Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Nesbitt Burns, has highlighted several shifts in the Federal Reserve's language in its monetary policy statement - divided roughly between slightly good news and slightly bad news. These shifts don't amount to flashing lights in the early analysis, especially when you consider that the statement was mostly a carbon copy of the previous statement in January, but the Fed is all about subtleties.
The slightly good: Ms. Lee pointed out that the Fed said that the labour market was "stabilizing." In January's statement, the Fed said that the "deterioration" in the labour market was "abating."
As well, she noted that the Fed now sees household spending as being held back by "high unemployment." In January, the Fed categorized the "weak labour market" as a constraint.
And, business spending on equipment and software has "risen significantly." In January, the Fed said this spending was merely "picking up."
But here's the slightly bad news: The Fed singled out housing starts this time around, calling them "flat at a depressed level." And inventories were dumped from the statement. In January, the Fed said they were in "better alignment with sales."