Economic Commentary

ECONOMY AND POLICY January 28, 2022   Chief Economist Scott Brown discusses current economic conditions. As expected, the Federal Open Market Committee left short-term interest rates unchanged, but strongly signaled that a hike will be coming in March. However, Chair Powell’s comments during his press conference caught investors’ attention. Asked about the timing and pace […]

ECONOMY AND POLICY January 21, 2022   Chief Economist Scott Brown discusses current economic conditions. The answer to questions about monetary policy is always “it depends,” but the Fed doesn’t like to surprise the markets, so there’s usually little suspense in the short term. The Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to leave short-term […]

ECONOMY AND POLICY January 21, 2022   Chief Economist Scott Brown discusses the latest market data. Fears of tighter Federal Reserve policy continued to weigh on the stock market. The economic calendar was uneventful. Single-family permits rose 2.0% in December but were still down 8.5% from a year earlier (reflecting supply constraints). Homebuilder sentiment – […]

ECONOMY AND POLICY January 07, 2022   Chief Economist Scott Brown discusses current economic conditions. The economy added more than 6.4 million jobs in 2021, but December nonfarm payrolls were still 3.6 million below the pre-pandemic level. At the same time, the unemployment rate fell from 6.7% in December 2020 to 3.9% in December 2021, close […]