Making Sense: In Brief
The week ahead for markets and the economy
Blake: Good morning. I'm Blake Taylor. Phil Neuhart is traveling this week.
Economic data came in notably softer than expected last week, a reversal of the pattern of firmer inflation and activity data we've seen since the start of the year. Consumer price inflation came in slightly below market's expectations, but in the big picture, inflation is still too high. In addition, the retail sales report, a monthly snapshot of consumer spending, was weaker than expected in April.
Turning to the week ahead, the latest Federal Reserve meeting minutes will be released on Wednesday. Investors will sift through these meeting minutes for additional information on the Committee's views on questions like how tight is monetary policy, and when might be the right time to start cutting interest rates later this year.
Over the last several weeks, Fed members have emphasized that interest rates likely can remain on hold, and inflation needs to make considerable further progress toward the 2% goal before they start cutting interest rates.
Note, however, that these meeting minutes will reflect participants' views from before last week's April CPI data, so we'll also be watching speeches and other public remarks from Fed officials this week for additional information about their outlooks.
Initial jobless claims data will be released on Thursday. This weekly measure of the labor market is getting a little bit of extra attention recently because of the softer-than-expected April employment report.
Lastly, existing home sales data will be released on Wednesday. Historically low supply has kept down the pace of home sales, and this has worked to keep home prices elevated this year.
So items to watch this week. One, Federal Reserve meeting minutes. Two, initial jobless claims. And three, existing home sales.
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