Christopher Waller was confirmed to a seat on the Federal Reserve Board on Thursday by a 48-47 vote along party lines.
Although Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee voted for his nomination going to the full Senate, no Democrats voted for him to join the Board in the full Senate vote.
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis research director became the fourth nominee of President Trump to join the Board.
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The other nominee, Judy Shelton, is unlikely to win confirmation, as several Republican senators have voiced their opposition and their intention to not vote for her confirmation. Should she fail to win confirmation, the seat will remain open, and President-elect Joe Biden will be able to nominate a candidate after he takes office.
Waller’s term will extend through Jan. 31, 2030. The Federal Open Market Committee will meet on Dec. 15-16. The meeting features the release of the latest Summary of Economic Projections.
“The Senate’s confirmation of Chris Waller to become a Fed governor is fantastic news,” St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said in a statement. “Chris has served superbly as the St. Louis Fed’s director of research. He exemplifies the Bank’s longstanding tradition of thought leadership in monetary policy and macroeconomic research. Chris will be an excellent Fed governor, and I look forward to our new working relationship as well as our continued friendship.”
After Waller was nominated, Mickey Levy, Berenberg Capital Markets' chief economist for the U.S. Americas and Asia, and a member of the Shadow Open market Committee said, “Chris Waller is solid with a lot of Fed experience.”
Besides “a thorough understanding of monetary policy and the economy,” he said Waller offers “an additional benefit: as a director of research at the St Louis Fed and an attendee of every FOMC meeting since 2013, he understands the Fed and is a known commodity within the Fed. This would accelerate his role in contributing to the Fed’s debate on monetary, banking and regulatory issues and decision making.”
In data released Thursday, initial jobless claims dropped to 712,000 on a seasonally adjusted annual basis in the week ended Nov. 28 from a revised 787,000 a week earlier, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
The Nov. 21 read was first reported as 778,000. Economists polled by IFR Markets expected a decline to 770,000 claims in the week.
Continued claims dropped to 5.520 million in the week ended Nov. 21 from an upwardly revised 6.089 million a week earlier, initially reported as 6.071 million. Economists expected 5.915 million continued claims.
The four-week moving average fell to 739,500 in the week ended Nov. 29 from 750,750 a week earlier.
Separately, the Institute for Supply Management’s services survey showed expansion in November, although the PMI slipped to 55.9 from 56.6 in October.
The business activity/production index fell to 58.0 from 61.2, the new orders index declined to 57.2 from 58.8, employment rose to 51.5 from 50.1, supplier deliveries climbed to 57.0 from 56.2, inventories dropped to 49.3 from 53.1 and prices grew to 66.1 from 63.9.
The backlog of orders index decreased to 50.7 from 54.4, the new export orders index fell to 50.4 from 53.7, imports rose to 55.0 from 52.5, and inventory sentiment slid to 49.9 from 51.1.
