FED’S BEIGE BOOK SEES SOME PRICE PRESSURE HINTS
— New York, Philly, St. Louis, Kansas City, Chicago Up Only Slightly WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The Federal Reserve’s “Beige Book” survey of economic conditions Wednesday saw some hints of price pressures, both strengthening and sluggishness, yet contained no clearer guidance that changes the view of an economy’s continuing expansion muddling onwards. The survey, that guides […]
WORLD’S FINANCE MINISTERS FRET ABOUT TRADE
–IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings End With Notes of Concern By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – Seeing global growth decelerating, the world’s finance ministers Saturday fretted about trade tensions yet without urgency or the sense of crisis that inhabited recent past meetings. In the final news conference of the IMF’s policy meeting, this year’s chairman of […]
FOR FED’S WILLIAMS, LOW INFLATION STILL A ‘WORRY’
–Economy ‘Healthy;’ Not Everyone Feeling Benefits By Anthony Mace NEW YORK (MaceNews) – New York Federal Reserve President John Williams Thursday told reporters that low inflation is still a “worry” that can hamper the execution of monetary policy. “I do worry if inflation continues to systematically undershoot our target,” he said, answering a question from […]
FOMC PARTICIPANTS PRESERVE ALL OPTIONS AMID UNCERTAINTY
–‘Majority’ Say Likely No 2019 Rate Changes; ‘Some’ Say Maybe Hike –Risks Roughly Balanced; ‘Significant Uncertainties’ and ‘Patient’ WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The minutes of last month’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting Wednesday confirmed the participants’ rope-a-dope policy stance, waiting for economy’s uncertainties to wear out before deciding their next move. With risks roughly balanced, the […]
ECB’S DRAGHI SEES ‘PERSISTENCE OF UNCERTAINTIES
–ECB Pledges to Hold Rates Steady to Yearend By Laurie Laird FRANKFURT (MaceNews) – The European Central Bank could ease the burden of negative interest rates on the region’s banks, raising concerns that prolonged weakness in the euro zone economy could require further stimulus measures, even the resumption and expansion of quantitative easing. The ECB […]
US MAR JOBS UPSIDE SURPRISE – EXCEPT FOR WAGES, MFG, U-6
WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The U.S. March jobs report Friday surprised on the upside, exceeding expectations with 196,000 additional payroll slots and holding at an unemployment rate of 3.8% but wages undershot, rising just 3.2% over the year. The sharp rebound from February’s revised 33,000 payrolls total reinforced the scenario that the Federal Reserve’s patient forebearance […]
CANADA MARCH UNEMP UNCH AT 5.8%; 1Q PAYROLLS +116K
By Gordon Isfeld OTTAWA (MaceNews) – After two months of strong employment growth, job creation in Canada held steady overall during March and left the country’s jobless rate unchanged from the previous month. The economy produced fewer jobs than anticipated in March, even as the unemployment rate remained at 5.8%, Statistics Canada reported Friday. First […]
US FEB BUDGET DEFICIT RECORD $234 BLN; INDIV TAX REVENUES +5%
–Tariff Income +93%; Corporate Taxes -13% By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The February U.S. budget deficit was a record $234 billion but Treasury officials were happy to show Friday that despite the tax cut, receipts were also a record for the month. The February deficit was 9% wider than the same month a year […]
FOMC CERTAINLY PATIENT ABOUT STATE OF UNCERTAINTY
–Holds Rate Steady; Dots Suggest ‘Roughly’ 2% ’19 Growth and No Hikes –When Data Clarify, ‘We Will Act Appropriately’ By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The Federal Open Market Committee and its Chairman Jerome Powell Wednesday reassured markets that not enough is known about this year’s economy to either raise or lower interest rates and […]
FOMC: BALANCE SHEET REDUCTION ENDS IN SEPTEMBER
–FOMC Doesn’t Touch Rates; Adjusts Dots to Zero ’19 Hikes WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The Federal Open Market Committee Wednesday appeared to go beyond “patience” to zero out rate hikes for the rest of the year while inching the growth outlook down to 2.1% and ending the normalization of the balance sheet by September. The growth […]