AMSCI NEWS
by Alexandra Joop | November-December 2024 | Blog
Market Update
The election of Donald Trump to another term as president has raised multiple questions about the impact his administration will have on the economy, given his campaign promises regarding issues such as the size of the regulatory state, the role of migrant workers, and what could be the most protectionist trade policy in nearly a century.
Trump and fellow Republicans – who will control both the House and Senate in the next Congress – are generally regarded as more pro-business than the Biden administration and Democrats, in general, in part because of their aversion to a heavy regulatory hand. However, plans for mass deportation and a tightening of border security could have a negative effect on certain businesses. Studies estimate that undocumented immigrants account for about 5 percent of all workers in the United States and are especially prevalent in such sectors as agriculture, construction and hospitality.
by Alexandra Joop | October 2024 | Blog
Market Update
Members of the Federal Reserve, prior to reducing interest rates by a half-point in September, expressed somewhat varying views about the state of the U.S. economy.
While “almost all participants saw upside risks to the inflation outlook as having diminished, while downside risks to employment were seen as having increased,” there were some differences in analyses of the labor market and overall economy, according to the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) Sept. 17-18 meeting. “A couple of participants … did not perceive an increased risk of a significant further weakening in labor market conditions,” the minutes noted.Continue Reading…
by Alexandra Joop | September 2024 | Blog
Market Update
Inflation appears to finally be easing in the United States, but the Federal Reserve is continuing to tighten monetary policy.
The Federal Reserve on Sept. 18 announced a half-point cut to interest rates, signaling the central bank’s assessment that inflation is no longer the primary threat to the economy.
The move to reduce the target range for the Federal Funds Rate to 4.75-5 percent (down from 5.25-5.5 percent) marked the first time that the Fed has reduced rates since it dropped them to just above zero as an emergency measure at the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
by Alexandra Joop | November 2022 | Blog
Market Update
The U.S. economy exceeded expectations in the second quarter, growing at an annualized rate of 2.8 percent.
“The increase in real GDP primarily reflected increases in consumer spending, private inventory investment, and nonresidential fixed investment,” the Bureau of Economic Analysis, a division of the Department of Commerce, reported on July 25. “Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.”