Inflation continued to broaden out across the American economy in May, rising by 8.6% annually and underscoring the urgency among central bankers to restore price stability. … READ MORE >
interest rates
Initial jobless claims rise to above pre-pandemic level
New claims for jobless benefits increased by 27,000 to 229,000 for the week ending June 4, from an upwardly revised 202,000 in the prior week. … READ MORE >
Chart of the day: Job openings remain near record high
U.S. job openings fell 3.8% to 11.4 million in April amid economic moderation and monetary policy tightening. … READ MORE >
Bank of Canada raises interest rate to 1.5% to tame inflation
The Bank of Canada announced another 50-basis-point rate hike on Wednesday while it continued to shrink its balance sheet, another aggressive step in its campaign to tame inflation. … READ MORE >
U.S. April Consumer Price Index: Peak inflation provides no solace
About the best one can say about the April inflation report is that year-over-year metrics appear to have topped while core inflation increased. … READ MORE >
Fed policy and the natural rate of interest—a delicate balancing act
The current estimate of the natural rate of interest is 0.5%, hardly enough to compensate for the risk of investment. … READ MORE >
FOMC decision: Policy, price stability and balance sheet strategy
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday showed that it intends to achieve price stability, maximum sustainable employment and long-term growth despite the risk of a higher unemployment and a hard landing of the economy. … READ MORE >
Why the U.S. dollar is strengthening
Policy by the central bank, interest rate differentials and a risk haven move into U.S. dollar-denominated assets are driving up the dollar against major trading currencies. … READ MORE >
Interest rate update: Confidence in the Fed, but uncertainty over long-term growth
The Federal Reserve has started to normalize interest rates, lifting the short-term transaction cost off the zero bound. The result has been a 100-basis point increase in the yield on 10-year Treasury bonds. … READ MORE >
Bank of Canada raises rates by a half percentage point
In an effort to target inflation that is at its highest level in decades, the Bank of Canada on Wednesday increased its policy interest rate by 50 basis points, to 1%, and said it would begin to reduce its balance sheet, known as quantitative tightening. … READ MORE >