U.S. productivity grew at an annual rate of 0.7 percent in the first three months of this year, a weak reading although a slight improvement from the previous quarter. The first quarter increase followed an even weaker 0.3 percent gain ...
Read More »US construction spending drops 1.7 percent in March
U.S. construction spending dropped 1.7 percent in March, the biggest setback in 11 months, with weakness in a number of sectors including the biggest plunge in home building in nine years. The March decline was the first monthly drop since ...
Read More »US durable-goods orders up 2.6 percent in March
Orders for long-lasting manufactured goods rose 2.6 percent in March, but a key category that tracks business investment spending fell for the third month out of the past four. The big rise in orders for durable goods, which followed an ...
Read More »US productivity shows no gain in fourth quarter
U.S. productivity showed no gain in the fourth quarter, the poorest performance since an outright decline in the first quarter of 2016. It was further evidence of the struggles the country is facing in boosting worker efficiency. The flat reading ...
Read More »US economy grew at solid 2.6 percent rate in fourth quarter
The U.S. economy grew at a solid rate of 2.6 percent in the final three months of last year, helped by the fastest consumer spending since the spring of 2016 and a big rebound in home construction. The fourth quarter ...
Read More »Economists see only slight impact from Fed bond trimming
The nation’s business economists believe that the Federal Reserve’s long-awaited move to start reducing its massive bond holdings will push long-term bond rates higher but most think the impact will be fairly modest. The latest survey, out Monday, of the ...
Read More »Trump’s Treasury pick defends his foreclosure actions
Steven Mnuchin, Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Treasury Department, on Thursday defended his handling of thousands of foreclosures during the height of the financial crisis, saying he had worked hard to assist homeowners to refinance so they could keep ...
Read More »Yellen pledges to improve Fed’s workplace diversity
Chair Janet Yellen said Thursday she is committed to increasing diversity throughout the Federal Reserve system, including the ranks of senior leadership. Yellen said that the Fed will benefit from greater diversity, and commercial banks will be better off with ...
Read More »Fed: No rate hike until job market improves, inflation rises
The Federal Reserve signaled Wednesday that it needs to see further improvement in the job market and higher inflation before it raises interest rates from record lows.
Tagged with: Federal Reserve
Read More »What it means if Fed no longer says it’s ‘patient’ on rates
For the Federal Reserve, patience may no longer be a virtue.
Read More »Lew provides details of emergency debt limit measures
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is telling Congress the steps he will be taking once the federal government hits the debt limit today.
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