Tag Archives: federal reserve
Consumer Confidence Jumps with Asset Prices, Cheaper Gas
Consumer sentiment jumped to 83.7 in May, the highest level since July 2007. A pickup in net worth via the stock market, home values and falling prices at the pump all helped fuel the gains. Consumers’ assessments of their personal finances jumped to 97.5, the highest level since late 2007. The gains, however, were concentrated [...]
Industrial Production Falls with Decline in Heating Demand
Industrial production fell 0.5% in April after increasing 0.3% in March. Most of the weakness showed up in a 3.7% monthly drop in utilities. Heat, in particular, didn’t need to be turned on as much, once spring arrived a month late. That said, losses were widespread with the only notable gains in mining. Production of [...]
Producer Prices Continued to Drop on Food and Energy
Producer prices plummeted 0.7% in April, after falling at almost the same pace in March. Declines were largest in food and energy, as prices excluding those two components eked out a modest 0.1% increase and continued to moderate from the pace in previous months. The only major increase in the index for finished goods in [...]
Fed Keeps the Pedal to the Metal
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decided during its meeting today to keep monetary policy accommodative. Short-term interest rates will remain near zero until the unemployment rate drops below the 6.5% threshold and/ or inflation rises 0.5% above the Fed’s 2% medium-term target. Voting members of the FOMC also decided to continue the pace of [...]
Construction Spending and Manufacturing Weak
Construction spending plummeted 1.7% in March, and was revised down for January and February. This suggests downward revisions to first quarter growth, which also disappointed. The largest declines were in the public sector, driven by declines at the Federal level where cuts have been the deepest. Declines were broad-based and covered every category with the [...]
Income Disappoints; Spending Surprises to Upside
Personal income increased at a modest 0.2% pace in March, slower than most were expecting. The moderation was widespread with rental income the only category to remain resilient, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone paying rent. Consumer spending also increased at a 0.2% pace, but most were expecting a pause. The largest upside [...]
First Quarter Rebound Disappoints
The economy expanded at a 2.5% pace in the first quarter, more than half of one percent below expectations. Stronger-than-expected increases in consumer spending, the housing market and a rebuilding of inventories were tempered by tepid business investment and a sharp decline in government spending. The trade deficit also widened, as imports outpaced the gain [...]
Industrial Production Rises in Response to Cold Weather
Industrial production rose 0.4% in March, driven almost entirely by unusually strong demand for utilities and heating. Manufacturing and mining activity abated slightly, after being revised up for the month of February. Production during the first quarter as a whole rose at a 5% annual rate, the fastest pace since early 2012. Consumer goods were [...]
Fed Stays Course, Evaluates Efficacy of QE3
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted to stay the course, hold interest rates low and continue to expand its balance sheet by $85 billion per month until “the labor market has improved substantially.” The vote was as expected, eleven for the policy and one dissent; Esther George of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank [...]
Fed preview
Tomorrow, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will release a new statement regarding monetary policy. Chairman Ben Bernanke will review the staff’s economic forecasts and, hopefully, provide some clarity on the course of quantitative easing at the press conference that follows. The minutes for the last FOMC meeting included a review of QE3 scheduled for [...]
Bloomberg asks Diane Swonk to explain Fed concern over unemployment
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