![]() In terms of achieving their primary goal of price stability, Powell stated there is “a long way to go.” That said, he acknowledged the lags in economic responses to policy changes and stated that “the full effects of our tightening have yet to be felt.” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that between now and then there will be plenty of data to inform the decision, including two jobs reports and two inflation reports. The question now is whether the Fed will hike rates once again at its next meeting in September. Today’s quarter point increase was widely expected. Meanwhile, wages grew by 4.4% compared to the prior year as demand for workers exceeds supply. 3 Over the last three months job gains averaged 244,000, representing a decline from earlier in 2023 but remaining robust. In May, job openings fell by 496,000 from April to 9.8 million, well below the 11.5 million peak reached in March 2022. 2Īlthough hiring has slowed, wage growth continues to raise inflationary concerns. This distinguishes the current period as the longest period of below 4% unemployment since the 1960s. At the same time unemployment ticked down a notch, coming in at 3.6% vs. In July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 209,000 new jobs were added. 1 Since then, data revealed ongoing strength in the labor market serving as a headwind to central bank efforts to curb inflation. ![]() Following a series of rate increases that now total eleven, the target policy rate is currently a lofty 5.25%–5.5% – the highest it’s been in 22 years.Īt the last Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on June 13–14, the committee decided to leave rates unchanged. SearchĪfter putting rate hikes on pause at their June meeting, the central bank bumped up interest rates by 25 basis points in July. ![]() Please enter a valid search, no special characters allowed.
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