The U.S. finds itself in a pivotal period as inflation continues to ease, with the Federal Reserve contemplating the timing of future interest rate cuts. This \u201ccritical moment\u201d of anticipation was highlighted by Jack Kleinhenz, Chief Economist of the National Retail Federation (NRF).<\/p>\n
\u201cToday we\u2019re waiting once again,\u201d Kleinhenz said, referring to a point in 2017 when economists were waiting to see if fast economic growth and low unemployment would cause an increase in inflation. \u201cMuch like 2017, the economy is going strong, and the labour market is still relatively tight. But this time we\u2019re waiting for inflation to come down \u2013 and we\u2019re also waiting for the Federal Reserve to decide on when to lower interest rates.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the past two years, the Federal Reserve has had to balance the use of high interest rates to curb inflation against the risk of stalling the economy into a recession by keeping rates elevated for too long.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re at a critical moment as consumers, businesses, investors, and others wait to learn how they will need to adjust their plans for future economic conditions,\u201d Kleinhenz stated. \u201cFortunately, the risks for monetary policy look balanced at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kleinhenz\u2019s insights were featured in the July issue of the NRF\u2019s Monthly Economic Review. The report noted that year-over-year gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed from 3.4% in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 1.4% in the first quarter of this year, marking its lowest point since the spring of 2022. This deceleration was primarily driven by reduced consumer activity \u2013 a deliberate outcome of high interest rates aimed at controlling inflation without triggering a recession.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The U.S. finds itself in a pivotal period as inflation continues to ease, with the Federal Reserve contemplating the timing of future interest rate cuts. This \u201ccritical moment\u201d of anticipation was highlighted by Jack Kleinhenz, Chief Economist of the National Retail Federation (NRF). \u201cToday we\u2019re waiting once again,\u201d Kleinhenz said, referring to a point in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26829,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-26828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bulletin"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n