As annual inflation remains above 2% and the labor market shows weakness, the Federal Reserve has been split in recent months over the direction of monetary policy. The past year has seen split votes among the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voting committee on interest rates-setting; the July FOMC, for instance, saw Fed Governors Michelle…
The labor market continued to see growth in November, although with little net change since April, and the unemployment rate had little change from September, according to the latest Employment Situation Summary from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), delayed due to the government shutdown. The latest jobs report saw employment grow by 64,000…
While the uncertainty of the government shutdown is now more than a week behind us, consumer outlook on the economy has shown little improvement, per the latest index of Consumer Sentiment from the University of Michigan. In the latest index, consumer sentiment was reported at a near record low of 51; for reference, 100 is…