Bank of the West U.S. Outlook Report for June 27, 2014
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US Outlook Report: Evidence of Growth Rebound Stacks Up Encouraging economic data released over the past week suggests the U.S. economy is shifting into a higher gear in the second quarter. The Bloomberg Economic Surprise Index, which measures whether economic data are above or below economists’ consensus expectations, has risen since the beginning of February […]
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US Outlook Report: The Fed’s FOMC Talks Exit Strategy in April Monetary normalization was front and center in the April FOMC minutes. The FOMC discussed four policy tools for raising and controlling short-term interest rates when it comes time to tighten policy: interest paid on excess reserves, fixed rate overnight reverse repos, term reverse repos, […]
Continue ReadingBank of the West US Outlook Report: Is Housing Still On Fragile Ground? May 16, 2014
Janet Yellen, in her recent testimony to Congress raised the possibility that the housing slowdown, seen in the first quarter of this year, could end up being more prolonged than a winter lull. She hinted that housing was an important downside risk for the U.S. economic outlook that could loom large in debates on monetary […]
Continue ReadingBank of the West US Outlook Report for May 9, 2014
Fresh data from the Federal Reserve April Senior Loan Officer Survey and Consumer Credit report for March paint an encouraging picture of consumer and business credit conditions. When looked at as a whole, improved lending conditions should help support a stronger growth rate for the economy in the quarters ahead. So it is with great […]
Continue ReadingBank of the West US Outlook Report, May 2, 2014
U.S. economic growth was weaker than already lackluster expectations in the first quarter. The first quarter advance reading of real GDP growth came in at a disappointing 0.1% annualized rate, considerably lower than economists’ consensus expectations of 1.2 percent. Thursday’s weak construction spending report raises the odds that Q1 GDP could be revised lower and […]
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