Coverage: January job growth blows away expectations
The U.S. economy blew away expectations for employment growth in January, adding 304,000 jobs amid the government shutdown and ongoing trade turmoil, and easing fears that a deep slowdown — or even a recession — is on its way. Danielle Paquette and Heather Long of The Washington Post had the news: January marked the 100th straight month of […]
Coverage: The Fed is slowing down on interest rate hikes
The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday signaled its three-year-drive to tighten monetary policy may be at an end amid a suddenly cloudy outlook for the U.S. economy due to global headwinds and impasses over trade and government budget negotiations. Howard Schneider and Jason Lange of Reuters had the news: As it held interest rates steady, the U.S. central […]
Coverage: Government shutdown cost economy $6 billion
The month-long government shutdown cost the U.S. economy $6 billion, according to Friday estimates by S&P Global Ratings. That’s $300 million more than Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion to build the southern border wall. Morgan GStalter of The Hill had the news: Trump’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said earlier this week that he didn’t expect the shutdown […]
Coverage: Housing sales drop to three-year low
Existing-home sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.99 million in December, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday, the lowest since November 2015. Sales were down 6.4 percent for the month, and 10.3 percent lower than the year-ago rate. Andrea Riquier of MarketWatch.com had the news: In December, home showings were 7.2% lower than a […]
Coverage: China’s economy grew by 6.6% in 2018, lowest since 1990
China announced Monday that its official economic growth came in at 6.6 percent in 2018, the slowest pace since 1990. Huileng Tan of CNBC.com had the news: That announcement was highly anticipated by many around the world amid Beijing’s ongoing trade dispute with the U.S., its largest trading partner. Economists polled by Reuters had predicted full-year GDP to come in […]
St. Louis Public Radio seeks an economic development reporter
St. Louis Public Radio, an NPR affiliate, is seeking a reporter to cover efforts throughout the region to expand the economy and grow more jobs. This position will delve into what government, university and business leaders are doing to create more opportunity in St. Louis, as well as identifying what’s holding the region back. We’re […]
Bloomberg Fed reporter Torres on why he visits factories
Federal Reserve reporter Craig Torres of Bloomberg News spoke with the David Beckworth of the Macro Musings podcast to discuss how he visits factories to understand what is going on in the economy and labor. Here is an excerpt: Craig Torres: Well, I think my profession, journalism and the Silicon Valley which tends to hype because hype equals money for […]
Economics reporter da Costa joins Economic Policy Institute
The Economic Policy Institute has hired economics journalist Pedro Nicolai da Costa as the institute’s new communications director. Da Costa has been writing about economics and financial markets since 2001, at Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, and Business Insider. He was a fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics from 2014 to 2016. His work has focused on […]
Coverage: Fed chair Powell says it will be “patient”
Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chairman, reiterated Thursday that the Fed plans to evaluate the health of the economy before moving ahead with any new interest rate increases. Binyamin Appelbaum of The New York Times had the news: Patience is the Fed’s new watchword, and Mr. Powell used it at least four times in his remarks. He […]
Coverage: Big job growth occurred in December
U.S. employers hired the most workers in 10 months in December while boosting wages, pointing to sustained strength in the economy that could ease fears of a sharp slowdown in growth. Lucia Mutikani of Reuters had the news: Nonfarm payrolls surged by 312,000 jobs last month, the largest gain since February, as employment at construction and […]
