With the Federal Reserve expected to act soon in response to the coronavirus scare, there’s a chance that the central bank could take policy back to where it was during the financial crisis. Goldman Sachs economists said Sunday they see the Fed cutting rates by 50 basis points by its March meeting or sooner, and […]
Tag: Breaking News: Economy
US personal income January 2020
Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images Americans pulled back on their spending in January, even as their incomes surged, a sign the economy was growing modestly before the threat of coronavirus arose. The Commerce Department said Friday that consumer spending increased 0.2% last month, down from 0.4% in December and smallest gain since October. […]
Low rates have had only a ‘modest’ impact on stock market prices
The Federal Reserve’s extraordinary policy moves over the last 12 years have marched arm-in-arm with the biggest bull market in Wall Street history. But the central bank’s economists say the two really have little in common. As part of the ongoing discussion Fed officials are having about the effectiveness of past policy and the proper […]
Rate cut expectations will fade as coronavirus fear eases
Markets expecting an interest rate cut are reacting to the coronavirus scare and likely will reverse once the fear starts to fade, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said Friday. Central bank officials have indicated that they are content to keep policy on hold as they watch economic developments play out. However, traders in the […]
Consumer sentiment rises in February even amid the coronavirus outbreak
U.S. consumer sentiment figures for February came in higher than expected despite the recent outbreak of the coronavirus. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index came in at 100.9 for February. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected February consumer sentiment to come in at 99.5. Consumers’ assessment of current economic conditions were virtually unchanged from […]
US deficit swells 25% in fiscal 2020, $1.1 trillion over past year
People walk past the Capitol Dome ahead of an expected vote in the impeachment trial of U.S. President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington, February 5, 2020. Joshua Roberts | Reuters The sea of red ink is getting deeper and deeper in Washington, with the federal government already racking up a budget deficit that […]
US productivity and labor costs Q4 2019
U.S. worker productivity rebounded in the fourth quarter, keeping labor costs in check. The Labor Department said on Thursday nonfarm productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, increased at a 1.4% annualized rate last quarter. Productivity decreased at an unrevised 0.2% pace in the July-September period, the biggest drop since the fourth quarter of 2015. […]
ADP Moody’s private payrolls January 2019 nearly double expectations
The jobs market kicked off 2020 in grand fashion, adding 291,000 in private payrolls for the best monthly gain since May 2015, according to a report Wednesday from ADP and Moody’s Analytics. That was well above the 150,000 estimate from economists surveyed by Dow Jones and more evidence that the U.S. still is a good […]
ISM manufacturing index January 2020
Flextronics International Apple factory employees work on Apple Mac Pro computer assembly in Austin, TX, November 20, 2019. Tom Brenner | Reuters U.S. factory activity unexpectedly rebounded in January after contracting for five straight months amid a surge in new orders, offering hope that a prolonged slump in business investment has probably bottomed out. The […]
Weekly jobless claims fall
Job seekers wait in line to speak with representatives during a Choice Career Fair in Los Angeles. Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week, pointing to continued labor market strength, though applications for the prior week were much higher than initially estimated. Initial […]