The U.S. trade deficit jumped 7.1% in January to $107.6 billion and hit a new all-time high for the second month in a row, reflecting huge American appetite for imported goods such as autos and oil.
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“The characterization of inflation as transitory is probably the worst inflation call in the history of the Federal Reserve, and it results in a high probability of a policy mistake,” the former Pimco CEO and current Queens’ College president said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
“So, the Fed must quickly, starting this week, regain control of the inflation narrative and regain its own credibility,” he added. “Otherwise, it will become a driver of higher inflation expectations that feed onto themselves.”
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The numbers: The Chicago Enterprise Barometer sank in February to an 18-month low of 56.3, as corporations struggled with a scarcity of labor and supplies and the tail finish of the omicron wave.
The decline in February was worse than anticipated. Economists polled by the Wall Avenue Journal had forecast the index to drop to 63.4 from 65.2 in January.
Readings over 50 sign growth, however the index is sharply decrease in comparison with final summer season.
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Given that uncertainty, Goldman Sachs is raising its inflation outlook. It expects that core PCE inflation, the Federal Reserve's preferred price metric, will decelerate to 3.7% at the end of this year.
That's a jump from Goldman's previous forecast of 3.1% — and almost
double the Fed's goal of 2%.
Goldman also now expects consumer prices, which rose by a
near-40-year high of 7.5% on an annualized basis in January, to cool off to 4.6% by the end of this year and 2.9% by the end of next year.
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The credibility of the USA is being eroded away, day by day. The world watches as this administration (President, FED Reserve, DNRC, etc) continues to dig the hole deeper. The pocket book of every American is being effected.