The Federal Reserve is poised to raise interest rates Wednesday for the first time since 2018, with investors focused on how aggressive central bankers plan to be in tackling the hottest inflation in four decades.
Investors gauging the likely size of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate hike in March and plans for shrinking a balance sheet now at a record $8.9 trillion will get fresh clues on Wednesday.
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker joined the widespread calls by his policy-making colleagues for higher interest rates this year, saying he favors a March liftoff and three or four hikes for the 2022.
Central bankers need to speak up about economic barriers prompted by racism and the need for inclusion and diversity, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said.
Federal Reserve policy makers could start to raise their target interest rate as soon as March and shrink the central bank’s balance sheet as a next step in response to surging inflation, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said.
After U.S. prices climbed by the most in three decades, there’s even worse news ahead for households and policy makers: Inflation likely has further to rise before it peaks.
Federal Reserve policy makers are expected to announce this week that they will start scaling back their massive asset-purchase program amid greater concern over inflation, economists surveyed by Bloomberg said.
While much of Wall Street is ringing alarms about out-of-control inflation, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues are expressing confidence in a more benign outlook.
The Federal Reserve is expected to announce it will begin trimming its $120 billion in monthly asset purchases before the end of the year as the U.S. economy recovers strongly from Covid-19, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
President Joe Biden’s strategy of bolstering labor unions as a way to enhance American workers’ pay is running up against a half century of setbacks for organizing workers.
Thomas Costerg doesn’t usually go to bed with a computer, but he couldn’t help himself Thursday night after what had just happened in the Treasury market.
Declaring that the battle against Covid-19 is not over, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell pledged to keep the monetary spigots wide open to aid the pandemic-hit economy, brushing aside concerns the super-easy stance will spawn a stock market bubble and too-high inflation.
The surge of U.S. business formations in the back half of 2020 has been one of the pandemic’s many surprises.
Federal Reserve officials are beginning to split over when they may need to start pulling back on their massive monetary stimulus, drawing nervous glances from investors who remember how markets were roiled during the 2013 taper tantrum.
American workers and businesses face a months-long survival test until Covid-19 vaccines become widely available as spending plunges with record daily cases prompting a sudden return to lockdowns.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell opened the door to a possible shift in the central bank’s bond purchases in coming months, saying that more fiscal and monetary support are needed as rising Covid-19 infections cloud the outlook for the economic recovery.
The U.S. economy’s recovery from the virus-induced recession will get much harder, with more permanent job losses unless there’s additional fiscal support, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said.
Barkin said the outlook could be become clearer over the next few weeks depending on the virus and the amount of fiscal support.
The Fed chair in his remarks to lawmakers struck an optimistic note on what he is seeing as economic activity resumes.
Shutting down the U.S. economy was appropriate in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis, but now the country needs to shift to mitigating risks, as it does with risks from terrorism or auto accidents, says James Bullard.
In all his years in the Texas oil patch, the billionaire Russell Gordy has never seen a bust like this.