The Federal Reserve will buy a total of $600 billion of bonds under its newest stimulus program, known as QE3, and is likely to buy Treasuries outright after its "Operation Twist" stimulus ends in December, according to a Reuters poll of economists on Friday.
The forecasts from 43 economists for the ultimate size of the Fed's third round of quantitative easing ranged from $280 billion to $3 trillion.
The median of forecasts for the program size was unchanged from the median in a Reuters poll of 52 economists conducted on September 14, the day after QE3 was announced.
The Fed has said the program is open-ended and will continue until the outlook for the labor market improves "substantially."
Friday's poll was conducted after the government announced the US unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 7.8% in September, which was the lowest since January 2009.
The median of forecasts from 38 of the economists was for the unemployment rate to fall to 7% before the central bank would consider ending QE3. Several economists emphasized, however, they did not think the Fed had a target unemployment level, saying the central bank will monitor overall labor conditions instead.
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Forty of 48 economists said the Fed will buy Treasuries after Operation Twist ends in December. Under Twist, the Fed is selling shorter-dated Treasuries and using the proceeds to buy longer-dated Treasuries in an effort to lower long-term borrowing costs like those on mortgages.
Currently, under QE3, the central bank is buying only mortgage-backed securities.