Author: Heather Long
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Fed hikes interest rates, but cuts its outlook for U.S. economy in 2019
WASHINGTON • The Federal Reserve raised short-term interest rates Wednesday, a widely expected move that President Donald Trump has called “foolish” but that the central bank felt was necessary to keep the U.S. economy thriving. The Fed believes this rate increase will keep the economy from overheating, but the central bank downgraded its economic outlook…
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Analysis: Economic strategy is getting Trump opposite of what he wants
WASHINGTON • President Trump has made it clear that he wants the stock market to rise and the trade deficit to fall and that his policies will make that happen. But this year, Trump is getting the opposite result: The trade deficit is soaring while the market is careening down. The U.S. trade deficit is…
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Analysis: Stocks plummeting, but recession doesn’t appear imminent
Alarm bells sounded on Wall Street this week as something happened that hasn’t occurred in a decade: The U.S. yield curve inverted. This is one of the most reliable predictors of a recession, and it spooked investors enough to send the Dow down more than 700 points, along with the realization that the U.S. trade…
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U.S. workers see fastest wage increase in a decade
U.S. workers are seeing the largest wage increase in a decade, the Labor Department reported Wednesday, as companies compete harder for employees than they did in recent years. The typical worker received a 2.9 percent raise from September 2017 to September 2018, according to the Labor Department’s Employment Cost Index, a widely watched measure of…
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Fed ignores Trump,stays focused on gradual interest rate hikes
WASHINGTON • The Federal Reserve is ignoring President Donald Trump’s growing criticism that the central bank is raising interest rates too quickly. Top Fed policymakers didn’t discuss Trump at their late September meeting when they hiked interest rates, according to minutes of the meeting released Wednesday. Instead, the nation’s top central bankers reiterated their assessment…
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Trump threatens to end NAFTA if Congress attempts to ‘interfere’
President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to withdraw the United States from the North American Free Trade Agreement, asserting his right to broker a new trade pact that does not include Canada despite opposition from lawmakers and questions over his legal authority to do so. Trump on Friday formally informed Congress of his intent to…
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Trump to advance trade deal with Mexico after NAFTA talks with Canada falter
WASHINGTON • High-stakes trade negotiations between the White House and Canadian leaders unraveled Friday, amid strains caused by lingering divisions and comments President Donald Trump made that suggested he would refuse to offer concessions. The breakdown put Trump’s effort to redraw the North American Free Trade Agreement in legal limbo. The White House formally notified…
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Does $60,000 make you middle-class or wealthy on Planet Earth?
The world is on the brink of a historic milestone: By 2020, more than half of the world’s population will be “middle class,” according to Brookings Institution scholar Homi Kharas. Kharas defines the middle class as people who have enough money to cover basics needs, such as food, clothing and shelter, and still have enough…
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Fed signals more rate hikes coming despite Trump’s calls to back off
WASHINGTON • The Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged Wednesday, keeping the rate in a range of 1.75 percent to 2 percent, but the central bank said the U.S. economy is “strong” and hinted that more rate hikes are coming soon. President Donald Trump has urged the Fed to keep rates low, but…
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U.S. nears expansion record, but it’s coming at a cost
The vast majority of economists predict this expansion will break the record for the longest one. There are few signs of a recession coming soon, and the GOP tax cuts and additional infusion of government spending approved by both parties are expected to cause growth to pick up in the coming months. Goldman Sachs now…