Interest rates, inflation, access to capital, the regulatory environment and the rapidly changing global economy are all having a distinct impact on the middle market and America's real economy. How can senior executives at middle market businesses make sense of it all? Join RSM Chief Economist Joe ... READ MORE >
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The Real Economy, Volume 86: How the Fed is managing its dual mandate
Download the full report. The Federal Reserve faces a difficult task in fulfilling the two mandates it has been given by Congress: Achieving full employment while keeping inflation in check. In this month’s issue of The Real Economy, our chief economist, Joe Brusuelas, examines how the Fed, with ... READ MORE >
Initial jobless claims fall for third straight week as labor shortage continues
New filings for unemployment benefits beat estimates with a decrease of 6,000 for the week ending Oct. 16, reaching 290,000 initial jobless claims. That’s the lowest level since March 14, 2020, according to a report from the Department of Labor on Thursday. As strong demand dominates the labor market ... READ MORE >
Trade war takes dangerous turn toward currency wars: What could happen next?
Chinese fiscal and monetary authorities permitted the yuan early this week to slip below the important psychological level of 7 to the dollar for the first time since 2008. It was a retaliatory measure by China against President Trump’s threat to impose an additional 10% tariff on $300 billion in Chinese ... READ MORE >
Fed policy bumps up against muted inflation expectations: Data point to ‘lower for longer’ inflation
The Federal Reserve’s April policy meeting featured an in-depth discussion around risks to the economic outlook from falling inflation and current inflation expectations. The central bank’s current policy framework has set a 2 percent inflation target. Meanwhile, core inflation has eased to 1.6 percent, ... READ MORE >
FOMC preview: Prudent pause and revising economic outlook downward
The dovish turn at the Federal Open Market Committee’s January meeting was predicated on an interesting juxtaposition: the committee telegraphed a prudent pause in its policy normalization campaign, while not substantially revising down its forward-looking economic outlook. We expect the March meeting to ... READ MORE >