U.S. companies grew little in late 2021, Fed survey shows

The U.S. economy expanded at a modest pace late last year, with U.S. companies saying growth continues to be constrained by supply chain disruptions and labor shortages, while prices have exhibited “solid growth.” showed a survey conducted by the Federal Reserve (Fed, US central bank) released this Wednesday (12).

“While optimism remained high overall, several districts cited business reports that expectations for growth over the next few months have cooled somewhat in recent weeks,” the U.S. central bank said in its latest “Beige Book” economic report, which is compiled from data from business contacts across the country.

The document also pointed to “a strong retraction” in leisure travel, hotel occupancy and customers in restaurants, as the number of new coronavirus cases grew.

With inflation now persistently higher than twice the flexible annual target of 2%, the Fed has already taken steps to contain it and has signaled that the era of “ultra-loose” monetary policy has been in place since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. , is effectively closed, even as the Ômicron variant spurs a record wave of infections across the country and around the world.

On Tuesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell told the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, during his confirmation hearing for a second term as head of the central bank, that the economy must weather the current Covid-19 outbreak. -19 with only “short-lived” impacts and that it was ready for the start of a more restrictive monetary policy.

The central bank began scaling back its monthly purchases of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities in November, introduced to help nurture the economy during the coronavirus pandemic, and is now expected to end that program completely by mid-March, which paves the way for a start. to raise interest rates at its March 15-16 monetary policy meeting.

US Labor Department data on Wednesday showed consumer prices rose 7% in December from a year earlier, the fastest pace of rise since 1982, although officials and private economists said the rate is close to its peak.