Hello. Welcome to AS USA’s live blog covering financial news.
This week has been a great week. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell announced Wednesday that there will be no rate hike in June. It will be the first time in 15 months that interest rates have been kept on hold. Fed Chairman Powell has mentioned the possibility of a rate hike in July. The Federal Open Market Committee is currently assessing the impact of the monetary policy change and decided a suspension was the wisest course of action.
On Tuesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the consumer price index rose 0.1% in May, lowering annual inflation to 4%. The increase has been led by the residential sector, where costs have risen 8% over the past year, with renters facing a particularly heavy burden, with average new rents rising 8.7%.
The Labor Department on Thursday released this week’s unemployment claims report. Last week, new claims remained flat at 262,000, indicating a cooling labor market and more workers leaving their jobs.
