Bullard Says New Fed Buying Unlikely, Jobs Report ‘Encouraging’

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said the Fed probably won’t begin a new round of bond purchases following “encouraging” data showing the U.S. economy gained 200,000 payroll jobs in December.

“Hopefully, we will keep this momentum going in 2012,” Bullard told reporters yesterday after a speech in Chicago. “The tone of the data has been very strong” and the central bank “probably could wait and see for now” before deciding whether there is a need for more accommodation, he said.