Recent Updates
- Indonesia: Wholesale Rice Price (Nov)
- Korea: Foreign Investment in Capital Market (Nov), Overseas Direct Investment (Sep)
- Markit PMI: Construction Survey - Ireland (Nov)
- Australia: Housing Finance (Oct)
- New Zealand: Net Capital Stock (2017), Economic Survey of Manufacturing (Q3)
- China: Vehicle Inventory Alert Index (Nov)
- Japan: Japan: GDP, IIP, External Debt (Q3), BOP, National Government
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
Wholesale Inventories Grow While Sales Decline
Wholesale inventories increased 0.8% month-on-month (6.9% year-over-year) during October...
U.S. Consumer Credit Usage Expands
Consumer credit outstanding increased $25.38 billion during October...
German IP Takes Surprising October Slip
Germany's industrial production slowed to a gain of only 0.1% in September then dropped by 0.5% in October...
U.S. Trade Deficit Widens to 10-Year High; Record Goods Shortfall
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened for the fifth consecutive month to $55.49 billion in October...
U.S. ADP Private Sector Payroll Growth Eases
The ADP National Employment Report indicated that private nonfarm payrolls increased 179,000 during November...
by Tom Moeller November 1, 2005
The Federal Open Market Committee's unanimous decision to increase the target rate for federal funds 25 basis points to 4.00% was widely expected by analysts. The discount rate also was raised 25 basis points to 5.00%. This latest increase was the twelfth since June of 2004.
Today's press release from the Fed focused on the effects of higher energy prices. "Elevated energy prices and hurricane-related disruptions in economic activity have temporarily depressed output and employment."
The FOMC statement further indicated, as it did in September, that "The cumulative rise in energy and other costs have the potential to add to inflation pressures ..."
For the complete text of the Fed's latest press release please click here.
Implementing Monetary Policy, a March 2005 speech by then Fed Governor Ben S. Bernanke is available here.
