Bloomberg News/Landov Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren Despite the benign environment, the Federal Reserve is actually in uncharted territory and should be alert to potential risks to the outlook, said Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren on Monday. “Private forecasters and [Federal Open Market Committee] participants anticipate a good outcome forRead More →
The eurozone’s annual rate of inflation rebounded in November after two straight months of decline, but remained well below the European Central Bank’s target. Consumer price figures released Friday were the first of Christine Lagarde’s term as ECB president, and indicated that the central bank’s main goal is well beyondRead More →
Don’t expect the inflation bugaboo to scare away the bond-market bulls. Once the highlight of the economic calendar, U.S. inflation data releases have now been shunted to the sidelines by bond traders who say they are paying more attention to the outlook for the labor market and the broader economy.Read More →
Surging pork prices pushed China’s consumer inflation to a near six-year high in September, complicating Beijing’s effort to stimulate growth but also giving it a strong incentive to buy more agricultural goods from the U.S. The consumer-price index rose 3% in September from a year earlier, according to data releasedRead More →
Bloomberg News/Landov The cost of imports aren’t adding to U.S. inflation The numbers: The cost of goods imported into the U.S. rose in September for the first time in four months, but most of the increase stemmed from higher oil prices. Import-related inflation more broadly was basically nonexistent. The importRead More →
Unemployment in the eurozone declined to 7.4% in September, its lowest level since August, 2008, the EU’s statistics institute Eurostat said Monday. But this good news about the European economy helps underline the predicament the European Central Bank has long struggled with: the persistent low level of inflation. The ECBRead More →
Reuters Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson shops at a bakery during a visit to Doncaster Market, in Doncaster, Britain, September 13, 2019. The British pound came under pressure Wednesday as inflation data grew softer than forecast in August. U.K. consumer prices slowed to 1.7% year-over-year growth in August from 2.1%Read More →
Bloomberg News Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says central banks are having a hard enough time getting inflation to 2%. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday rejected advice from some of the world’s most prominent economists and said he would not support moving the central bank’s 2% inflation targetRead More →
The Federal Reserve is charged by Congress to accomplish full employment and stable prices. For economists, these objectives pose a tradeoff, and the Fed targets 2% inflation as a compromise. All this is premised on economic theories rendered obsolete by the globalization of many goods and services markets, capital mobility, and resulting wageRead More →
Bloomberg News/Landov Federal Reserve Gov. Lael Brainard Federal Reserve Gov. Lael Brainard made the case on Thursday that the “new normal” of low interest rates requires the central bank to let inflation run hotter than usual as well as to employ tools like increased capital requirements to check financial marketRead More →
Getty Images Jerome Powell seems to be right, in part, on the transitory factors weighing on inflation. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at last week’s press conference contended that recent weakness in inflation was the result of so-called “transitory” factors that will unwind. “I think there’s good reason to thinkRead More →
© Reuters. One Word Grips the Bond Market Before Crucial Inflation Update (Bloomberg) — Bond traders will have one word on their minds as they gear up for the latest readings on inflation: “transitory.” That’s how Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell characterized the factors behind muted price pressures after lastRead More →
Bloomberg News/Landov Monitors display stock market information as pedestrians are reflected in a window at the Nasdaq MarketSite in the Times Square area of New York. The numbers: Consumer spending surged in March while core inflation weakened, government figures show. Spending jumped 0.9% in March after a 0.1% gain inRead More →
Some investors are tentatively bracing for inflation to make a comeback. Prices of Treasury-inflation protected securities have steadily climbed throughout 2019, amid talk that the Federal Reserve could refrain from immediately tightening its leash when inflation overshoots the central bank’s 2% target. Though the year-to-date decline in Treasury yields, includingRead More →
Bloomberg News/Landov The cost of imported goods have declined in the past year, led by a drop in oil prices. The numbers: The cost of imported goods shot up in February by the largest amount in nine months, but the increase stemmed entirely from higher fuel prices. Most import pricesRead More →
© Reuters. Traders work on the floor at the post where Boeing is traded at the NYSE in New York (Reuters) – The and Nasdaq eked out gains at open on Monday as February’s benign inflation data supported the Federal Reserve’s “patient” approach towards further rate hikes, while a secondRead More →
Bloomberg News/Landov The cost of imported goods are falling. The numbers: The cost of imported goods fell in January for the third month in a row, reflecting a broad easing of inflation in the U.S. that’s helped persuade the Federal Reserve to stop raising interest rates. The import price indexRead More →
Getty Images/iStockphoto The U.S. economy appears to have found a sweet spot: Lot of new jobs and low inflation. After the economy scored a dazzling 304,000 bounty of new jobs in January, the U.S. seems to have settled into a sweet spot. Growth is stable, if a bit slower thanRead More →
© Bloomberg. An electronic ticker board displays stock figures outside the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018. India’s new central bank governor has a list of challenges to face as he takes office: from fixing a banking crisis to convincing investors of theRead More →
Asian stock markets were mixed in early trading Thursday, as optimism over the recently concluded U.S.-China trade talks were muted by a disappointing Chinese inflation report. Earlier, U.S. and Chinese officials said progress had been made during the three days of talks in Beijing. While major hurdles remain, the talksRead More →
