
Prices of Internationally Traded Goods
Core import price inflation increased sharply in the fourth quarter, to an estimated
6½ percent at an annual rate, as sizable increases in the prices of natural gas and other
commodities early in the quarter more than offset the restraining effect of a stronger
dollar. As reported by the BLS, prices of imported natural gas increased at an annual rate
of 319 percent in the fourth quarter, although starting in mid-December, spot prices fell
sharply from record levels. Prices of imported core goods excluding natural gas rose at a
2¾ percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, following a slight decline in the third
quarter; this acceleration largely reflects run-ups in prices of imported food and nonfuel

International Developments

Class II FOMC—Restricted (FR) I-37

industrial supplies, particularly metals and chemicals. Prices for core imports increased
¾ percentage point more than had been projected in the December Greenbook because of
the unexpected strength of imported natural gas prices, but prices for core imports
excluding natural gas came in slightly weaker than we expected.
For the first quarter of 2006, we project that core import price inflation will drop to
¾ percent at an annual rate because of the recent decline in the price of natural gas.
Prices of core imports excluding natural gas are projected to rise 3 percent, slightly above
the fourth-quarter rate of increase. For the remainder of 2006, core import price inflation
will move back up to about 2¾ percent on the assumption of continued upward pressure
from nonfuel commodity prices and no further large price declines for natural gas.
Furthermore, the dollar, which had restrained core import prices as it strengthened in
2005, now boosts those prices somewhat as it returns to a depreciating path. In 2007,
core import prices decelerate as commodity prices flatten and the dollar depreciates only
gradually. Our projection for core import price inflation is somewhat higher than in the
December Greenbook because of a weaker dollar and an upward shift in the projected
path of commodity prices. In addition, we no longer assume that the expiration of the
Multifibre Arrangement (MFA) will exert downward pressure on core import prices over
the forecast period. Although the sources of imported apparel and textiles have shifted
largely towards China in response to the expiration of the MFA, the apparent price effects
have so far been muted.
Price inflation of core exports increased sharply in the fourth quarter, largely as a result
of a run-up in prices for exports of intermediate materials and nonagricultural
commodities. According to monthly BLS price data, prices surged in September and
October. In November and December, however, price changes have been subdued, with
declines in prices of exported nonagricultural industrial supplies and agricultural
products. Given these monthly data, we have revised our projection for the first quarter
of 2006 down a bit to 3 percent. However, we have revised up our projection for the rest
of the year in response to higher projected prices for intermediate materials and
commodities. All told, core export price inflation, which was 4 percent in 2005, is
expected to average 3 percent in 2006 before declining even further, to 1 percent, in
2007. This pattern arises from a deceleration in projected producer prices of petroleum
products and intermediate materials.

I-38 Class II FOMC—Restricted (FR)

Part I: Summary and Outlook, January 25, 2006

Staff Projections of Selected Trade Prices
(Percent change from end of previous period excepted as noted; s.a.a.r.)
2005

Projection

Indicator
H1

Q3

2005:
Q4

2006

2007

Q1

Q2

H2

Exports
Core goods
December GB

4.9
4.9

1.9
2.0

4.6
5.6

3.0
3.2

4.4
3.0

2.6
2.0

1.1
1.0

Imports
Non-oil core goods
December GB

3.4
3.4

1.0
.9

6.5
5.7

0.7
2.1

2.5
1.2

2.7
1.5

1.1
.7

Excluding natural gas
December GB

3.3
3.3

-.2
-.3

2.8
3.1

3.0
1.5

3.1
1.9

2.7
1.7

1.1
.8

Oil (dollars per barrel)
December GB

46.30
46.30

55.24
55.15

55.50
56.17

59.72
54.74

61.60 63.19
56.22 57.22

63.41
56.88

Note. Prices for core exports and non-oil core imports, which exclude computers and
semiconductors, are on a NIPA chain-weighted basis.
The price of imported oil for multiquarter periods is the price for the final quarter of the
period. Imported oil includes both crude oil and refined products.

