In a recent speech, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pointed to the shortfall of workers and the resulting rise in average pay as the primary remaining driver of the price spikes that continue to grip the economy.
The latest year-over-year figure was down from 8% in October and from a recent peak of 11.7% in March.
The report also showed that consumers spent more in October, even after adjusting for inflation, a sign of their continued willingness to keep spending in the face of high prices.
The Federal Reserve will push rates higher than previously expected and keep them there for an extended period, Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday, in remarks likely intended to underscore the Fed’s single-minded focus on combating stubborn inflation.
The Federal Reserve is closely monitoring the figures on job openings and quits for signals about the strength of the job market.
Chair Jerome H. Powell is expected to this week cement expectations that the Federal Reserve will slow its pace of interest-rate increases next month, while reminding Americans that its fight against inflation will run into 2023.
Under the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Biden on Aug. 16, some consumers may qualify for more than $10,000 in rebates and tax credits for buying high-efficiency appliances and electric vehicles and other purchases to decrease their carbon footprints.
Corporate profits have withstood raging inflation over much of the last year, but those good times might be ending.
Comments by James Bullard raised the prospect that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes will make borrowing by consumers and businesses even costlier and further heighten the risk of recession.
Americans are bracing for a costlier Thanksgiving this year, with double-digit percent increases in the price of turkey, potatoes, stuffing, canned pumpkin and other staples.
Economists largely stuck to their forecasts that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates to 5% by March and hold them there for most of 2023, even after inflation slowed last month by more than forecast.
The annual figure is down from 8.4% in September. On a monthly basis, the government said Tuesday that its producer price index, which measures costs before they reach consumers, rose 0.2% in October from September.
Speaking at an IBJ economic forecast event Monday, a Fifth Third Bank economist said the chance of heading into another recession is “literally a toss-up, a coin flip.”
Helping drive the inflation slowdown from September to October were used car prices, which dropped for a fourth straight month. Also down were the prices of clothing and medical care.
About 88% of all home buyers were white/Caucasian, 6 percentage points more than in 2021.
Sticker shock in youth sports is nothing new, but the onslaught of double-digit inflation across America this year has added a costly wrinkle on the path to the ballparks, swimming pools and dance studios across America.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its key short-term interest rate to a range of 3.75% to 4%, its highest level in 15 years.
Looming over the Federal Reserve meeting that ends Wednesday is a question of intense interest: Just how high will the Fed’s inflation-fighters raise interest rates—and might they slow their rate hikes as soon as next month?
U.S. job openings rose unexpectedly in September, suggesting that the American labor market is not cooling as fast as the inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve hoped.
Federal Reserve officials will maintain their resolutely hawkish stance next week, laying the groundwork for interest rates reaching 5% by March 2023, moves that seem likely to lead to a U.S. and global recession, economists surveyed by Bloomberg said.
