This morning, the Federal Reserve Bank’s Loretta Mester (voter, hawk) says the Fed could raise rates more rapidly if the U.S. economy grows faster than expected, though it could go slower if inflation weakens. Ms. Mester went on to say that she doesn’t see inflation picking up sharply this year. The Fed’s favorite inflation gauge, the annual Core PCE, is at 1.9%, not far off the Fed’s target of 2%. Inflation is the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising and, consequently, the purchasing power of currency is falling.
The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) recently reported that the current economic expansion in the U.S. is in a tie for the second longest in history dating back to June 2009. In addition, the number of consecutive months of labor market gains is the longest ever as of April. The NBER went on to say that the 3.9% Unemployment Rate recorded in April was the lowest since late 2000. The NBER also reported that the number of job openings hit 6.6 million in March, the highest since the Labor Department started tracking the number in December 2000.
Gas prices at the pumps continued to rise to start the week as the summer driving season gets set to kick off in a few weeks. In addition, the recent announcement from the White House to withdraw from Iranian nuclear deal had a hand in driving up oil prices. Motor Club AAA reports that the headlines from Washington along with the switchover to summer blend gasoline and growing global demand are also factors fueling the rise in gas prices. The national average price for a regular gallon of gasoline is at $2.87, up 6 cents in the latest week and up 53 cents from a year ago.
