Recent Updates
- US: Consumer Sentiment (Aug-prelim), Import/Export Prices (Jul)
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Economy in Brief
U.S. Housing Affordability Declines Further in June
The NAR Fixed Rate Mortgage Housing Affordability Index fell 3.6% in June...
EMU Output Makes Solid Gain in June
The European Monetary Union posted a 0.7% increase for industrial output in June...
U.S. Producer Prices Fall During July; Core Increase Weakens
The Producer Price Index for Final Demand fell 0.5% during July...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Continue on an Uptrend
Initial claims for unemployment insurance filed in the week ended August 6 rose 14,000 to 262,000...
RICS Survey Points to More U.K. Housing Sector Weakness
The survey of housing market conditions in the U.K. continues to show strength in prices versus weakness...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Gerald D. Cohen August 1, 2018
At the two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee that ended today, the members voted unanimously to keep federal funds rate target unchanged in a range between 1.75% and 2.00%. This outcome is in line with expectations from the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The statement from today's meeting suggested that additional rate increases are likely to be forthcoming.
The FOMC noted "that the labor market has continued to strengthen and that economic activity has been rising at a strong rate." Meanwhile, overall inflation and inflation less food & energy remain near the 2% objective, and longer-term inflation expectations are little changed. Despite the strength of the economy, "risks to the economic outlook appear roughly balanced."
The Fed's statement also indicated that the "stance of monetary policy remains accommodative, thereby supporting strong labor market conditions and a sustained return to 2 percent inflation."
The press release for today's FOMC meeting can be found here.
The Action Economics Forecast Survey can be found in the AS1REPNA database. Haver's SURVEYS database contains the economic projections from the FOMC (with the latest from June 12-13 meeting).
Current | Last | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Federal Funds Rate Target | 1.75% - 2.00% | 1.75% - 2.00% | 1.00% | 0.40% | 0.13% | 0.09% |