New applications for unemployment benefits fell by 3,000 in the most recent week to 224,000 from the week before. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected 229,000 new claims.
Tag: U.S. Federal Reserve
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MORTGAGE RATES FALL TO 10-MONTH LOW
Last week, the national average interest rate on a fixed-rate, 30-year mortgage fell to 6.58 percent, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), down from 6.63 percent the week before, reaching its lowest since October 2024.
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U.S. PRODUCER PRICES CLIMB BY MOST IN THREE YEARS
U.S. wholesale prices jumped 0.9 percent in July, their biggest monthly increase since June 2022. Producers’ margins increased, indicating that a significant number of them are passing tariff costs through to their customers, Bloomberg noted.
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U.S. INFLATION ROSE AGAIN IN JUNE
In June, consumer prices ticked up 0.3 percent from May and rose at a 2.6-percent annual rate, according to the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, the U.S. Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation.
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FED BOARD REDUCES BANKS’ CASH RESERVE REQUIREMENT
The largest U.S. banks will be allowed to keep less cash on hand as a reserve against bad loans after a five-to-two ruling last week by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors.
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DOLLAR FALLS TO LOWEST VALUE IN THREE YEARS
On 26 June, the dollar touched its lowest value in three years against an assortment of the world’s other major currencies.
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TOP TREND 2025, WILD CARD: BANK OF ENGLAND HOLDS INTEREST RATE STEADY
The day after the U.S. Federal Reserve decided to keep its interest rates where they are, the Bank of England (BoE) did the same, holding its policy rate at 4.25 percent.
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FED FREEZES INTEREST RATES AMID TRADE WAR UNCERTAINTY
On 18 June, the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee held its policy interest rates steady at 4.25 percent for deposits and 4.50 percent for loans. The decision to do so was unanimous, notes from the meeting showed.
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IS OFFICIAL U.S. INFLATION DATA STILL ACCURATE?
Last week, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) told a group of economists that a federal hiring freeze had left it unable to contact the usual number of businesses it uses to monitor price changes.
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FED’S BEIGE BOOK TAKES ON A DARKER SHADE
The U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest Beige Book, a collection of anecdotes and snapshots of business conditions around the country, shows flat hiring, rising costs, and a contraction in the U.S. economy. “Economic activity has declined slightly since the previous report,” which was released on 23 April, the central bank said in a statement. ......