Fed's Mester: Would like to begin tapering asset purchases some time this year

Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester said on Friday that she would still like to begin tapering asset purchases some time this year despite the weak August jobs report, per Reuters.

Additional takeaways

"Would be comfortable with winding down asset purchases over the first half of 2022."

"Delta variant is a risk to the outlook but not necessarily going to weigh heavily on economic activity."

"Expecting employment to continue to rise over the rest of the year."

"Looking at labor force participation, the employment-population ratio, unemployment rate and racial and gender gaps when evaluating labor market."

"Some more people will join the labor market as issues with child care are resolved and some people train for new jobs."

"Wouldn't have a problem with the Fed reviewing rules on how officials should handle investments."

Market reaction

These comments were largely ignored by market participants and the US Dollar Index was last seen losing 0.1% on the day at 92.42.