Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said concerns about private-sector hiring have fueled his call for the central bank to cut interest rates this month. "The private sector is not performing as well as everyone thought," Waller said Friday in an interview on Bloomberg Television. The monthly employment report for June, released on July 3, showed a sharp slowdown in private-sector job growth and a slowdown in wage growth, even as the unemployment rate declined slightly. His comments followed a speech he delivered Thursday in New York in which he argued that with limited inflation...
The US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index rose by 0.1% month-over-month in May 2025, the same as in April and in line with expectations. Prices for goods were up 0.1%, the same as in April and prices for services rose 0.2%, above 0.1% in the previous month. The core PCE index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2%, above 0.1% in the previous two months and forecasts of 0.1%. Source: Trading Economics
A White House official said late Thursday that the United States has reached an understanding with China on how to speed up rare earth shipments to the U.S., according to the Wall Street Journal. "The administration and China agreed to an additional understanding for a framework to implement the Geneva agreement," a White House official said. The understanding was "about how we can implement the acceleration of rare earth shipments to the U.S. again," Bloomberg quoted U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick as saying, "They're going to ship us rare earths" and "we're going to lift our...
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday the outcome of Israel's war with Iran presented opportunities for peace that his country should not waste. In a statement, Netanyahu said: "This victory presents an opportunity for a dramatic widening of peace agreements. We are working on this with enthusiasm. "Alongside the freeing of hostages and defeat of Hamas, there is a window of opportunity that must not be missed. We cannot waste even a single day." Earlier in the day, Israel Hayom newspaper, quoting an unnamed source, said Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed in a...
President Donald Trump's tariffs will likely increase inflation and could also drive up unemployment, Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr said on Thursday in remarks that signaled that he - like most of his Fed colleagues - wants to wait for more clarity before making any interest-rate cuts. "Low-income households can ill afford increases in prices, and that's why it is so important that we bring inflation back down to our target," Barr said at a community development event at the Cleveland Fed. The Fed targets 2% inflation, and while the latest read by the Fed's targeted measure was...
Pending home sales in the United States rose by 1.8% from the previous month in April of 2025, trimming the 6.3% drop in the previous month and contrasting with market expectations of a 0.3% drop. The rebound was broadly distributed through the whole country, led by the West (6%) and the Northeast (2.1%), while growth was less pronounced in the South (1%) and the Midwest (0.3%). "Consistent job gains and rising wages are modestly helping the housing market," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "Hourly wages are increasing faster than home prices. However, mortgage rate fluctuations are...
China's official NBS Manufacturing PMI increased to 49.7 in June 2025 from May's 49.5, matching market expectations while marking the third consecutive month of contraction in factory activity.
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Both the STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 hovered around the flatline on Friday, as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of further developments in trade talks between US President Trump and Chinese...
President Donald Trump said Wednesday he plans to send a single letter to over 150 countries outlining the tariff rate they will face, saying, "It's all going to be the same for everyone, for that...