Trade in Goods and Services
Real net exports are estimated to have made a negative arithmetic contribution to real
GDP growth of nearly 1½ percentage points in the fourth quarter, as rapid import growth
outweighed a moderate increase in exports. In the first quarter, real net exports are
projected to be unchanged, as import growth falls back from the rapid pace of the
previous quarter and exports rebound from their earlier weakness. After making a
negative arithmetic contribution to growth of about ¼ percentage point in 2005 as a
whole, net exports are projected to be about neutral for growth in 2006 and then subtract
about ⅓ percentage point in 2007. Compared with the December Greenbook, we have
significantly revised down (made more negative) our projection of the contribution of
real net exports in the fourth quarter and revised up our projection for the first quarter.
These changes primarily reflect our reaction to the October and November trade data,
which led us, among other things, to revise our estimates of the timing of hurricane
effects on exports and imports.

International Developments

Class II FOMC—Restricted (FR) I-39

We estimate that, following subdued growth of 2½ percent at an annual rate in the third
quarter, real imports of goods and services jumped almost 12 percent in the fourth
quarter, as imports of oil and other industrial supplies were boosted by hurricane-related
disruptions to domestic production and services imports rebounded from a third-quarter
dip. Imports of chemicals were particularly robust in October and November; the Gulf
region has substantial concentrations of chemicals production, and these sites were hit
hard by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Our estimate for fourth-quarter import growth is
about the same as in the December Greenbook, as stronger-than-expected imports of
industrial supplies in the October and November data more than offset weaker-thanexpected imports of some capital goods and consumer goods.
In the current quarter, growth of real imports of goods and services is projected to decline
to 4½ percent, largely because of a recovery in domestic refinery production. Likewise, a
recovery in the domestic production of chemicals and other industrial supplies should
reduce imports of these products. Conversely, imports of services are expected to grow
robustly, boosted by licensing payments related to the Winter Olympics. The small
downward revision in our projection for import growth in the first quarter mainly reflects
a reversal of the stronger-than-expected imports of industrial supplies observed in the
fourth quarter.
Beyond the first quarter, hurricane-related effects become negligible. After being held
back in the second quarter by a quirky seasonal adjustment factor for oil, total import
growth should recover to 5½ percent in both the second half of 2006 and in 2007. Core
imports are projected to grow about 5¾ percent in the second half 2006 and in 2007, as
the negative impact of diminishing U.S. growth is balanced by the positive impetus of
decelerating core import prices. Imports of computers and semiconductors expand at
rates in line with historical experience during the forecast period, while services
decelerate in line with U.S. activity. Our projections for total import growth for 2006 and
2007 are about ½ percentage point lower than in the December Greenbook, largely
because of a markdown in growth of core imports as a response to the increase in our
projection of core import prices.
We estimate that growth of real exports of goods and services rose to 4¾ percent at an
annual rate in the fourth quarter, following an increase of just 2½ percent in the third
quarter. A rebound in aircraft exports, after the end of the September strike at Boeing,
accounted for the bulk of the fourth-quarter growth. After falling sharply in September,
exports of industrial supplies, particularly chemicals and petroleum products, remained

I-40 Class II FOMC—Restricted (FR)

Part I: Summary and Outlook, January 25, 2006

weak through October and November, likely as a result of hurricane-related production
disruptions. Growth of services exports increased slightly after a weak third quarter but
remained subdued. Since the December Greenbook, we have revised down our estimate
of fourth-quarter export growth 6¾ percentage points. This substantial downward
revision primarily reflects our reaction to the weakness in the October and November
trade data.
In the current quarter, real export growth is expected to rise to 7¼ percent, as exports of
industrial supplies rebound. The pick-up should also be supported by stronger exports of
both services and computers after weak growth for both categories in the previous
quarter. This projection is 3½ percentage points higher than in the December Greenbook,
largely because of our expectation of a rebound following the unexpected weakness of
exports in the October and November trade data.
After the first quarter, we expect export growth to moderate to a more normal pace in the
remainder of 2006 and to be supported by continued expansion abroad. In 2007, we
project export growth to slow further as the positive impact of pre-2005 dollar
depreciation on exports of core goods wanes. By contrast, services exports, which
respond to exchange rates with shorter lags than core exports, accelerate a bit going
forward as the negative effects of the dollar’s pick-up in 2005 wear off. Exports of
computers and semiconductors continue to move up at their historical pace. Our
projection for the remainder of 2006 and 2007 is about ½ percentage point higher than in
the December Greenbook, largely because of the effect on exports of core goods of
slightly higher foreign growth and a lower projected path for the dollar.
Staff Projections for Trade in Goods and Services
(Percent change from end of previous period, s.a.a.r.)
2005

