State of the Union: The growth rate, released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, was less than expected. The post U.S. Economy Grew at 1.5 Percent Rate in Second Quarter appeared first on The American Conservative .
Data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed that the U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 1.5 percent in the second quarter of 2026, down from the 2.1 percent growth rate in the first quarter of the year. Gross domestic product fell short of economists’ expectations. A Bloomberg poll of economists had predicted a 2 percent growth rate, and a Dow poll predicted a 1.8 percent growth rate. A separate report on personal income and outlays showed U.S. consumer spending rose, with personal consumption expenditures increasing at a rate of 2.1 percent during the second quarter, up 0.4 percent from the first. PCE inflation ticked down 0.1 percent from May to June, but core PCE—which does not include food and energy…Open
State of the Union: The central bank left open the door to future rate hikes before the end of year. The post Federal Reserve Maintains Current Rate Levels appeared first on The American Conservative .
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday maintained the current level of interest rates between 3.5 and 3.75 percent amidst “elevated uncertainty” from the “conflict in the Middle East.” The meeting and subsequent press conference marked the first of Kevin Warsh’s tenure as chairman of the Federal Reserve. Warsh resisted issuing “forward guidance”––the direction of future actions by the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee (FOMC). “We recognize that inflation has been running well ahead of the Fed’s long-stated inflation goal of 2 percent that’s been going on for more than 5 years,” Warsh reiterated , adding, “This Committee will deliver price stability.” He announced five taskforces made of policymakers,…Open
Six months ago, Federal Reserve officials were deeply divided over whether to cut interest rates for a third consecutive meeting. The rate cutters won the day , but the data since then has pointed toward that having been a mistake. Why it matters: With the first policy decision of the Kevin Warsh Fed on tap next week, an uncomfortable backdrop is the mounting evidence that the central bank overshot in its easing campaign last year. - Job growth has surged since then, and inflation has exceeded projections — even when the energy shock from the Iran war is excluded. Flashback: The November-December time frame featured one of the more curious episodes in modern Fed history, as an increasingly vocal contingent of officials, mostly…