of other assets. to put this easing into perspective, from july to the end of october, the yield on the ten - year treasury increased about 1 percentage point. since the fomc's last meeting, which ended november 1, the ten - year rate has fallen six tenths of a percentage point. longterm interest rates are still higher than they were before the middle of the year, and overall financial conditions are tighter, which should be putting downward pressure on household and business spending. but the recent loosening of financial conditions is a reminder that many factors can affect these conditions and that policymakers must be careful about relying on such tightening to do our job. the october data i have cited on economic activity and inflation are consistent with the kind of moderating demand and easing price pressure that will help move inflation back to 2 percent, and i will be looking to see that confirmed in upcoming data releases. before the next fomc meeting we will get data on pce inflation and job openings, and a job report and supply manager's survey for november. cpi inflation will come out on december 12, the first day of the fomc meeting. all of that data will tell us whether inflation and aggregate demand are continuing to move in the right direction and inflation is on a path to our 2 percent goal. 1 see christopher j. waller ( 2023 ), " something's got to give, " speech delivered at the distinguished speaker seminar, european economics and financial center, london, october 18. the views expressed here are my own and not necessarily those of my colleagues on the federal open market committee. 4 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches 2 see board of governors of the federal reserve system ( 2023 ), statistical release g. 17, " industrial production and capacity utilization " ( november 16 ). 3 after job creation in september was initially reported as 336, 000, it was later revised down to 297, 000. 4 the survey is available on the nfib's website at https : / / www. nfib. com / surveys / small - business - economic - trends / 5 the pace of increase in asking rents and rents on new lease contracts - which do reflect contemporaneous rental market conditions - slowed since early 2022. this moderation has put downward pressure on shelter inflation this year, which should continue going forward. 6 see maximiliano a. dvorkin and maggie isaacson ( 2022 ), " recent trends

christine lagarde : hearing of the committee on economic and monetary affairs of the european parliament introductory statement by ms christine lagarde, president of the european central bank, at the econ committee of the european parliament, brussels, 2 december 2019. * * * madam chair, honourable members of the economic and monetary affairs committee, ladies and gentlemen, i am very happy to be back before this committee for my first regular hearing as ecb president. i want to express my personal and sincere gratitude to this house for the support i received during the appointment process. and i look forward to a constructive and positive relationship between our two institutions going forward. the connection between the ecb and the european parliament is especially valuable today as a means to reinforce trust in european institutions. in the euro area, support for the single currency has grown steadily in recent years, rising from a low of 62 % in 2013 during the crisis to an all - time high of 76 % today. trust in the ecb has grown in that time as well – but its recovery after the crisis has been less dynamic. 1 my predecessors at the ecb were alert to this and already acted to address the challenge. the ecb ’ s accountability practices have evolved2, as has its communication strategy. and the ecb ’ s transparency, ethics and good governance frameworks have been harmonised, strengthened and extended to all members of the governing council and supervisory board. 3 but it is important to me that our focus on connecting with the people we serve continues and grows stronger – in particular by improving the ways in which we communicate with the general public. and this is why your role in the parliament is so important : you make sure that the people ’ s voice is heard by the ecb and the ecb ’ s voice is heard by the people. communication is a two way street and it is vitally important for democracy, a founding principle of europe. it is in this spirit that i will approach this hearing – and those we will have together in the future. the current economic situation and monetary policy let me start by looking at the current economic situation in the euro area, before moving on to the longer - term questions for monetary policy about which you have enquired. euro area growth remains weak, with gross domestic product growing by only 0. 2 %, quarter on quarter, in the third quarter of 2019. this weakness has been mainly due to global factors. the world economy outlook remains sluggish and uncertain. this