Recent Updates
- Ukraine: Import and Export Indexes (Jun)
- Jordan: Exchange Rates (Jul)
- North Macedonia: Loans Granted to Households (Jul)
- Retail & Wholesale Trade (Jun)
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- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Index of Leading Indicators Fell Again in July
The Conference Board's Composite Leading Economic Indicators Index fell 0.4% m/m...
U.S. Philly Fed General Activity Index Back to Positive Reading in August
The current general activity diffusion index rose nearly 19 points in August to 6.2...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Slightly Lower
Initial claims for unemployment insurance went down 2,000 in the week ended August 13 to 250,000...
Inflation Rages in EMU and Hovers Globally
Inflation in the European Monetary Union in July finalizes at 8.8% year-over-year...
U.S. Retail Sales Hold Steady in July; Nonauto Sales Rise
Total retail sales remained unchanged during July (10.3% y/y)...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller December 13, 2005
The target interest rate for Federal funds was raised 25 basis points to 4.25% at the latest meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. The unanimous decision was widely expected by analysts. The discount rate also was raised 25 basis points to 5.25%. This latest increase was the thirteenth since June of 2004.
Today's press release from the Fed expressed clear concern about pending inflationary pressure. "... possible increases in resource utilization as well as elevated energy prices have the potential to add to inflation pressures."
As a result of this concern, "further measured policy firming is likely to be needed to keep the risks to the attainment of both sustainable economic growth and price stability roughly in balance."
For the complete text of the Fed's latest press release please click here.
Monetary Policy and the Term Structure of Interest Rates from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond can be found here.
Model Uncertainty and Policy Evaluation: Some Theory and Empirics from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco can be found here.