Projection

Indicator
H1

Q3

2005:
Q4

2006

2007

Q1

Q2

H2

Real exports
December GB

9.1
9.1

2.5
0.8

4.8
11.5

7.2
3.6

5.9
5.0

6.3
5.5

5.3
4.8

Real imports
December GB

3.5
3.5

2.4
2.1

11.9
11.8

4.4
4.9

1.9
2.4

5.6
6.4

5.4
6.0

Note. Changes for years are measured as Q4/Q4; for half-years, Q2/Q4 or Q4/Q2.

International Developments

Class II FOMC—Restricted (FR) I-41

Alternative Simulations
In our alternative simulations, we use the FRB/Global model to assess the possibility that
real investment abroad will expand more briskly than we anticipate, perhaps because of
some unwinding of the global corporate savings glut. In particular, we examine the
effects of an autonomous increase in investment demand of 2 percent of GDP in the
major foreign economies. This shock induces modest dollar depreciation as monetary
policy tightens abroad, but we also consider a second simulation in which the stronger
foreign demand is accompanied by additional downward pressure on the dollar. This
additional dollar depreciation could arise from an improved investment climate abroad
and an associated rise of investor confidence in assets denominated in foreign currencies.
In the first scenario, this very large autonomous increase in foreign investment is phased
in gradually over the year beginning in 2006:Q1. This shock stimulates U.S. real net
exports directly through higher foreign demand for U.S.-produced goods and indirectly
through a depreciation of the dollar. Under the assumption that the federal funds rate is
unchanged from its baseline path, U.S. GDP growth rises about ½ percentage point
relative to baseline in the second half of this year and in 2007. Core PCE inflation
increases about ¼ percentage point above baseline in the second half of this year and
about ½ percentage point in 2007. This increase in core inflation reflects a rise in import
prices due to dollar depreciation of roughly 5 percent and the effects of higher aggregate
demand on domestic prices. Although the trade balance deteriorates initially due to Jcurve effects, it improves by ½ percent of GDP relative to baseline in the second half of
2007.
In the second scenario, the foreign demand shock is accompanied by a risk premium
shock that is also phased in over the year and would induce the dollar to depreciate
10 percent by 2006:Q4 in the absence of an endogenous adjustment of interest rates. The
combined shocks generate a larger expansion in real net exports than in the first scenario,
and the resulting stimulus to U.S. GDP growth in 2007 is more than twice as large. Core
PCE inflation rises about ½ percentage point above baseline in 2007, and the trade
balance improves by almost 1 percent of GDP in the second half of 2007.

I-42 Class II FOMC—Restricted (FR)

Part I: Summary and Outlook, January 25, 2006

Alternative Scenarios:
Higher Investment Abroad With and Without Weaker Dollar
(Percent change from previous period, annual rate, except as noted)
2006

Indicator and simulation

2007

H1

H2

H1

H2

3.9
4.2

3.4
3.9

3.0
3.5

2.9
3.4

4.3

4.3

4.2

4.0

U.S. PCE prices
excluding food and energy
Baseline
Higher investment abroad
Higher investment abroad
With weaker dollar

2.2
2.2

2.2
2.4

1.9
2.5

1.8
2.3

2.3

2.6

2.6

2.4

U.S. trade balance
(percent share of GDP)
Baseline
Higher investment abroad
Higher investment abroad
With weaker dollar

-6.2
-6.5

-6.1
-6.5

-6.3
-6.2

-6.2
-5.6

-6.6

-6.6

-6.0

-5.3

U.S. real GDP
Baseline
Higher investment abroad
Higher investment abroad
With weaker dollar

Note. H1 is Q2/Q4; H2 is Q4/Q2. The federal funds rate is held unchanged
from its baseline path, and the monetary authorities in major foreign economies
adjust their policy rates according to a Taylor rule.

