Page 2 - The Fed News Today

Markets see no change in interest rates from the Fed on May 1. The question is when in 2024 rate cuts might come, but that will likely depend on incoming inflation data.

The Fed is close to delivering a rare soft landing for the U.S. economy but it faces yet another fraught challenge: reducing cash in the financial system without disrupting markets. With the Fed having already removed some $1.4 trillion as it shrinks its balance sheet to end pandemic-era support, the focus is increasingly turning to when it should stop. Last week, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said policymakers were nearing a decision to slow the pace of quantitative tightening (QT) to bring reserve...

Rep. Jamaal Bowman claimed at a November rally that there was no evidence of Hamas killing infants or raping Israeli women during the October 7 attacks.

February's CPI report is the last inflation print before the Fed's next policy decision on March 20.

The reading comes as market expectations dwindle for growth-friendly interest rate cuts.

The Fed has so far been able to pull inflation lower without crushing economic growth—but the months ahead will present a new test.

Jay Powell's political conundrum is getting more challenging with each new week of 2024.

What deeply disappointed was “Core” CPI rose +0.4%, highest since May. This measure of inflation remained at 3.9% over the last 12 months, the same as it was in December.

The 0.5% month-on-month increase in January's core producer price index is likely to feed into a higher January reading for the Fed's preferred measure for inflation due out at the end of this month, economists said, and keep the Fed on hold for longer. Analysts at Citi calculated the core personal consumption expenditures price index will re-accelerate to 2.4% on a six-month basis, from a previous 1.9%, and called it a "troubling" development. "We continue to expect t...

"The longer rates stay high, the more the Fed risks seriously damaging the economy," Claudia Sahm wrote in the Financial Times.