US WAGE GAINS TOP 3%; OCT PAYROLLS STRONG AT 250K
By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – One of the most over-anticipated economic breakthroughs finally did happen Friday as the job report’s annual increase in U.S. wages pierced the 3% mark, hitting an increase of 3.1% – thanks in part to a favorable comparison month a year ago – while payrolls in October added 250,000 new […]
ECB CONFIRMS END OF QE DESPITE EZ SLOWDOWN SIGNS
By Laurie Laird FRANKFURT (MaceNews) – The European Central Bank Thursday confirmed plans to reduce its quantitative easing programme by year end, even as its leadership acknowledged a recent slowdown in the euro zone economy. The ECB reduced its purchase of assets to €15 billion at the end of September, and will cease the programme at […]
BEIGE BK GOES BEYOND ‘MODEST TO MODERATE’ W/CONCERNS
WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The Federal Reserve’s latest Beige Book survey of economic conditions Wednesday left behind some of its usual “modest to moderate” blandness on the expansion to include rumblings of concern about tariffs, price pressures and labor shortages. The following is the Beige Book summary, prepared by the Richmond Fed: Overall Economic Activity Economic […]
US SEPT JOBS RPT A MIXED PICTURE ON WAGES, WORKFORCE
By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The jobs news from September continued on an exceptionally good path Friday yet an increasingly fretful economic picture a week into October suggested the context may be shifting, as interest rates climb, the Nasdaq loses steam and analysts nitpick Federal Reserve policy. The new 3.7% unemployment rate, atypically large […]
FED’S POWELL: TRADE SPATS A POTENTIAL RISK FACTOR
By Adam Smith BOSTON (MaceNews) – Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, during a speech in Boston Tuesday, painted a rosy picture of the U.S. economy and downplayed concern that low unemployment will lead to accelerated inflation. But during a question and answer session following his speech to the NABE, Powell warned that a trade war and […]
FOMC DELIVERS EXPECTED QTR POINT HIKE AND #4 READY
WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The Federal Open Market Committee Wednesday delivered its expected quarter-point rate hike and signaled a fourth is ready to go this year – removing the “accommodative” language in the process. The “dot plot” of participant expectations sketched a growth spurt under way, revised up slightly to 3.1% for GDP this year, but […]
US RETAIL SALES WEAK IN AUGUST; PRICE CUTS A FACTOR
By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – U.S. retail sales were weak in August after adjustment for recurring seasonal trends, the Commerce Department reported Friday, a lull that was easily dismissed as temporary by most analysts but which came amid many signs of continuing fundamental weakness for the retail industry. The advance retail sales estimate by […]
US Tsy: August Added $214 Bln To National Debt
By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The U.S. Treasury reported Thursday that August’s federal budget was in deficit by $214.1 billion and the total for 11 months of the government’s fiscal year is a deficit of $898.1 billion, another step on the path to trillion dollar annual deficits forecast for the beginning of the next […]
US CPI/PPI NOT EXACTLY A REFLATION SCRIPT
By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – While not dramatically decelerating, two main measures of U.S. inflation are registering a surprising pause in their acceleration that is coupled to anecdotal reports of renewed widespread price cuts. Thursday’s Consumer Price Index for August, up 0.2%, showed an annual rate after seasonal adjustment of 2.7% – despite the […]
ECB CONFIRMS WINDING DOWN QE YEAR-END
By Laurie Laird LONDON (MaceNews) – The European Central Bank Thursday confirmed plans to wind down its quantitative easing programme by year end, despite signs of a slowdown in euro zone industrial activity toward the end of the summer. The 0.8% slump in industrial production recorded in July represented a “sign of convergence of the […]