I-43

Class II FOMC -- Restricted (FR)

Evolution of the Staff Forecast

Current Account Balance
Percent of GDP

-4.5

2005
-5.0
-5.5
-6.0
-6.5
2006
-7.0
-7.5

2007

1/21

3/11

4/28

6/23

8/5

9/15

11/3 12/8

1/26

2004

3/16

4/28

6/22

8/4

9/14 10/26 12/7

1/25

3/22

5/3

2005
Greenbook publication date

6/21

8/3

9/13 10/18

12/6

-8.0

2006

Foreign Real GDP
Percent change, Q4/Q4

4.0

2005
3.5
2006
2007
3.0

1/21

3/11

4/28

6/23

8/5

9/15

11/3 12/8

1/26

2004

3/16

4/28

6/22

8/4

9/14 10/26 12/7

1/25

3/22

5/3

2005
Greenbook publication date

6/21

8/3

9/13 10/18

12/6

2.5

2006

Core Import Prices
Percent change, Q4/Q4

5
4
3
2
1

2005
2006

1/21

3/11

4/28

6/23

2004

8/5

9/15

11/3 12/8

2007

1/26

3/16

4/28

6/22

8/4

9/14 10/26 12/7

2005
Greenbook publication date

0

1/25

3/22

5/3

6/21

2006

8/3

9/13 10/18

12/6

-1

January 25, 2006

6.2
8.7
11.5
7.7
4.4
5.5
3.4

Developing Countries
Asia
Korea
China
Latin America
Mexico
Brazil

1.8
3.1
-0.9
1.0
2.5
1.7

1.2
2.4
-0.9
1.2
1.5
1.1

1.1
-1.0
1.0
2.1
1.5

0.9

-0.3
1.2
4.6
7.8
-1.3
-1.3
-0.9

1.3
-1.5
2.0
1.1
1.1

0.9

0.4

3.8
-0.6
1.5
2.3
1.2

2.1

3.8
6.2
7.8
9.2
1.5
2.0
4.1

3.6
2.0
2.1
1.2
0.2

2.6

3.1

1.7
-0.3
1.3
2.0
1.2

1.3

4.7
6.6
4.2
10.5
2.4
2.1
0.9

1.7
2.6
3.1
1.0
0.2

1.8

3.0

2.3
0.6
1.4
2.3
2.1

1.8

5.6
6.0
3.0
10.1
5.2
4.9
4.8

3.3
0.6
2.7
1.6
0.5

2.4

3.7

2.2
-0.7
2.1
2.3
2.3

1.6

5.1
7.1
5.4
9.9
3.1
2.8
0.9

3.0
3.4
1.8
1.8
1.7

2.6

3.6

1.9
0.2
1.8
1.8
1.6

1.5

4.8
5.7
4.2
7.7
3.9
3.7
3.0

3.2
1.6
2.6
2.1
2.3

2.7

3.6

2.0
0.4
1.6
2.0
2.6

1.7

4.8
5.8
4.2
8.0
3.8
3.7
3.0

3.1
1.6
2.8
1.6
0.9

2.4

3.4

1.
2.
3.
4.

Foreign GDP aggregates calculated using shares of U.S. exports.
Harmonized data for euro area from Eurostat.
Foreign CPI aggregates calculated using shares of U.S. non-oil imports.
CPI excluding mortgage interest payments, which is the targeted inflation rate.

Developing Countries
4.6
4.1
2.8
2.8
3.1
3.9
3.1
3.9
3.5
Asia
0.1
1.9
1.2
0.7
2.2
3.2
2.7
3.7
3.2
Korea
1.2
2.5
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.4
2.5
4.2
3.2
China
-1.0
1.0
-0.1
-0.5
2.7
3.3
1.4
3.3
2.9
Latin America
12.5
8.4
5.3
6.4
4.9
5.7
3.8
4.2
4.0
Mexico
13.4
8.7
5.1
5.2
3.9
5.3
3.1
3.8
3.7
Brazil
8.4
6.4
7.5
10.7
11.5
7.2
6.1
4.6
4.0
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Industrial Countries
of which:
Canada
Japan
United Kingdom (4)
Euro Area (2)
Germany

