May 14 Federal Reserve Chair Powell downplays potential for a rate hike despite higher price pressures By Christopher Rugaber, Associated Press Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday that the central bank is unlikely to raise its key interest rate in response to signs of stubborn inflation and underscored his view that price increases would soon start to cool again. Continue reading
May 13 Are U.S. interest rates high enough to beat inflation? The Fed will take its time to find out By Christopher Rugaber, Associated Press The sharp interest rate hikes of the past two years will likely take longer than previously expected to bring down inflation, several Federal Reserve officials have said in recent comments, suggesting there may be few, if any, rate cuts this… Continue reading
May 09 U.S. job market still hot but weekly jobless claims hit highest level since August of 2023 By Matt Ott, Associated Press The Labor Department reported Thursday that unemployment claims for the week ending May 4 rose by 22,000 to 231,000. Continue reading
May 01 WATCH: Fed Chair Powell suggests taming inflation will take longer than expected By Christopher Rugaber, Associated Press The Federal Reserve on Wednesday emphasized that inflation has remained stubbornly high in recent months and said it doesn’t plan to cut interest rates until it has “greater confidence” that price increases are slowing sustainably to its 2 percent target. Continue reading
Apr 25 U.S. economic growth slows to 1.6 percent, sign that interest rates may be taking toll By Paul Wiseman, Associated Press The gross domestic product — the economy's total output of goods and services — decelerated from its brisk 3.4% growth rate in the final three months of 2023. Consumers continued to drive growth last quarter but slowed their spending. Continue reading
Apr 16 Elevated inflation will likely delay interest rate cuts this year, warns Federal Reserve Chair Powell By Christopher Rugaber, Associated Press "Recent data have clearly not given us greater confidence" that inflation is coming fully under control and "instead indicate that it's likely to take longer than expected to achieve that confidence," Powell said during a panel discussion. Continue reading
Apr 10 Watch 6:06 Minneapolis Fed president on inflation uptick and when to cut interest rates By Geoff Bennett, Shoshana Dubnow Inflation came in higher than expected last month, raising concerns once again about its persistence. Some experts also worry that it could delay or prevent a series of interest rate cuts expected from the Federal Reserve later this year. Geoff… Continue watching
Apr 06 Is the Fed going to cut interest rates? What was once a question of 'when' is now less certain By Christopher Rugaber, Associated Press When the Federal Reserve signaled last fall that it was likely done raising interest rates, many began wondering when it would start cutting rates. But with the U.S. economy showing surprising vigor, a different question has arisen: Will the central… Continue reading
Mar 20 WATCH: Federal Reserve's Powell holds briefing after interest rate meeting as inflation slows By Christopher Rugaber, Associated Press In new quarterly projections they issued, the policymakers forecast that stronger growth and inflation above their 2 percent target level would persist into next year. As a result, they suggested that interest rates would have to stay slightly higher for… Continue reading
Mar 06 Watch 4:03 News Wrap: Fed chair says interest rates could be cut this year In our news wrap Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says interest rates could be cut this year if inflation keeps falling, Alabama lawmakers moved to shield IVF providers, politicians in Haiti try to form a new governing coalition, a… Continue watching