US The decision by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) not to lift the federal funds rate at last week’s meeting came as no surprise. However, the rationale given by FED Chair Janet Yellen for not moving and the perceived tone of her comments did. Although Yellen acknowledged that there had been an active discussion [...]
US The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) kept interest rates unchanged due to concerns about global weakness, especially in China, but left open the possibility of a modest policy tightening later this year. In the Committee’s own words: “Recent global economic and financial developments may restrain economic activity somewhat and are likely to put further [...]
US The main event in the coming week is the FOMC meeting on 16-17 September. The meeting will provide updated economic projections as well as a press conference with Chair Yellen. The US economy has made significant progress over the past year, in particular on the labour market. As full employment has virtually been reached [...]
US While August jobs were a touch disappointing on the headline at +173,000, the big upward revisions to the two prior months and the two-tick drop in the jobless rate to a cycle low 5.1% were solid offsets. The decent employment report capped a week of generally sturdy economic results. Factory orders for July came [...]
