Job Growth Surging – So is Fed’s Near-Zero Rate Justified?
The unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage point in January to 8.3 percent, the lowest level since February 2009 – the rate has fallen by 0.8 point since August.
Total nonfarm payrolls rose by 243,000 in ...
Fed’s Plosser: Very Low Rates Thru 2014 ‘Undermines’ Process
In a sharp rebuttal, a top central bank official said the Federal Reserve’s outlook of extending near-zero rates through 2014 “risked undermining confidence in the process.”
Philadelphia Federal Reserve President ...
Fed Extends Near-Zero Rate ‘Through Late 2014’
The Federal Reserve will hold its benchmark federal funds rate at zero to .25 percent “at least through late 2014,” concluded its monetary policy-setting committee after citing a U.S. economy that has expanded ...
Small Business Loans Up Average 27% from Biggest Banks
Despite recent reports from regulators of persistently tight credit standards, the nation’s four largest banks issued $45.2 billion to small businesses in 2011, representing an average increase of 27.5 percent ...
Fed Officials Seem Divided on Housing Market Strategy
Fallout persists from the Federal Reserve’s much-debated paper on the housing market, a set of policy recommendations sent to some Congressional leaders last week.
The rare guidance offered by the Fed angered ...
Housing’s Only Bright Spot is Multi-Family Homes: Fed Survey
Compared to earlier in 2011, the 12 Federal Reserve districts saw mostly expanded economic activity in late November through the end of the year, but the same cannot be said of the housing market.
The Fed’s most ...
Small Businesses Face ‘Unusual Obstacles’ to Getting Credit
In typical times of economic recovery, lower interest rates would be fueling the expansion of credit to small businesses, but this is not happening in these times of the Great Recession.
Small business owners still ...
Fed Downplays Principal Reductions as Fix for Foreclosure Crisis
The Federal Reserve concedes mortgage principal reduction is widely debated and has the potential to ease the foreclosure crisis, but its benefits are hard to quantify, the central bank concluded in an assessment ...
Fed Considers ‘Guidance’ for Renting Foreclosure Properties
The Federal Reserve is considering “guidance” to lenders that would allow the conversion of foreclosed homes into rentals, without impeding efforts to sell the bank-owned properties.
The Fed’s suggestion comes ...
Fed to Debut Target Rate Forecasts to ‘Help the Public’
Americans will be able to read the forecast for the target federal funds rate – a key benchmark for mortgages and other financial products – from each member of the Federal Reserve’s policy-setting committee, ...
