News

Federal Reserve policymakers omitted a reference to “balanced” risks in the global economy in a post-meeting statement Wednesday that reaffirmed their commitment to raising interest rates. As expected, rates were left unchanged.

The Federal Reserve is not expected to change its interest rates this week, but its policy statement will be scrutinized to see if events around the world are affecting officials’ assessment of the economy.

Forty-nine percent of businesses said they raised pay in the fourth quarter, and 58% say they intend to do so in the current one, according to a National Association for Business Economics survey. However, only 47% of companies said sales […]

US consumers register concern over global markets’ shaky start to the year, but are more optimistic about the near-term future than they have been in seven months, according to the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index. There are still more pessimists than […]

One of the recent reliably strong data points in the US economy is beginning to look less certain. The number of Americans filing for initial jobless benefits rose to 293,000 last week. The figure was the highest since July and […]

The fate of oil overhangs the discussions of policymakers and thinkers gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, with fears that prices may have much further to fall beyond the foreseeable future. Even when oil eventually comes back, […]

The US deficit will reach $544 billion — 2.9% of the country’s economic output — in fiscal 2016, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That’s up from $439 billion during the previous year. The CBO also expects deficits to total […]

Various economic forecasts predict US economic growth of less than 1% in the fourth quarter of 2015. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta predicts Q4 growth of 0.6%, for example, and Morgan Stanley estimates growth of just 0.1%. The first […]

The number of applications for unemployment benefits increased 7,000 to 284,000 last week. The unexpected increase is the second-highest level since July and suggests that the labor market may be cooling.