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Fed more confident in recovery, unhappy on jobs

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Federal Reserve officials raised their forecasts for economic growth last month, but remained unhappy with the job market's recovery, according to minutes of their meeting released on Wednesday.

"Participants generally expressed greater confidence that the economic recovery would be sustained," the Fed said in minutes of its January 25-26 policy-setting meeting.

While officials believed downside risks to the recovery were dissipating, the minutes characterized the forecasts policymakers presented as "not greatly changed."

Officials raised their 2011 growth forecast to a range of 3.4 percent to 3.9 percent from their November projection of 3 percent to 3.6 percent.

The U.S. jobless rate was forecast to be in a range of 8.8 percent to 9 percent in the fourth quarter of this year, little changed from the Fed's earlier projection of 8.9 percent to 9.1 percent. Unemployment was seen declining only gradually over the Fed's three-year forecast horizon.

"Overall, meeting participants continued to express disappointment in both the pace of and the unevenness of the improvements in labor markets," the minutes said.

Government data released after the Fed's January meeting showed unemployment dropped to 9 percent that month, putting the jobless rate already at the upper point of the Fed's forecast for the last three months of the year.

The Fed's forecast range for 2011 headline inflation moved only at the low end, shifting to 1.3 percent to 1.7 percent from the 1.1 percent to 1.7 percent anticipated in November. The Fed said it still expects total inflation to remain subdued.

U.S. Treasury debt prices slightly extended losses after the release of minutes.

"It's steady as she goes, but it's not enough to bring down unemployment," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, characterizing the Fed's assessment of the economy. He said the Fed would likely hold off raising overnight interest rates, which are currently near zero, until early next year.

In a statement it issued at the conclusion of its January meeting, the Fed had noted the brighter outlook for the economy. By unanimous vote, policymakers agreed to remain on course with their plan to buy $600 billion in longer-term Treasury securities by mid-year to boost economic growth.

The minutes showed that some policymakers were uncertain about the impact the bond buying program would have on the economy, but believed it was not right to change course, according to the minutes.

Others said that if growth picked up more strongly than expected, the central bank should consider curtailing the program.

(Reporting by Mark Felsenthal and Pedro da Costa, and Richard Leong in New York, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Seen and heard in D.C.

Jordin Sparks, Seal to perform at the White House; Fancy gifts for Malia, Sasha; John Mellencamp spotted at lunch…

Motown is coming to the White House.

President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will honor Black History Month by inviting a group of music legends and other artists to the White House for "The Motown Sound: In Performance at the White House."

The concert, scheduled for Feb. 24, will feature performances by Smokey Robinson, Natasha Bedingfield, Sheryl Crow, Jamie Foxx, Gloriana, Nick Jonas, Ledisi, John Legend, Amber Riley, Mark Salling, Seal and Jordin Sparks.

Greg Phillinganes will serve as the evening's music director.

The concert will air on PBS stations on March 1.

Read More Stories from POLITICO

World chefs: Manrique brings new vibe to NYC brasserie

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – Laurent Manrique hopes to replicate the lively, Parisian vibe of his bistro and wine bars in San Francisco in his New York seafood brasserie, Millesime.

The 44-year-old chef, who grew up in Roques, a village in the Gascon region in southwest France, left for the United States in his 20s after developing a love of cooking from his grandmother and working a decade in Paris under master French chefs such as Yan Jacquot and Claude Deligne.

Manrique spoke to Reuters about goals for his new restaurant and his memories and experiences in France.

Q: What do you want to achieve with Millesime's menu?

A: "My goal is to share some of my childhood memories with my customers -- like the lemon mousseline I grew up with. With the overall experience, I want the customers to have a great time. At the end, everything should be good, and let's not make it into a destination space. Let's just go back."

Q: Compare Millesime with the brasseries you grew with?

A: "To do it exactly like how it was would be impossible, just because we are in different countries. New Yorkers live differently from Parisians. The products are different. Some brasseries in France are 300 years old. Lunchtime in Paris, people still have wine and alcohol. In New York, people like to go out late like in Paris and that's what I like about it."

Q: How does a brasserie like Millesime fit into the current New York dining scene?

A: "It's definitely the kind of place and the kind of food I like to eat when I go out with friends. It's something I want to convey to my customers. At this point in my career, this is what I want to do. From an economical perspective, customers, with what's happening in the country, are watching their wallets. They still want to go out, but they want more fun and less expense."

Q: You have live music nightly in the salon part of the restaurant. How does that enhance the experience for your diners?

A: "We don't want to play classical music because that will bring a formal ambience. Some music is French. Some is Brazilian. I want to have a 1930s, 1940s feel."

Q: What are your childhood memories of food?

