Economic Commentary
Federal Reserve 75 basis points cuts expectation in 2024 lacked conviction
ECONOMY & POLICY March 22, 2024 Chief Economist Eugenio J. Alemán discusses current economic conditions. Markets have taken the Federal Reserve (Fed) decision to keep about 75 basis points (bps) cuts in its dot plot as a very positive sign that the Fed is going to actually cut 75 bps during the year and […]
Fed holds rates steady at March FOMC meeting
MARKETS & INVESTING March 20, 2024 The central bank will look to cut interest rates three times by the end of 2024. The Federal Reserve (Fed) elected to not raise the federal funds rate at the March 2024 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. It is the fifth consecutive meeting during which the central […]
Forget the CPI: Zoom in on the PCE Price Index, particularly the core measure
ECONOMY & POLICY March 15, 2024 Chief Economist Eugenio J. Alemán discusses current economic conditions. Do you know that the headline Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) was 2.4% in January while the core PCE was 2.8%? This is very close to the 2% target. We are not saying the road ahead is not going to […]
Employment up (non-farm payrolls), unemployment up (household survey)
ECONOMY & POLICY March 08, 2024 Chief Economist Eugenio J. Alemán discusses current economic conditions. Sometimes, and February was one of those times, the information on the U.S. labor market doesn’t make sense. Many argue that government agencies are cooking the books. However, the counter argument is: Why wouldn’t they cook the books ‘consistently,’ […]