Free Republic

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.3 percent in April on a seasonally adjusted basis, after rising 0.4 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 3.4 percent before seasonal adjustment. Advertisement The index for shelter rose in April, as did the index for gasoline. Combined, these two indexes contributed over seventy percent of the monthly increase in the index for all items. The energy index rose 1.1 percent over the month. The food index was unchanged in April. The food at home...

The Federal Reserve hiked its benchmark federal funds rate by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday after skipping the previous hike, bringing the rate to the highest level since 2001. The rate hike brings the Fed’s target rate within a range of 5.25% and 5.50%, making this the eleventh hike since March 2022, after temporarily pausing the rate increases in June. Most economists anticipated a quarter-point interest rate hike as a part of the ongoing effort to bring inflation down, bringing the high end of the range to the highest rate since January 2001, according to the Federal...

This week in a press conference, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated that the U.S. economy is doing exceptionally well. "As I mentioned, the United States is doing extremely well economically, with inflation coming down in a strong labor market, and Europe is doing better than was feared at our last meeting." Contrast this to what real Americans think. In a recent IBD/TIPP Poll, over one-half (55%) believe the economy is in a recession, and another 56% (57% in March) think the economy is not improving. We welcome any good news. We always take Yellen's pronouncements with a pinch of salt....