CONSUMER PRICES (3)
-------------------

4.1
3.3
3.2
3.2
2.3

5.9
0.2
3.4
4.1
3.5
5.2
5.8
4.5
8.2
4.4
4.8
3.8

3.5

4.2

4.4

5.1

Industrial Countries
of which:
Canada
Japan
United Kingdom
Euro Area (2)
Germany

REAL GDP (1)
-----------Total foreign

Measure and country
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

-----Projected----

OUTLOOK FOR FOREIGN REAL GDP AND CONSUMER PRICES: SELECTED COUNTRIES
(Percent, Q4 to Q4)
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Class II FOMC
Restricted (FR)

I-44

January 25, 2006

3.1
4.7
1.5
11.9
1.4
0.7
0.8

Developing Countries
Asia
Korea
China
Latin America
Mexico
Brazil

5.8
7.7
7.2
11.5
3.7
3.4
3.3

3.0
2.0
2.6
1.6
1.0

2.5

3.9

4.7
5.6
4.2
7.2
3.8
3.6
3.0

3.6
1.6
2.5
2.1
2.0

2.8

3.6

4.8
5.6
4.2
7.2
3.9
3.8
3.0

3.5
1.7
2.6
2.2
2.3

2.8

3.6

4.9
5.8
4.2
8.2
3.9
3.8
3.0

2.9
1.7
2.6
2.1
2.1

2.5

3.5

4.8
5.8
4.2
8.2
3.9
3.8
3.0

2.8
1.7
2.7
2.2
2.7

2.5

3.5

4.8
5.8
4.2
8.0
3.8
3.7
3.0

3.1
1.6
2.8
1.0
-0.8

2.3

3.3

4.8
5.8
4.2
8.0
3.8
3.7
3.0

3.1
1.5
2.8
1.8
1.7

2.5

3.4

4.8
5.8
4.2
8.0
3.8
3.7
3.0

3.1
1.6
2.8
1.7
1.4

2.5

3.4

4.8
5.8
4.2
8.0
3.8
3.7
3.0

3.1
1.5
2.9
1.7
1.4

2.5

3.4

1.4
1.9
-0.1
1.9
2.0
1.6

1.5
2.1
-0.2
1.7
2.0
1.7

2.6
-0.3
2.4
2.3
2.1

1.8
2.2
-0.7
2.1
2.3
2.3

1.6

2.3
-0.1
2.1
2.5
2.7

1.8

2.2
0.1
2.0
2.3
2.4

1.7

1.7
0.2
1.6
1.9
1.8

1.4

1.9
0.2
1.8
1.8
1.6

1.5

2.0
0.3
1.6
2.1
2.7

1.7

2.0
0.3
1.6
2.1
2.7

1.7

2.0
0.4
1.6
2.1
2.6

1.7

2.0
0.4
1.6
2.0
2.6

1.7

--------------------------- Four-quarter changes --------------------------

6.9
7.7
8.0
8.9
6.5
8.9
-4.7

3.6
1.0
1.7
2.6
2.5

2.6

4.4

1.
2.
3.
4.

Foreign GDP aggregates calculated using shares of U.S. exports.
Harmonized data for euro area from Eurostat.
Foreign CPI aggregates calculated using shares of U.S. non-oil imports.
CPI excluding mortgage interest payments, which is the targeted inflation rate.

Developing Countries
3.6
3.2
3.1
3.1
3.4
3.7
3.7
3.9
3.8
3.7
3.6
3.5
Asia
2.9
2.4
2.3
2.7
3.0
3.5
3.4
3.7
3.6
3.5
3.3
3.2
Korea
3.1
3.0
2.4
2.5
2.8
3.2
3.5
4.2
4.3
4.0
3.6
3.2
China
2.8
1.7
1.3
1.4
1.6
2.5
2.6
3.3
3.3
3.2
3.1
2.9
Latin America
4.9
5.1
4.5
3.8
4.2
4.0
4.1
4.2
4.0
4.0
4.0
4.0
Mexico
4.4
4.5
4.0
3.1
3.7
3.5
3.6
3.8
3.6
3.6
3.7
3.7
Brazil
7.4
7.7
6.2
6.1
5.4
4.7
5.1
4.6
4.4
4.2
4.2
4.0
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Industrial Countries
of which:
Canada
Japan
United Kingdom (4)
Euro Area (2)
Germany

