3 min readFresh Economic Data This past week, the Bureau of Economic Analysis released October’s Personal Income and Outlays Report. Personal income and spending rose by 0.7% and 0.8%, respectively, on a month-over-month basis. The headline Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index climbed by 6.0% year-over-year, while the core PCE index, stripping out food and energy costs and…
2 min readIn a widely expected move, the Federal Reserve raised the overnight lending rate today by 75 basis points for the 4th time in 4 meetings. Following the FOMC’s action, the rate now rests at the 3.75% to 4.00% range. The Fed’s 2022 tightening activity has been extraordinary for a central bank with a history of…
2 min readGiven their aggressive efforts to tame price pressures over the past few quarters, Chair Powell and the Federal Reserve were likely to have been very disappointed by the release of August’s Consumer Price Index. Despite a 2.25% increase in the overnight lending rate over just four meetings, the reading came in higher than expected with…
2 min readThese are certainly challenging times for the Federal Reserve. The past few weeks brought new data confirming historically tight conditions in the labor market alongside soaring domestic price pressures. While the Fed’s recent aggressive rate hikes have yet to cool inflation, concerns are growing that the pace and scope of their activity will push the…
2 min readThe Fed held its first meeting of 2022 last week and erased any lingering doubts, of which there were few, that it will raise the overnight lending rate when it next convenes in mid-March. In the press release following the meeting, the FOMC stated that “the Committee expects it will soon be appropriate to raise…
2 min readThe Federal Reserve met over the past two days to review its stance on monetary policy, and it has provided specific details on plans to taper its bond purchase program over the next few quarters. Since March of 2020, the central bank has been buying $120 billion of assets each month, and it revealed today…
2 min readThe Federal Reserve met this week to review its current stance on monetary policy and updated its Summary of Economic Projections for Q1 2021. While the Fed was encouraged by the addition of 379,000 jobs to non-farm payrolls in February and a decline in the unemployment rate to 6.2%, they also acknowledged that “the path…
2 min readThe Federal Reserve held its first meeting of the new year and affirmed their commitment to a near zero interest rate environment, saying “The pace of the recovery in economic activity and employment has moderated in recent months, with weakness concentrated in the sectors most adversely affected by the pandemic.” The Fed indicated that they…
2 min readThe Federal Reserve held its last meeting of the year this week and to no one’s surprise, it left the overnight lending rate unchanged at the 0.00% to 0.25% range. As it wraps up a tumultuous 2020 and looks forward to the new year, the Fed is focused on supporting “the U.S. economy in this…
2 min readA Momentous Week All eyes are on the United States as Election Day finally arrives and a bitterly contentious campaign cycle draws to a close. An estimated 100 million early votes were cast in advance of Election Day and the country appears to be heading for a record presidential election turnout. The focus now shifts…