|

Fed's Harker: U.S. jobs report for May is "a good number"

Philadelphia Fed's President Patrick Harker was on the wires, noting that U.S. economy is "essentially at normal now," economic outlook is overall "pretty good".

Key headlines (via Reuters):

  • Inflation still on track despite recent softness; sees it hitting U.S. Central bank's 2 percent goal around end of 2017
  • Repeats that he sees two further U.S. Interest rate hikes this year as appropriate
  • Forecasts U.S. GDP growth of 2.3 pct for 2017, unemployment rate to drop to 4.2 pct by end of 2018
  • He thinks there is very little slack left in U.S. Labor market
  • Fed's unwinding of balance sheet will be slow and "essentially on autopilot"

Author

Felipe Erazo

Felipe Erazo

FXStreet

Born in Colombia, Felipe Erazo is the American Session Manager at FXStreet. He has been studying journalism with a degree in social communication at the Universidad de Chile.

More from Felipe Erazo
Share:

Editor's Picks

GBP/USD hits multi-week tops around 1.3560

GBP/USD gathers fresh steam and advances to new three-month peaks near the 1.3560 zone on Friday. Cable’s sharp move higher comes after three daily drops in a row and follows the increasing selling pressure hurting the Greenback.

EUR/USD pops to fresh two-month highs, targets 1.1600

EUR/USD advances markedly, revisiting the upper 1.1500s for the first time since mid-June. The pair’s sharp uptick comes on the back of a strong retracement in the US Dollar amid BoJ intervention chatter and despite steady uncertainty in the Middle East.

Gold picks up pace, approaches $4,400

Gold rebounds toward the $4,400 mark per troy ounce on Friday, reversing the previous day’s pullback. The precious metal’s recovery comes as fresh and intense weakness keep weighing on the US Dollar, while traders keep assessing easing expectations of an imminent Fed interest rate hike and the situation from the Middle East.

Pi Network Price Forecast: PI extends consolidation as bulls eye $0.10
Pi Network (PI) price holds steady on Friday, maintaining a consolidating tone for three consecutive days. Mild retail strength in the PI token remains stable, with Open Interest above $9 million, while social buzz eases. PI token’s technical outlook is mixed, as bearish momentum wanes to neutral, with bulls eyeing the $0.1000 psychological level.
 Weekly focus: Some relief in US inflation concerns

Actual inflation data for July came out as expected with a 0.1% m/m increase in headline CPI and 0.2% excluding food and energy. Annual headline inflation remains too high at 3.4% and means that wage earners are experiencing stagnating spending power at best, and core inflation is a bit higher than the inflation target of two percent would suggest.

Why is Crude Oil priced for a reopening the ships haven't made?
Fourteen vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday. Before the war, the count ran near 120 a day. In the sessions since the waterway was publicly declared open, Brent has drifted back to $87 and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) to $81, both a little lower again on Wednesday, with daily momentum on each unwound from the top of its range in late July to the low twenties now.
Fed's Harker: U.S. jobs report for May is "a good number"