CONSUMER PRICES (3)
-------------------

3.4
5.0
1.9
1.7
0.9

2.0
5.7
0.9
1.3
2.4
4.8
8.3
5.0
7.2
0.9
-1.3
4.6

3.2

3.9

2.0

2.4

-------------------- Quarterly changes at an annual rate ------------------

Industrial Countries
of which:
Canada
Japan
United Kingdom
Euro Area (2)
Germany

REAL GDP (1)
-----------Total foreign

-------------------- Projected -----------------------2005
2006
2007
------------------------------------------------------------------Measure and country
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

OUTLOOK FOR FOREIGN REAL GDP AND CONSUMER PRICES: SELECTED COUNTRIES
(Percent changes)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Class II FOMC
Restricted (FR)

I-45

January 25, 2006

5.6
5.3
13.4
34.6
3.3
12.1
6.6
-3.4
26.0
34.2
12.9

Exports of G&S
Services
Computers
Semiconductors
Other Goods 1/

Imports of G&S
Services
Oil
Computers
Semiconductors
Other Goods 2/

-0.2
-1.3
1.1

-0.9
0.4
-1.3

-7.6
-5.9
3.7
-13.6
-51.1
-6.5

-11.9
-8.9
-23.5
-34.6
-10.2
9.7
8.8
3.8
13.2
11.0
10.1

3.8
10.2
-1.1
10.1
0.7
5.1
4.2
1.5
16.8
-0.2
5.1

6.0
4.5
11.0
38.8
4.5

-0.1
0.6
-0.7

Billions of Chained 2000 Dollars

11.2
10.6
13.3
13.9
22.8
10.5

6.5
1.8
22.7
27.6
5.9

Percentage change, Q4/Q4

-0.9
0.7
-1.6

10.6
7.7
9.7
22.2
9.4
10.5

6.1
4.6
6.3
-6.1
7.8

-0.9
0.6
-1.5

5.3
2.4
2.6
11.0
7.8
5.7

6.3
3.9
14.3
12.7
6.7

-0.2
0.6
-0.8

4.4
4.5
-7.0
17.6
17.6
5.9

6.4
5.1
15.8
17.2
6.0

-0.1
0.7
-0.7

5.4
3.8
2.0
17.5
17.0
5.6

5.3
5.9
14.4
17.0
3.9

-0.3
0.6
-0.9

19.1
78.2
-59.1

-263.4

-300.1
-3.2

25.7
94.9
-69.2

-378.3

-416.0
-4.2

30.3
115.9
-85.5

-362.7

-389.5
-3.8

15.5
99.8
-84.3

-421.2

-475.2
-4.5

51.8
121.8
-70.0

-494.8

-519.7
-4.7

36.2
127.9
-91.7

-617.6

-668.1
-5.7

1.3
123.0
-121.7

-726.3

-816.5
-6.5

-22.5
144.2
-166.7

-816.1

-945.6
-7.1

-69.0
166.7
-235.7

-872.8

-1050.8
-7.5

1. Merchandise exports excluding computers and semiconductors.
2. Merchandise imports excluding oil, computers, and semiconductors.

Other Income & Transfers,Net
-55.8
-63.5
-57.1
-69.5
-76.7
-86.7
-91.5
-107.0
-109.0
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Investment Income, Net
Direct, Net
Portfolio, Net

Net Goods & Services (BOP)

US CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE
Current Acct as Percent of GDP

Billions of dollars

Net Goods & Services
-296.2
-379.5
-399.1
-471.3
-521.4
-601.3
-633.1
-650.8
-682.7
Exports of G&S
1008.2
1096.3
1036.7
1013.3
1031.2
1117.9
1195.1
1265.6
1333.2
Imports of G&S
1304.4
1475.8
1435.8
1484.6
1552.6
1719.2
1828.1
1916.4
2015.9
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

-1.0
0.6
-1.6

Percentage point contribution to GDP growth, Q4/Q4

Net Goods & Services
Exports of G&S
Imports of G&S

NIPA REAL EXPORTS and IMPORTS

------ Projected -----1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

OUTLOOK FOR U.S. INTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Class II FOMC
Restricted (FR)

