Central Bank News

FED Chair Jerome Powell spoke today with mixed remarks.

On one hand he stated that inflation is cooling while the labor market is strong, but needs more data before cutting rates. The president of the European Central Bank also stated this sentiment today. Powell also said if the labor market deteriorates the FED will react.

On the other hand, he hinted at the possibility rates will not go back to the ultra-low level during 2021.

The other hawkish comment that stood out to me the most was:

“Inflation may return to 2% late next year or the following year... Services inflation is stickier, tied to wages…The risk of inflation is that (we) act too fast."- Jerome Powell

In other news the director of Brazil’s central bank bashed expansionary fiscal policy, stating that it harms disinflationary trends.

Jolts Report

Overall, the Jobs Report changed very little, continuing to show resilience to the labor market.

The number of job openings changed little at 8.1 million, beating expectations of 7.95 million, but down 1.2 million over the year. New hires were also relatively unchanged at 5.6 million, down 415,000 over the year. Total separations were relatively unchanged as well, at 5.4 million, down 424,000 over the year.

This comes as government job openings rose m/m.