Monthly Archives: January 2015

Fed Continues to Signal Rate Hike in 2015

[01/28/15]  The Federal Reserve gave no signal Wednesday that it's backing away from plans to raise interest rates this year, noting that it expects unusually low inflation to gradually pick up as the "transitory effects" of tumbling oil prices fade. Disappointed investors drove down the Dow Jones industrial average 195.84 points to close at 17,191.37. "The takeaway: A Fed hike is not off the table (this year)," said Russ Koesterich, chief investment strategist at BlackRock. "And the market would like to delay that a long as it can." In a statement after a two-day meeting, the Fed's policymaking committee upgraded its economic outlook. It cited recent "strong job...
Read moreComments are closed

Euro’s Big Drop Puts U.S. Economy, Federal Reserve to the Test

[01/23/15]  The European Central Bank’s launch of an aggressive program this week to buy more than €1 trillion in bonds poses important tests for the U.S. economy and the Federal Reserve. Europe’s new program of money printing—and the resulting fall in the euro—means the U.S. economy must deal with a rapidly strengthening dollar that will make American goods more expensive abroad. The stronger dollar could slow both U.S. growth and inflation, giving the Fed some incentive to hold off on its plan to raise short-term interest rates later this year from near zero. U.S. officials have been playing down that scenario, and, more broadly, resisting talk of a global currency war—competitive...
Read moreComments are closed

Jobs Report: U.S. Adds 252,000 Jobs; Unemployment Falls to 5.6%

[01/09/15]  The U.S. posted its strongest year of job growth in 15 years and the unemployment rate fell to a postrecession low last month, evidence of momentum for the labor market marred by softer wages and a rise in workforce dropouts. Nonfarm payrolls rose a seasonally adjusted 252,000 in December, the Labor Department said Friday, with broad-based gains across a wide array of sectors. The unemployment rate, which is obtained from a separate survey of U.S. households, was 5.6% in December, down two-tenths of a percentage point from the prior month and now at its lowest level since June 2008. However, the decrease was driven in part because...
Read moreComments are closed

Jobless Claims Drop as U.S. Employers Keep Holiday Workers

[01/08/15]  Fewer Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week as labor-market tightening compelled employers to hold on to seasonal hires. Jobless claims decreased by 4,000 to 294,000 in the week ended Jan. 3, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The median forecast of 45 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a decline to 290,000. Employers finding it harder to fill vacancies are probably holding on to workers hired during the holidays as the economy expands and consumers spending picks up. The need to keep staff may mean companies will soon need to also boost wages. Claims are “low enough to be consistent with very big payroll gains,” Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics...
Read moreComments are closed