The Federal Reserve’s plan to raise interest rates this year, forged over months of strong jobs growth and a seemingly durable expansion, now faces an economy that no longer follows the script and may push the “liftoff” far into the future.
Janet Yellen
Americans are becoming more apt to quit their jobs, a government report showed on Tuesday, a sign that a stronger labor market and falling unemployment rate could result in healthier wage growth and inflation.
World financial markets were unsettled again on Thursday as a week-long sell-off in benchmark government bonds, stocks and the dollar, and a race up in oil prices, was compounded by UK election uncertainty.
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Wednesday said high equity valuations could pose potential dangers but that stability risks across the U.S. financial system remained in check.
Federal Reserve officials on Thursday were again at public odds over when the U.S. central bank should start raising rates, underscoring the difficult task ahead for Fed Chair Janet Yellen as she tries to build consensus for a rate hike sometime later this year.
The timing of the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike, which would be its first in nearly a decade, is unclear and for now policymakers must watch that the U.S. economy's surprising recent weakness does not signal a more substantial slowdown, a top Fed official said on Monday.
The euro fell on Monday, hurt by uncertainty over whether Greece and its international creditors will be able to strike a deal that will help Athens secure funding before it runs out of money by April 20.
Asian stock markets rose on Monday, with China stocks nearing a seven-year peak on hopes for more infrastructure spending and policy stimulus, while oil prices suffered further from excess supply.
The state of the U.S. labor market in March will consume economists and investors in the week leading up to Easter, adding to the seesaw debate over when the Federal Reserve will spring its first interest rate hike.
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen signaled that the U.S. central bank will likely start raising borrowing costs later this year, even before inflation and wages have returned to health, but emphasized the return to normal interest rates will be gradual.
Asian stocks were mixed on Friday and the dollar rebounded as rising tensions in the Middle East clouded the investment outlook.
The dollar fought back across the board on Thursday after posting its biggest daily fall in 18 months in the wake of a much more cautious Federal Reserve statement on interest rates than expected.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday moved a step closer to hiking rates for the first time since 2006, but downgraded its economic growth and inflation projections, signaling it is in no rush to push borrowing costs to more normal levels.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday is expected to lay the groundwork for its first interest rate hike in nearly a decade, as it continues to weigh whether the U.S. recovery can hold up against collapsing oil prices and a soaring dollar.
Forget the 2013 "taper tantrum." U.S. stock markets are in the midst of a "'patient' panic" ahead of Wednesday's Federal Reserve statement, when many investors expect a change in the Fed's language that would send the clearest signal yet that a rate hike is coming soon.
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