Viewpoints: 2019

The "muzzle" on reported inflation has policymakers and analysts perplexed. Numerous economic explanations and theories have been offered, and policymakers are considering making changes to their operating price-targeting framework. [...]

In the four quarters ended Q1:2019, the chain-price index for personal consumption expenditures increased 1.4%, down from 1.9% in the four quarters ended Q4:2018. This was the slowest increase since 1.0% in the four quarters ended [...]

Real GDP growth by state was noticeably faster growth in the Western part of the nation than in the East in 2018:Q4. No state east of, or bordering on, the Mississippi River had real growth in the top 10. Growth was led by a whopping [...]

The V-shaped pattern in equity prices over the past several months shows how quickly and powerfully monetary policy decisions and pronouncements nowadays influence investor expectations and decisions. The dynamic feedback loop exposes [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank's estimates of state coincident activity show more idiosyncratic than regional variation; in other words, there isn't a simple picture that the West is outstripping the East. Over the 12 months [...]

For a second straight month, state payrolls were little-changed in March. Washington’s robust increase of 27,900 (0.8 percent) was the statistically significant change. However, most states reported gains in jobs. California and Texas [...]

State incomes grew strongly in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to recently released BEA data. South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska, reported double-digit annualized growth rates. New York had the lowest rate of growth, but even [...]

The Fed has a problem; politics has invaded its policy turf. Criticism by President Trump over the Federal Reserve decisions to hike official rates has now escalated to an even higher level as the Administration's top economic advisor [...]