I-46

January 25, 2006

5.2
22.9
-21.1
22.3
-1.6
11.7
24.7
-9.8
52.2
39.8
7.6

Exports of G&S
Services
Computers
Semiconductors
Other Goods 1/

Imports of G&S
Services
Oil
Computers
Semiconductors
Other Goods 2/

-0.5
0.3
-0.8

-1.5
-0.3
-1.2

0.1
-0.3
0.4

-0.7
-0.2
-0.5

0.5
1.0
-0.6

5.7
1.7
-12.7
2.8
-6.2
9.5

2.9
4.6
-6.0
12.6
2.0
9.0
14.0
64.3
-0.2
-14.0
4.3

-3.1
11.7
12.6
-25.0
-9.1
-2.5
-2.2
-9.0
11.5
-6.7
-2.6

-2.9
-11.9
-5.7
34.8
0.0
3.3
-10.2
7.8
12.4
1.5
5.8

-2.1
-6.6
0.2
33.9
-2.0
4.1
21.4
-1.3
8.7
-3.7
0.7

11.5
17.2
35.9
43.7
5.5

Billions of Chained 2000 Dollars, s.a.a.r.

12.5
-3.0
-10.3
5.3
34.8
19.4

10.6
2.7
14.7
42.1
12.5

Percentage change from previous period, s.a.a.r.

-0.6
1.0
-1.6

Percentage point contribution to GDP growth

16.5
10.7
9.5
36.4
8.9
17.7

19.1
23.7
18.2
43.2
15.4

-0.5
1.7
-2.2

12.0
10.0
35.7
21.2
42.6
8.4

5.0
-0.4
-7.4
7.0
8.6

-1.2
0.5
-1.6

14.5
13.7
-26.0
34.3
20.2
20.4

6.9
4.8
1.6
-4.8
9.2

-1.4
0.7
-2.0

4.7
4.6
-0.5
25.3
4.7
4.0

5.5
-0.6
21.7
-19.4
9.5

-0.2
0.5
-0.7

11.3
3.1
45.0
9.5
-20.3
9.7

7.1
15.5
11.5
-5.5
3.8

-1.0
0.7
-1.7

1.8
91.4
-89.6

14.1
95.0
-80.9

-430.3

-480.3
-4.6

34.5
112.2
-77.7

-467.9

-503.0
-4.7

29.3
102.3
-72.9

-499.3

-546.6
-5.1

50.6
117.4
-66.8

-491.4

-515.2
-4.8

50.9
119.9
-69.0

-490.8

-515.9
-4.7

76.5
147.8
-71.3

-497.7

-501.0
-4.5

65.8
140.3
-74.6

-555.4

-584.4
-5.1

29.6
116.3
-86.7

-608.2

-666.5
-5.7

30.8
121.4
-90.6

-629.9

-667.9
-5.7

18.8
133.7
-114.9

-676.9

-753.4
-6.3

1. Merchandise exports excluding computers and semiconductors.
2. Merchandise imports excluding oil, computers, and semiconductors.

Other Inc. & Transfers, Net -79.0
-65.1
-64.2
-69.6
-76.6
-74.4
-76.0
-79.7
-94.7
-88.0
-68.8
-95.3
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11.4
100.5
-89.2

-413.8

Net Goods & Services (BOP) -372.7

Investment Income, Net
Direct, Net
Portfolio, Net

-477.1
-4.6

-440.4
-4.3

US CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE
Current Account as % of GDP

Billions of dollars, s.a.a.r.

Net Goods & Services
-441.3 -458.9 -472.2 -513.0 -510.7 -528.4 -516.2 -530.2 -563.0 -601.7 -606.5 -634.1
Exports of G&S
992.8 1018.0 1025.2 1017.2 1009.7 1004.5 1032.2 1078.4 1091.8 1110.2 1125.0 1144.5
Imports of G&S
1434.0 1476.9 1497.4 1530.2 1520.4 1532.9 1548.4 1608.6 1654.8 1711.9 1731.5 1778.6
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

-1.0
0.5
-1.4

Net Goods & Services
Exports of G&S
Imports of G&S

NIPA REAL EXPORTS and IMPORTS

2002
2003
2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

OUTLOOK FOR U.S. INTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Class II FOMC
Restricted (FR)

