The Federal Reserve is getting plenty of advice as its policymaking committee prepares to meet today and Wednesday amid expectations that the central bank will lift interest rates by a modest quarter-point.
The nation’s unemployment rate fell to 4.3 percent in May, the lowest level since 2001, but the United States added a lackluster 138,000 jobs, well below what economists were expecting.
So what’s the state of U.S. manufacturing? Dueling Federal Reserve indexes for the New York and Philadelphia areas countered each other last week during a period that was generally light on economic reports.
Arriving together on Friday, reports on April retail sales, inflation and consumer sentiment portray a U.S. economy that continues to grow steadily and at a manageable pace.
The root of the problem was that consumer spending rose just 0.3 percent.
It began after the November election — a wave of confidence that washed over consumers and business owners — and months later two important barometers of economic sentiment show that Americans continue to expect rising growth and prosperity this year.
Sales of homes, big-ticket items (boats, too) are up, confidence is at a 16-year high and personal income is on a forward track
Economy watchers who became accustomed to seeing monthly U.S. job gains near or above 200,000 were probably blindsided by the Labor Department’s report that 98,000 jobs were added in March — the fewest since last May.
The U.S. economy added 98,000 jobs in February and the nation’s unemployment rate fell to 4.5 percent.
Americans are earning more money, but they weren’t doing a lot of mid-winter spending, and one reason may have been that income tax refund checks from Uncle Sam were slow to arrive.
The Federal Reserve is getting plenty of advice as its policymaking committee prepares to meet today and Wednesday amid expectations that the central bank will lift interest rates by a modest quarter-point.
The nation’s unemployment rate fell to 4.3 percent in May, the lowest level since 2001, but the United States added a lackluster 138,000 jobs, well below what economists were expecting.
So what’s the state of U.S. manufacturing? Dueling Federal Reserve indexes for the New York and Philadelphia areas countered each other last week during a period that was generally light on economic reports.
Arriving together on Friday, reports on April retail sales, inflation and consumer sentiment portray a U.S. economy that continues to grow steadily and at a manageable pace.
The root of the problem was that consumer spending rose just 0.3 percent.
It began after the November election — a wave of confidence that washed over consumers and business owners — and months later two important barometers of economic sentiment show that Americans continue to expect rising growth and prosperity this year.
Sales of homes, big-ticket items (boats, too) are up, confidence is at a 16-year high and personal income is on a forward track
Economy watchers who became accustomed to seeing monthly U.S. job gains near or above 200,000 were probably blindsided by the Labor Department’s report that 98,000 jobs were added in March — the fewest since last May.
The U.S. economy added 98,000 jobs in February and the nation’s unemployment rate fell to 4.5 percent.
Americans are earning more money, but they weren’t doing a lot of mid-winter spending, and one reason may have been that income tax refund checks from Uncle Sam were slow to arrive.
