Recent Updates
- US: New Residential Sales with Revisions (Apr)
- Flash PMIs: Japan, France, Germany, Euro Area, UK, US (May)
- UK: Public Finance (Apr), CBI Distributive Trades Survey (May)
- Mexico: Construction (Mar), SemiMonthly CPI (May)
- Brazil: IPCA-15 (May)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Energy Prices Rise Further
Retail gasoline prices increased to $4.59 per gallon in the week ended May 23...
S&P Flash PMIs Are Mixed in May As Manufacturing Erodes Slowly
Among the early reporting countries in Europe and Japan, the S&P PMI readings for May tilt toward weakness...
NABE Lowers Growth Expectations for Next Year & 2022
The NABE expects the economic expansion to continue through its third year...
Chicago Fed National Activity Index Improves in April
The Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) rose to 0.47 during April...
IFO Registers Small Rebound on the Month
Germany's IFO index has rebounded on the month...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
Profits & Margins Plunge In Q1: Expect More Margin Contraction As Fed Squeezes Inflation
The Many Links of Inflation Cycle: Hard Landing Is Needed to Crack Them
Peak Inflation and Fed Policy: A Relationship which Should Worry the Fed and Scare Investors
Why Have the Yields on TIPS Been Negative in the Past Two Years?
by Tom Moeller March 13, 2012
As expected, the Federal Open Market Committee
today left the Federal funds rate in a "range from 0 to 1/4
percent." The Fed funds rate has remained unchanged since late-2008
at its lowest level ever. The discount rate also was left unchanged at
0.75%. The Fed indicated that the economy may warrant an exceptionally low
Fed funds rate at least through 2014. "To support a stronger economic
recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at the rate most
consistent with its dual mandate, the Committee expects to maintain a
highly accommodative stance for monetary policy."
Regarding the economy, the Fed indicated that there's been moderate improvement. It stated that "labor market conditions have improved" and "household spending and business fixed investment have continued to advance." However, "the housing sector remains depressed."
The Fed indicated that "inflation has been subdued in recent months, although prices of crude oil and gasoline have increased lately. Longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable."
"The Committee also decided to continue its program to extend the average maturity of its holdings of securities as announced in September."
A complete text of the Fed's latest press release can be found here.
The Haver databases USECON, WEEKLY and DAILY contain the figures from the Federal Reserve Board.
Current | Last | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Federal Funds Rate, % (Target) | 0.00-0.25 | 0.00-0.25 | 0.17 | 0.16 | 1.93 |
Discount Rate, % | 0.75 | 0.75 | 0.72 | 0.50 | 2.39 |