At precisely 2 pm Wednesday, in a windowless ground-floor room in Washington’s Foggy Bottom neighborhood, dozens of packed-in economics journalists will hit “send” on reports that the Federal Reserve has decided to cut interest rates. With that, an economic era will end.
Why it matters: The defining economic feature of the last four years has been the onset of the highest inflation in modern times, followed by the Federal Reserve’s efforts — late, but aggressive — to bring it to an end. That chapter in America’s economic history ends this week.
www.axios.com/2024/09/16/federal-reserve-interest-rate-cut-inflation-economy
Could a recession be the October surprise that changes the election outlook?
It would be bad news for Kamala Harris. The economy, as always, is the top issue for voters, and a further jump in unemployment, which has already bounced up to 4.2 percent from 3.7 percent this year, would not help her chances of winning.
It would certainly be a surprise, because investors and economists today are almost unanimous believing we are in for a “soft landing.” The betting is that the Federal Reserve will manage to bring interest rates down and continue the push to reduce inflation, all while avoiding a recession.
The problem is that that has almost never happened.
Even ISI Evercore’s Ed Hyman, who has been warning of a downturn for more than a year, has thrown in the towel. Over the last couple of years, Hyman has been on the lookout for a recession, citing an inverted yield curve, declining leading indicators and, of course, rising interest rates.
thehill.com/opinion/finance/4878880-recession-october-surprise-election/
Target Hiring 100,000 Seasonal Workers
The retailer is starting the holiday shopping season in October.
Minnesota-based retailer Target says it plans to hire approximately 100,000 seasonal workers for this year’s holiday season.
On Monday, it announced that along with bolstering the number of employees at its nearly 2,000 stores it will hire to help supply chain facilities support order pickup and drive-up services.
The company also plans to offer overtime opportunities to current employees.
www.ibtimes.com/target-hiring-100000-seasonal-workers-3743451
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