Recent Updates
- US: Consumer Sentiment (Feb-final), Chicago PMI (Feb),Personal Income, Adv Trade & Inventories (Jan)
- US: Consumer Sentiment Detail (Feb-final)
- Canada: Industrial Product Prices (Jan)
- UK: Motor Vehicle Production (Jan)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
Chicago Business Barometer Declines Sharply in February
The ISM-Chicago Purchasing Managers Business Barometer fell 4.3 points in February to 59.5...
Goods Trade Deficit Widened Slightly in January
The advance estimate of the U.S. trade deficit in goods widened slightly to $83.74 billion in January..
Japan's Industrial Sector Mounts a Comeback
Japan's IP surged in January gaining 4.3% compared to December...
Aircraft Orders Boost U.S. Durable Goods Orders in January
Manufacturers' orders for durable goods increased a much larger-than-expected 3.4% m/m (4.5% y/y) in January...
Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index Increases Again in February
The Kansas City Fed reported that its manufacturing sector business activity index rose to 24 in February...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller January 27, 2021
The Federal Reserve left the target for the Fed funds rate in a range of 0.00% to 0.25% at today's meeting of the FOMC. The Fed continued to assert, "The COVID-19 pandemic is causing tremendous human and economic hardship across the United States and around the world."
The Fed stated, "The path of the economy will depend significantly on the course of the virus including progress on vaccinations. The ongoing public health crisis continues to weigh on economic activity, employment, and inflation, and poses considerable risks to the economic outlook."
The Fed continued to indicate that it will "increase its holdings of Treasury securities by at least $80 billion per month and of agency mortgage-backed securities by at least $40 billion per month until substantial further progress has been made toward the Committee's maximum employment and price stability goals."
Last month the Fed posted projections that the economy would grow 4.2% Q4/Q4 in 2021 after declining 2.4% last year, and that core PCE inflation would run 1.8% Q4/Q4 in 2021, up from 1.4% last year.
The statement issued following today's meeting can be found here.
Today's action was supported by all Committee members.
The Fed also issued earlier its 2020 Statement on Longer-Run Goals and Monetary Policy Strategy which is available here.
Current | Last | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Federal Funds Rate Target | 0.0% - 0.25% | 0.0% - 0.25% | 0.38% | 2.17% | 1.82% | 1.00% |