I-47

January 25, 2006

7.5
12.5
12.6
-12.9
6.1
7.4
3.7
3.4
11.3
-7.9
9.1

Exports of G&S
Services
Computers
Semiconductors
Other Goods 1/

Imports of G&S
Services
Oil
Computers
Semiconductors
Other Goods 2/

-0.1
0.3
-0.4

-1.4
0.5
-1.9

0.0
0.7
-0.7

0.3
0.6
-0.3

-0.0
0.6
-0.6

2.4
-3.2
-3.1
15.2
18.0
3.7

2.5
1.0
18.5
24.4
1.2
11.9
5.1
46.2
4.1
14.8
7.9

4.8
3.1
0.8
17.7
5.1
4.4
7.5
-6.5
18.0
19.3
5.1

7.2
4.7
20.2
17.6
7.2
1.9
2.4
-23.1
17.5
17.0
6.9

5.9
5.1
14.4
17.0
5.1
3.6
4.3
-13.4
17.5
17.0
6.2

5.5
5.1
14.4
17.0
4.6

Billions of Chained 2000 Dollars, s.a.a.r.

-0.3
4.4
-24.5
13.7
8.3
2.3

10.7
-0.4
26.9
26.7
14.9

Percentage change from previous period, s.a.a.r.

1.1
1.1
0.0

Percentage point contribution to GDP growth

7.7
4.1
19.8
17.5
17.0
5.5

7.2
5.3
14.4
17.0
7.2

-0.5
0.8
-1.3

6.8
3.7
13.6
17.5
17.0
5.2

3.2
5.3
14.4
17.0
1.0

-0.8
0.3
-1.1

2.3
3.9
-17.8
17.5
17.0
5.4

5.4
6.0
14.4
17.0
4.0

0.2
0.6
-0.4

4.5
3.8
-5.2
17.5
17.0
5.7

5.3
6.1
14.4
17.0
3.9

-0.2
0.6
-0.8

8.2
3.7
22.4
17.5
17.0
5.9

7.3
6.2
14.4
17.0
6.9

-0.6
0.8
-1.4

-694.4
-0.4
114.0
-114.4

Net Goods & Services (BOP) -692.2

Investment Income, Net
Direct, Net
Portfolio, Net

8.1
138.8
-130.7

-731.2

-783.3
-6.2

-10.8
125.8
-136.6

-787.3

-896.8
-7.0

-11.2
134.0
-145.2

-807.3

-933.6
-7.2

-14.6
142.6
-157.2

-805.8

-925.6
-7.0

-24.7
148.6
-173.3

-813.5

-945.5
-7.1

-39.5
151.4
-190.9

-837.7

-51.8
157.4
-209.2

-868.1

-62.8
164.1
-226.9

-862.9

-74.6
170.0
-244.7

-870.2

-86.6
175.4
-262.0

-890.1

-977.7 -1037.0 -1032.7 -1054.2 -1079.2
-7.2
-7.6
-7.4
-7.5
-7.6

1. Merchandise exports excluding computers and semiconductors.
2. Merchandise imports excluding oil, computers, and semiconductors.

Other Inc. & Transfers, Net-110.7
-96.3
-60.3
-98.7 -115.1 -105.2 -107.3 -100.5 -117.0 -107.0 -109.3 -102.5
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8.3
113.5
-105.2

-791.1
-6.4

-794.7
-6.5

US CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE
Current Account as % of GDP

Billions of dollars, s.a.a.r.

Net Goods & Services
-645.4 -614.2 -617.5 -655.1 -654.1 -645.2 -645.1 -658.8 -680.7 -674.6 -679.5 -695.9
Exports of G&S
1165.3 1195.4 1202.7 1216.9 1238.3 1256.0 1272.9 1295.3 1305.6 1322.9 1340.2 1363.9
Imports of G&S
1810.7 1809.6 1820.2 1872.0 1892.3 1901.2 1918.0 1954.1 1986.4 1997.5 2019.8 2059.9
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

-0.4
0.7
-1.1

Net Goods & Services
Exports of G&S
Imports of G&S

NIPA REAL EXPORTS and IMPORTS

------------------------- Projected ---------------------------2005
2006
2007
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

OUTLOOK FOR U.S. INTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Class II FOMC
Restricted (FR)

I-48