A: "I grew up doing homework at the table in the kitchen of the inn where my grandmother was a cook. There was all the braising. For me, one of the best memories is something cooking for a long time in the kitchen in red wine, something baking in the oven or cooking over the fireplace. The whole house would smell like that."

Recipe

Classic Mussels (serves 2)

Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic, shaved

1 shallot, sliced into rings

1 sprig thyme, picked

2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1-1/2 cups white wine

1/2 cup clam broth, canned

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1-1/2 pounds mussels, cultivated, scrubbed clean

1 tablespoon parsley chopped

1/2 baguette cut in half

For the mussels:

Heat the oil in a covered, medium-sized pot on stove top; add the shallots, thyme and garlic. Cook until shallots soften.

Add the wine, bring to a boil and stir in the mussels. Cover the pot and cook the mussels until all of them have opened, about 6 to 8 minutes, discard any that do not open.

Remove the mussels with a slotted spoon to a large bowl. Bring the cooking liquid to a simmer and whisk in the butter. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and stir in the parsley.

Pour the mixture over the mussels and serve immediately with grilled baguette or toasted baguette drizzled with olive oil.

For the baguette:

Brush cut side of baguette with oil, season with salt and pepper and toast or grill, cut side down until lightly golden brown.

(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Patricia Reaney)

Celtics down Magic as Allen chases record

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AFP) – Boston downed Eastern Conference rivals Orlando 91-80 Sunday as the Celtics' Ray Allen continued to close in on the NBA record for three-point shots.

Allen made two of his four three-point attempts to move within three of equalling the league record of 2,560 held by Reggie Miller.

Allen next gets a chance to add to his total of 2,557 when the Celtics visit Charlotte on Monday.

Allen had said Friday he was conscious of the record, but more concerned with keeping the Eastern Conference-leading Celtics going in the right direction.

"There's a sense of me getting sidetracked if you worry about it because you feel like you've got to shoot it from beyond the arc," he said. "I don't want to press. I don't want to step outside of what we're trying to do here."

The Celtics certainly didn't get sidetracked on Sunday against an Orlando team they have met in the playoffs the past two seasons.

Orlando knocked Boston out of the postseason in 2009 and the Celtics turned the tables last year.

The teams arrived at Sunday's contest after splitting their first two meetings of this season and Rajon Rondo scored 11 of his 26 points in the third period as the Celtics edged ahead in this season's head-to-head.

The Celtics led 46-43 at halftime and stretched that to 70-55 with 3:36 remaining in the third.

The Magic scored the last six points of the third quarter to trim the deficit to 70-61, but the Celtics responded with a 7-2 scoring run and never let the gap dwindle to less than eight points the rest of the way.

Paul Pierce added 18 points and Kevin Garnett had 16 for Boston.

Dwight Howard had 28 points and 13 rebounds for Orlando, which lost for the fifth time in eight games.

Rondo said he was able to capitalize on Orlando's close defense on Pierce and Allen.

"They didn't leave Ray or Paul's body. I tried to be aggressive," Rondo said. "The lane just opened up a lot more even though Dwight (Howard) was down there."

A scary first-half moment saw Celtics reserve guard Marquis Daniels stretchered off the court after apparently hurting his neck in a collision with Gilbert Arenas.

Daniels was driving to the basket with 11 minutes remaining in the second quarter when he hit his head on Arenas' left shoulder.

Daniels fell and lay motionless for several minutes as coaches and teammates surrounded him.

Medical personnel put a neck brace on the player, who gave a thumbs-up to fans as he was taken from the court. The Celtics said he was taken to hospital for evaluation.

Celtics team doctor Brian McKeon said Daniels bruised his spinal cord. Danny Ainge, Boston's president of basketball operations, said Daniels had full function of his limbs and will likely miss at least one to two months.

Ford recalling F-150 pickups to fix door handles

WASHINGTON – Ford Motor Co. recalled nearly 365,000 F-150 pickup trucks in North America on Thursday to fix a problem with the interior door handles that could lead to the doors opening in a crash.

Ford said the recall affects about 280,000 F-150s in the U.S. from the 2009 and 2010 model years built from Jan. 18, 2008, through Nov. 30, 2009. About 68,000 of the popular trucks under recall are in Canada and about 14,000 are in Mexico.

The Dearborn, Mich., company said there have been no crashes or injuries tied to the problem. The F-150 is part of Ford's popular F-Series pickup, the best-selling vehicle in the U.S.

"Ford is committed to safety and is quickly working to address this matter with our customers," said Wes Sherwood, a company spokesman.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on its website that a spring in the interior door handle could break, causing the door to fail to latch properly. If the truck was struck by another vehicle on the side, the government said the door latch could open.

The recall is expected to begin around Feb. 14. Ford said dealers would inspect the trucks and add reinforcements to the spring or replace the side interior door handle module.

Owners can contact Ford at (866) 436-7332.