Tag Archives: US rate hikes

Job metrics continue to improve in the US, but our GDP estimate for this year remains unchanged.February’s US non-farm payroll figure was strong (although partly due to temporary factors and unusually mild weather), with non-farm payrolls rising 235,000, above expectations. Other data in the February employment report were also upbeat. The US unemployment rate fell back from 4.8% to 4.7% in February, slightly below the Fed median estimate for full employment (4.8%). And the U6 measure of...

While the Fed stood pat at its September meeting, we continue to expect one quarter-point rise in rates this year, and two more in 2017. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) left interest rates unchanged at the end of its latest policy meeting on September 21. However, the Fed adopted a more hawkish tone, reintroduced in its statement a sentence saying risks in the US economy were roughly balanced, and affirmed that the case for a rate hike has strengthened. Significantly, three voting...