Economy

The Federal Reserve raised its target federal funds rate by 0.75 percentage points, the largest increase in nearly three decades, at the end of its two-day meeting Wednesday in an effort to quell runaway inflation. “The motivation for all of this is that prices are going up,” said Chester Spatt, a professor of finance at Carnegie Mellon

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Xinhua News Agency | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday the central bank could raise interest rates by a similar magnitude at the next policy meeting in July as it did in June. “From the perspective of today, either a 50 basis point

Traders on the floor of the NYSE, May 27, 2022. Source: NYSE Signs that inflation is at least starting to abate from a 40-year high could be a positive for stocks, according to Goldman Sachs. Markets rallied Friday as a government report showed the pace of inflation slowed a bit in April, primarily due to

Christopher Waller, U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee for governor of the Federal Reserve, listens during a Senate Banking Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020. Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said Monday he sees interest rate increases continuing through the rest of the year

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen emphasized that the White House has several strategies ready to go that will reduce an inflation burden she conceded is too high on Americans. In an interview Tuesday with CNBC’s Becky Quick, Yellen listed efforts aimed at prescription drug costs, the budget deficit and oil production that could bring down prices

A man walking a dog passes by a help wanted sign advertised along East Main Street in East Islip, New York on February 17, 2022. Newsday LLC | Newsday | Getty Images Job openings fell by nearly half a million in April, narrowing the historically large gap between vacant positions and available workers, the Bureau

San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly said Wednesday she backs raising interest rates aggressively until inflation comes down to a reasonable level. Those moves likely would entail multiple 50 basis point hikes at coming meetings, then a possible rest to see how the central bank policy tightening is combining with other factors to impact

Most of the U.S. has been seeing just “slight or modest” economic growth over the past two months or so, according to a Federal Reserve report released Wednesday. While all 12 Fed districts reported continued growth, the central bank’s periodic “Beige Book” indicated that four of the regions showed “that the pace of growth had

A ‘help wanted’ sign is displayed in a Manhattan store on May 6, 2022 in New York City. Spencer Platt | Getty Images Job creation at companies decelerated to the slowest pace of the pandemic-era recovery in May, payroll processing firm ADP reported Thursday. Private sector employment rose by just 128,000 for the month, falling

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard said Thursday that it’s unlikely the central bank will be taking a break from its current rate-hiking cycle anytime soon. Though she stressed that Fed policymakers will remain data-dependent, Brainard said the most likely path will be that the increases will continue until inflation is tamed. “Right now, it’s

The U.S. economy added 390,000 jobs in May, better than expected despite fears of an economic slowdown and a roaring pace of inflation, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. At the same time, the unemployment rate held at 3.6%, just above the lowest level since December 1969. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been

Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester said Friday that she doesn’t see ample evidence that inflation has peaked and thus is on board with a series of aggressive interest rate increases ahead. “I think the Fed has shown that we’re in the process of recalibrating our policy to get inflation back down to our 2%

High gas prices at stations in Garden Grove, California, on Monday, March 7, 2022. Jeff Gritchen | Medianews Group | Getty Images California’s state average for a gallon of gas has surged above $6, making fuel in the Golden State the most expensive across the U.S. The average price at the pump in California hit

A woman pushes a shopping cart through the grocery aisle at Target in Annapolis, Maryland, on May 16, 2022, as Americans brace for summer sticker shock as inflation continues to grow. Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images Consumers kept spending in April, with retail sales rising about in line with Wall Street expectations despite

Contractors work on concrete slabs in the Cielo at Sand Creek by Century Communities housing development in Antioch, California, on Thursday, March 31, 2022. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images Builder sentiment in the market for single-family homes fell sharply in May, as mortgage rates shot higher and building material costs showed no

A sign of a home for sale is pictured in Alhambra, California on May 4, 2022. Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images Mortgage rates actually fell slightly last week, but the damage has already been done to housing affordability. Both refinance and purchase loan demand dropped, pulling total mortgage application volume down 11%

A woman rides an electric bike past a gas station as current gasoline prices continues to climb close to record setting territory in Encinitas, California, May 9, 2022. Mike Blake | Reuters U.S. households are now spending the equivalent of $5,000 a year on gasoline, up from $2,800 a year ago, according to Yardeni Research.

Corporate executives are taking a dim view of their prospects, with a majority now expecting a recession ahead, according to a closely watched business survey released Wednesday. The Conference Board measure of CEO sentiment showed that 57% of respondents expect inflation to come down “over the next few years” but the economy to sustain a