Economic Commentary: A Chill in the Early Fall Air
Economic winds are blowing, not necessarily favorably. The Federal Reserve FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) is widely expected to discuss moving to more restrictive monetary policy this week, possibly even following the European Central Bank and aising the target interest rate by 25 bps. Oil prices have returned to above $100/barrel and the average US retail price of gasoline rose 15 cents per gallon over the last seven days. Late last week, US consumer prices were reported as increasing 0.4% in August, with the 12 month annual rate of 3.4% well-exceeding the 3.1% pace of wage gains.