Twice a year, the FOMC meets for 1 1/2 days instead of one day in order to prepare the Fed chair for the semi-annual monetary policy report to Congress. Within the extensive report that is compiled, they also reveal their forecasts for key indicators such as GDP (real & nominal), the PCE deflator (because it is preferred to the CPI), and the civilian unemployment rate. Fed district presidents and governors each provide their forecasts which are compiled to form a consensus -- or central tendency. While one would expect this information to be valuable to market players, it has a very short life span. Private economists -- and those at the Fed too -- actually update their forecasts more frequently than just twice a year (usually monthly). Thus, about a month after these FOMC reports are issued, they are basically old news. But at least twice a year, one knows exactly what the Fed forecasts are for economic growth, inflation and the unemployment rate.

Economic Projections for 2006, Federal Reserve Governors and Reserve Bank Presidents -- Updated July 2006
Indicator	Memo 2005 Actual	Range	Central Tendency
(Change, 4th quarter to 4th quarter)
Nominal GDP	6.2%	5-½ to 6-½ %	6 to 6-¼ %
Real GDP	3.1%	3 to 3-¾ %	3-¼ to 3-½ %
PCE price index ex food & energy	1.9%	2-¼ to 3%	2-¼ to 2-½ %
(Average Level, 4th quarter)
Civilian unemployment rate	5.0%	4-½ to 5%	4-¾ to 5%

Economic Projections for 2007, Federal Reserve Governors and Reserve Bank Presidents -- Updated July 2006
Indicator	Memo 2005 Actual	Range	Central Tendency
(Change, 4th quarter to 4th quarter)
Nominal GDP	6.2%	4-¾ to 6%	5 to 5-½ %
Real GDP	3.1%	2-½ to 3-¼ %	3 to 3-¼ %
PCE price index ex food & energy	1.9%	2 to 2-¼ %	2 to 2-¼ %
(Average Level, 4th quarter)
Civilian unemployment rate	5.0%	4-¼ to 5-¼ %	4-¾ to 5%