Aug 10 2008
The Fed remained unchanged in their policies on rates Tuesday and it looks as though with the economy in such a weakened state that this may be the case through the end of the year.  As usual Richard Fisher was the dissenting vote.  Oil dropped $25 a barrel and we saw prices at the pump reflect this drop.  This led to a dip in inflation expectations in July.  One other positive note is evidence that the dollar is beginning to strengthen.  Productivity rose at a 2.2% annual rate, which was slightly lower than the 2.5% expectation.  What is good about this though, is that we have rising productivity and it keeps wage based inflation pressure in check because employers are getting more output per worker, again, even as the economy has trimmed jobs.