By Augusta Saraiva US employers scaled back hiring in April and the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose, suggesting some cooling is underway in the labor market after a strong start to the year. Nonfarm payrolls advanced 175,000 last month, the smallest gain in six months, a Bureau of Labor Statistics report showed Friday. A later release showed that business activity […]
By Paul Krugman Do you remember the economy of the late 1990s? Or if you’re too young to remember it — I hope that’s true for at least some of my readers — what have you heard about it? You probably remember it as a time of prosperity — low unemployment and rapid economic growth combined […]
By Brooke Sutherland and Sri Taylor Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is seeking to raise commercial property tax rates to help protect homeowners from the brunt of the historic slump in office property values. Wu has submitted a petition for a temporary increase of the city’s tax-rate ceiling for commercial properties relative to residential levies. The proposal aims to redistribute the tax burden […]
By Sam Goldfarb and Nick Timiraos Stubborn inflation pressures persisted in March, derailing the case for the Federal Reserve to begin reducing interest rates in June and raising questions over whether it can deliver cuts this year without signs of an economic slowdown. The consumer-price index, a measure of goods and services prices across the economy, rose 3.5% in […]
By Paul Hannon Central banks should resist the temptation to lower their key interest rates too early and risk a resurgence of inflation and a fresh bout of policy tightening, the head of the International Monetary Fund said Thursday. In a speech ahead of a twice-yearly gathering of economic policy makers from around the world next […]
By Brooke Sutherland and Sri Taylor Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is seeking to raise commercial property tax rates to help protect homeowners from the brunt of the historic slump in office property values. Wu has submitted a petition for a temporary increase of the city’s tax-rate ceiling for commercial properties relative to residential levies. The proposal aims to redistribute the tax burden […]
Treasury yields surged to their highest point this year on Monday, but instead of sparking a sell-off, they attracted a wave of new buyers. This unexpected turn of events reflects a shift in market expectations regarding the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy. Earlier forecasts anticipated three rate cuts from the Fed in 2024. However, strong […]
By Michael S. Derby NEW YORK, March 27 (Reuters) – Recent disappointing inflation data affirms the case for the U.S. Federal Reserve to hold off on cutting its short-term interest rate target, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Wednesday, but he did not rule out trimming rates later in the year. “There is no rush to […]
By Viktoria Dendrinou and Christopher Condon US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said it’s “unlikely” that market interest rates will return to levels that prevailed before the Covid-19 pandemic triggered a wave of inflation and higher yields. Asked why White House projections released Monday showed markedly higher expectations for interest rates in coming years compared with projections a year ago, Yellen said the new numbers […]
By Lydia DePillis If the economy is slowing down, nobody told the labor market. Employers added 275,000 jobs in February, the Labor Department reported Friday, in another month that exceeded expectations. It was the third straight month of gains above 200,000, and the 38th consecutive month of growth — fresh evidence that after surging back […]
