News

U.S. job growth picked up in February, the Labor Department reported on Friday, with employers adding 151,000 jobs. Waller and other Fed officials have said a strong labor market for now allows the central bank to keep its benchmark overnight interest rate in the 4.25%-4.50% range as it waits for more progress on inflation, which remains above the 2% goal. But the latest jobs report also showed the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1% and the number of people settling for part-time work because they couldn't find a full-time position also rose sharply, pushing up a broader measure of unemployment known as the U-6 to 8%, the highest level for this measure of underemployment since October 2021.

Inflation will probably continue to follow a “bumpy” path down to the central bank’s 2% target, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said on Friday that so far there’s no evidence that inflation expectations are starting to run into any form of trouble. Based on recent data, “there is no sign of inflation expectations becoming unmoored at any forecast horizon relative to the pre-pandemic period,” Williams said in the text of remarks to be presented at the U.S. Monetary Policy Forum in New York. Williams, who spoke earlier this week in comments that highlighted no near-term need to change the current setting of monetary policy in an environment where trade tariffs may add to future inflation, did not comment on the monetary policy and economic outlook.

(Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said the neutral level for the central bank’s policy rate had likely risen since the Covid-19 pandemic.Most Read from BloombergTrump Administration Plans to Eliminate Dozens of Housing OfficesNJ College to Merge With State School After Financial StressRepublican Mayor Braces for Tariffs: ‘We Didn’t Budget for This’How Upzoning in Cambridge Broke the YIMBY MoldNYC’s Finances Are Sinking With Gauge Falling to 11-Year LowBowman said several fa

The eurozone economy saw a slight rise in the last quarter of 2024, although major economies such as France and Germany continued to lag.View on euronews

Bowman was responding to research presented at a conference examining how the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee's monetary policy influences economic activity. "Although the FOMC has been focused on lowering inflation in the past few years, as we continue to make progress on approaching our 2% target, I expect that the labor market and economic activity will become a larger factor in the FOMC's policy discussions," Bowman said in remarks prepared for delivery at a monetary policy forum organized by the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business in New York City.

(Bloomberg) -- US job growth steadied last month while the unemployment rate rose — a mixed snapshot of a job market hanging in the balance of quickly changing government policy.Most Read from BloombergTrump Administration Plans to Eliminate Dozens of Housing OfficesNJ College to Merge With State School After Financial StressRepublican Mayor Braces for Tariffs: ‘We Didn’t Budget for This’How Upzoning in Cambridge Broke the YIMBY MoldNYC’s Finances Are Sinking With Gauge Falling to 11-Year LowNon