The more measured approach to rate increases the Fed is now taking reflects an awareness among the officials that the risks to the economy of raising rates too high is growing. read more >
The focus for Wall Street investors and analysts now is shifting toward what comes next. Some clues could come in the updated interest rate projections it releases each quarter and at a news conference with Chair Jerome Powell. read more >
Despite the seemingly divergent figures, the decline in the core measure points to inflation coming under control. read more >
We know an editor who says her favorite word is “context.” She is a good editor. read more >
Powell noted that the economy has been growing faster than expected and that consumers have kept spending briskly — trends that could keep inflation pressures high. read more >
Supply chains have normalized for some retailers, reducing pricing pressures. Hotel occupancy rates have come off the boil of the pandemic years; room rates have eased in response. read more >
Wall Street traders, who earlier this year had predicted that the Fed would begin cutting rates by year's end, now don't envision any rate cuts until well into 2024. read more >
While price increases have cooled over the past year — the inflation rate has dropped from 9% to 3.2% — most economists say little to none of the drop came from the law. read more >
Hiring was up from 185,000 in June, a figure that the Labor Department revised down from an originally reported 209,000. Economists had expected to see 200,000 new jobs in July. read more >
Driving last quarter's growth was a burst of business investment, which surged at a 5.7% annual pace, the fastest rate since late 2021. read more >
Another hike is widely expected despite a run of encouraging news that has sent stock prices steadily higher, boosted consumer confidence and brightened hopes that the Fed can pull off a difficult "soft landing," in which inflation would continue to slow toward the Fed's 2% target without sending the economy tumbling into a recession. read more >
The Conference Board, a business research group, said its consumer confidence index rose to 117 in July from a revised 110.1 in June. The gauge beat the 110.5 that economists had expected and was the highest since July 2021. read more >
Even though the Fed is poised to raise its key rate on Wednesday for the 11th time since March 2022, to its highest point in 22 years, no one is panicking. read more >
All told, 100 companies have filed IPO documents this year, compared to 83 at this point in 2022. read more >
Even with Wednesday's better-than-expected inflation data, the Fed is considered all but sure to raise its benchmark rate when it meets in two weeks. read more >
They signaled that they might raise rates twice more this year, beginning as soon as this month. read more >
The increase brings the average rate back to where it was three weeks ago. On June 1, it averaged 6.79%, its highest level so far this year. read more >
Despite the uptick, the government's third and final report on January-March economic growth still marked a deceleration from the 2.6% annual rate from October through December and the 3.2% growth from July through September. read more >
The warnings have been sounded for more than a year: A recession is going to hit the United States. If not this quarter, then by next quarter. Or the quarter after that. Or maybe next year. read more >
The average rate on a 30-year home loan is still more than double what it was two years ago. read more >
