Americans increased their purchases at retailers last month in a sign that solid consumer spending is still powering a resilient U.S. economy.For now, weaker-than-expected reports on the economy may counterintuitively be more welcome in financial markets. The economy has managed to avoid a long-predicted recession, but the fear is that it’s so solid that it will keep upward pressure on inflation.
The Federal Reserve has already raised its main interest rate to the highest level since 2001 in hopes of grinding down high inflation. High rates work to do that by slowing the entire economy and hurting prices for investments. Hope had built that the Fed’s latest rate hike in July may prove to be the last of this cycle because inflation has cooled considerably since peaking above 9% last summer. Traders also have made bets for the Fed to begin cutting rates early next year.
But a series of stronger-than-expected reports on the economy have diminished those hopes. That’s whyis so highly anticipated. He’ll be speaking at an event in Jackson Hole, Wyo., that has been the site of major policy announcements in the past by the Fed. The two-year Treasury yield, which moves closely with expectations for the Fed, was holding steady at 4.98%. A day before, it had dropped to that level from 5.05% after a report suggested U.S. business activity is cooling in August.
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