• August 11, 2017
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St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said Wednesday that Fed officials have been surprised by the low inflation readings this year. He and a minority of other Fed officials want the Fed to pause from its gradual rate hikes until inflation moves higher. Fed officials had been confident that inflation would hit the 2% target

• August 11, 2017
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U.S. consumer prices remained soft for the fifth straight month in July, raising more questions about whether inflation will eventually rise to hit the Federal Reserve’s 2% annual rate target. The consumer price index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in July, the Labor Department said Friday. Food prices rose 0.2% in July while energy prices

• August 10, 2017
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Treasury yields lost further ground on Wednesday, as a weak reading for wholesale inflation clouded the third-quarter economic outlook and the picture for one more rate hike this year, which can be bearish on bonds.

• August 10, 2017
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Lack of price pressure in the pipeline saw U.S. wholesale prices declined in July for the first time in almost a year, further evidence of soft inflation that is bedeviling the Federal Reserve. The producer price index fell 0.1 in July, the Labor Department said Thursday, the first drop since last August. The core rate, which

• August 10, 2017
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Initial claims for U.S. unemployment-insurance benefits inched higher in the latest week but continued to signal a healthy labor market, according to government data released Thursday. The number of people who applied for U.S. unemployment-insurance benefits rose by 3,000 to 244,000 in the week that ended August 5, the Labor Department reported.

• August 8, 2017
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Companies hired fewer employees in June. The number of job openings rose to a fresh record in June while hiring decreased, evidence of the difficulties companies are having finding suitable employees. The Labor Department reported that openings vaulted to 6.16 million from 5.7 million in May. Hirings, however, fell, and separations also fell slightly.

• August 4, 2017
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The trade deficit shrank nearly 6% in June to an eight-month low, but the U.S. is still on track to post a bigger gap in 2017 than it did the year before. The deficit fell to $43.6 billion in June from $46.4 billion in May, the Commerce Department said Friday. Economists had forecast a $44

• August 4, 2017
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The U.S. created 209,000 new jobs in July, easily beating Wall Street forecasts and showing the labor market still has plenty of muscle more than eight years into a expansion. Economists had predicted a 175,000 increase in nonfarm jobs. The unemployment rate slipped to 4.3% from 4.4%, retouching a 16-year low. Average wages climbed 0.3%

• August 3, 2017
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Applications for unemployment benefits fell in late July and remained near a 44-year low, highlighting the strength of a U.S. labor market that’s show no sign of waning. Initial jobless claims in the period running from July 23 to July 29 declined by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 240,000. New claims count people who apply

• August 2, 2017
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Private sector hiring stayed strong in July as employers added 178,000 jobs ADP reported Wednesday. Economist had forecast a July gain of 173,000 jobs compared with an original reported increase of 158,000 in June. On Wednesday, ADP revised June’s gain to 191,000.