Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook will file a lawsuit to prevent President Donald Trump from firing her, a lawyer for the embattled central bank official said on Tuesday, kicking off what could be a protracted legal fight over the White House's effort to shape U.S. monetary policy. "His attempt to fire her, based solely on a referral letter, lacks any factual or legal basis. We will be filing a lawsuit challenging this illegal action," Cook's lawyer, prominent Washington attorney Abbe Lowell, said in a statement. The statement was issued a day after Trump said he would fire Cook, the...
The US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index increased by 0.3% month-over-month in February 2025, maintaining the same pace as the previous two months, and in line with expectations. Prices for goods rose 0.2%, below 0.5% in January and prices for services increased 0.4%, above 0.2% in the previous month. Meanwhile, the core PCE index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, increased 0.4%, the most since January 2024, above 0.3% in the previous month and forecasts of 0.3%. Food prices steadied (vs 0.3% in January) while prices for energy goods and services were up...
Richmond Federal Reserve President Thomas Barkin said Thursday the current level of monetary policy is in a "good place," in a further sign the central bank is leaning toward keeping rates steady at a time of rising tariff-induced uncertainty. "We are waiting for the fog to clear," Barkin said in prepared remarks for an economics lecture at Washington and Lee University. "With the labor market still solid and inflation still above target, our moderately restrictive stance is a good place to be." The Richmond Fed president did say, however, that if "conditions start to shift, we are well...
Initial jobless claims in the United States decreased by 1,000 to 224,000 in the week ending March 22, marginally below market expectations of 225,000, to remain at historically low levels. In the meantime, recurring claims fell by 25,000 in the second week of the month. The results continued to indicate that the US hosts a robust labor market despite the prolonged period of restrictive monetary policy and the pessimistic batch of soft data released during the first quarter of the year. In the meantime, unemployment claims filed under programs for Federal government employees, which have...
President Trump said he would impose a 25% tariff on global auto imports into the U.S., making good on his pledge to sanction foreign car and truck manufacturers. "What we're going to do is we're going to put a 25% tariff on all cars that are not made in the U.S.," Trump said Wednesday in the Oval Office, appearing to rule out possible exemptions for countries such as Canada and Mexico, which have free-trade agreements with the U.S. The U.S. will begin imposing auto tariffs on April 3, Trump said, a day after he announced a broader set of trade actions. The so-called reciprocal tariffs,...
Wednesday brought a stark warning from Senator Elizabeth Warren regarding the potential for President Donald Trump to dismiss Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. In an interview with Bloomberg News on Wednesday, the Massachusetts Democrat expressed concerns that Trump's broad interpretation of his authority to remove officials from independent agencies could lead to significant instability in the US markets. Warren highlighted the dangers of such actions, suggesting that if the president can remove civil servants and leaders of independent agencies at will, it would result in a...
President Donald Trump said he would fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors if she does not resign her post over mortgage-fraud accusations from a top...
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) maintained its cash rate at 4.1% during its April meeting, holding borrowing costs unchanged after slashing 25 bps in the February meeting, aligning with market...