Tag Archives: Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4.25% to 4.5%, signaling deepening concern over a stagflationary environment—a troubling mix of slowing growth and rising prices—exacerbated by tariffs imposed during the Trump administration. The Fed’s latest projections paint a pessimistic picture of the months ahead. Policymakers …

Jimmy Williams The Federal Reserve reduced its benchmark interest rate on Wednesday, marking the first rate cut in over four years and lowering the key rate by 0.5%, to a range of 4.75% to 5%. This move follows a series of 11 rate hikes since March 2022 aimed at curbing …

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams Right-wing allies of former U.S. President Donald Trump are reportedly crafting a plan to give the executive branch control over Federal Reserve policy decisions, an effort that comes as the presumptive GOP nominee continues to signal his authoritarian intentions for a potential second term. The Wall …

Ashley Murray, New Hampshire Bulletin Financial regulators promised a full review of Silicon Valley Bank’s massive failure as members of a key U.S. Senate panel on Tuesday interrogated the officials about what led to the second-largest bank collapse in U.S. history. Members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and …

Kenny Stancil Sen. Elizabeth Warren this weekend called on federal officials to investigate the causes of recent bank failures and urged President Joe Biden to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, whom she has criticized for intensifying financial deregulation and imposing job- and wage-destroying interest rate hikes. Asked on Sunday …

Casey Quinlan, Florida Phoenix The Federal Reserve has announced that in its continuing efforts to tamp down inflation, it would raise interest rates yet again by another three-quarters of a point to a target range of 3.75 to 4%. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said during a press conference following …

Christopher Decker, University of Nebraska Omaha The U.S. economy added more jobs than expected in June, signaling the labor market remains strong even as the Federal Reserve tries to weaken it to tame inflation. The July 8, 2022, jobs report also showed the unemployment rate remained at a 70-year low …

Veronika Dolar, SUNY Old Westbury Inflation surged at the fastest pace in over 40 years in May 2022, pushing the Federal Reserve toward a more aggressive pace of interest rate increases to slow it down. While there’s concern it could cause unemployment to spike, a little-known economics indicator suggests the …

The United States Senate has confirmed the nomination of Jerome Powell as the chair of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System until 2026. In an 80–19 landslide vote on the Senate floor on Thursday, U.S. lawmakers confirmed Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve, a position he …

Dr. Lisa Cook made history after the Senate voted along party lines Tuesday to approve her nomination to the Federal Reserve, where she will be the first Black woman to serve on the Board of Governors. The vote was 51-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking a tie. Senate Democrats lauded Cook’s credentials, and Republicans cast doubt about her …

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by half a percentage point on Wednesday — the biggest increase to short-term borrowing costs in more than two decades — and alerted consumers that more hikes of this size are yet to come, marking the U.S. central bank’s most aggressive moves yet to …

After weeks of delays due in part to Republican obstructionism, the United States Senate has confirmed the nomination of Lael Brainard, a member of the Federal Reserve’s board of governors, as the next vice chair of the central bank. In a 52–43 vote on the Senate floor on Tuesday, lawmakers …

The Federal Reserve announced that it is raising interest rates for the first time in three years to help bring the skyrocketing inflation under control. “With appropriate firming in the stance of monetary policy, the Committee expects inflation to return to its 2 percent objective and the labor market to remain …

The Federal Reserve has barred senior officials from a number of investment activities, particularly those involving individual stocks, bonds, cryptocurrencies and commodities. The Federal Open Markets Committee announced the new rules on February 18. They specifically bar covered officials: “[F]rom purchasing individual stocks or sector funds; holding investments in individual …

U.S. Federal Reserve officials signaled last week that the central bank could start raising interest rates in March as U.S. annual inflation surged to an almost 40-year high in December. “Inflation is too high, and working people around the country are concerned about how far their paychecks will go,” Fed …