Citing a lack of progress in reducing inflation, the Federal Reserve kept its policy rate unchanged at 5.5% at its meeting on Wednesday, the same rate it has had since July.
Overall growth in U.S. gross domestic product fell to 1.6% in the first quarter, but the slowdown was exaggerated by volatile trade and inventory data, which provided a 1.2% drag on overall activity.
In the aftermath of the liquidity-related bank failures in March 2023, regulatory agencies and leaders have released numerous updates on supervisory expectations and calls for additional regulation.
Using a back-of-the-envelope calculation, we estimate that the sharp rebound in equities last year contributed to an increase of roughly $900 billion in households' stock wealth, or $288 billion in consumer spending.
The Federal Reserve's closely watched measure of inflation, the personal consumption expenditures index, continued to show strength in January, rising by 0.3%
Just as inflation appeared to be coming under control in recent months, rising tensions in the Middle East have shaken this view and now represent the major risk to our economic and inflation outlooks.