• US Weekly Jobless Claims Fall for the First Time in a Month
  
  Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week following three straight increases amid a surge in cases of the omicron variant of COVID-19.
• US Economy Grew 5.7 Percent in 2021, in Rebound From 2020 Recession
  
  The U.S. economy grew last year at the fastest pace since Ronald Reagan's presidency, bouncing back with resilience from 2020's brief but devastating coronavirus recession.The nation's gross domestic product - its total output of goods and services - expanded 5.7% in 2021.
• Fed Says Bond Maturity Runoff Will Be Main Tool for Shrinking Balance Sheet
  
  The Federal Reserve will rely primarily on letting bond holdings run off the balance sheet as they mature, rather than selling bonds outright, as it seeks to trim its massive portfolio, the central bank said on Wednesday."The Committee intends to reduce the Federal...
• Fed Plans to Raise Rates as Soon as March to Cool Inflation
  
  The Federal Reserve signaled Wednesday that it plans to begin raising its benchmark interest rate as soon as March, a key step in reversing its pandemic-era low-rate policies that have fueled hiring and growth but also escalated inflation.
• IMF Cuts Growth Forecasts for US, China & World as Omicron Spreads
  
  The International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its economic forecasts for the United States, China and the global economy on Tuesday -- saying that uncertainty about the pandemic, inflation, supply disruptions and U.S. monetary tightening posed further risks.
• Consumer Confidence Dips in January - Yet Spending Intentions Strong
  
  U.S. consumer confidence ebbed slightly in January, with more consumers planning to purchase homes, automobiles and other big ticket items even as they grew less optimistic about business and labor market conditions in the near term.
• Pandemic Dynamics Behind 36% Spike in Oil Prices
  
  Anyone who's bought food, paid rent or looked for a used car recently has come up against the billowing inflation that has engulfed the U.S. economy.
• Fed to Signal Rate Hike as it Launches Risky Inflation Fight
  
  With inflation punishing consumers and threatening the economy, the Federal Reserve this week will likely signal its intent to begin raising interest rates in March for the first time in three years.
• Michael Busler: 'Modern Supply Side Economics' Will Exacerbate Inflation
  
  Last year, the Federal Reserve officials said they were basing their shockingly irresponsible monetary policy on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). On Friday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, said President Biden is basing his fiscal policy on "Modern Supply-Side Economics"(MSSE).
• Kudlow Predicts Year-End Inflation as High as 10 Percent
  
  Former Trump economist Larry Kudlow on Sunday radio said year-end inflation could be as high as 10%.
• Minimum Wage for US Federal Employees Raised to $15
  
  U.S. federal agencies have been directed to raise the minimum wage for government employees to $15 an hour, according to a new guidance from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
• Michael Busler: Biden's Disingenuous Economic Analysis
  
  During President Biden's speech at the beginning of his recent press conference, he said a number of things that were untrue and he set policies that will not solve the problems.
• Analysis: Biden Finds Inflation Overshadows Strong Economy
  
  President Joe Biden is paying a steep price for high inflation - a problem that festered during his first year in office instead of fading away as he suggested it would.
• US Jobless Claims Rise to 286,000, Highest Since October
  
  The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level in three months as the fast-spreading omicron variant disrupted the job market.Jobless claims rose for the third straight week - by 55,000 to 286,000, highest since mid-October.
• As Inflation Breaks Records, $100 Oil Also Looms
  
  Already less transitory than forecast, central bankers' inflation headache may be about to become more acute as they face the prospect of $100-plus oil that lifts consumers' price expectations and intensifies simmering wage hike pressures.
• Yellen: Biden Pandemic Relief 'Like a Vaccine' for the Economy
  
  Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told American mayors on Wednesday that the Biden administration's coronavirus relief bill was like a vaccine preventing catastrophic economic damage that could have returned the nation to the financial woes seen in 2008's Great Recession.
• US Home Construction Rises Third Straight Month in December
  
  Construction of new homes in the U.S. rose again in December as builders ramp up projects amid a persistent shortage of homes.
• Harvard Economist Warns of Two More Years of Inflation
  
  Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff predicts inflation will continue into next year.
• NY Fed's Williams Says Omicron Wave May Slow Growth Temporarily
  
  The surge of infections caused by the omicron COVID-19 variant may slow growth over the next several months and prolong supply chain challenges, but the U.S. economy should return to a stronger trajectory after the wave passes...
• US Consumer Sentiment Sours in Early January to Second-Lowest Level in Decade
  
  U.S. consumer sentiment soured in early January, falling to the second-lowest level in a decade as Americans fretted about soaring inflation and doubted the ability of government economic policies to fix it, a University of Michigan survey showed on Friday.
• US Retail Sales Plunge 1.9 Percent in December
  
  U.S. retail sales tumbled in December as Americans struggled with shortages of goods and an explosion of COVID-19 infections, but that will likely not change expectations that economic growth accelerated in the fourth quarter.
• Wholesale Prices Jumped Record 9.7 Percent in Past 12 Months
  
  Prices at the wholesale level surged by a record 9.7% in December from a year earlier, with inflation evident at all levels of the U.S. economy.
• Euro Zone Inflation Not Transitory: ECB
  
  The euro zone's inflation spike is not as transitory as earlier thought and price growth this year is at risk of exceeding projections, European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said on Thursday.
• Fed Survey Finds Economy Growing Modestly Despite COVID
  
  The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that the economy grew at a modest pace at the end of 2021 but was still being held back by ongoing supply-chain disruptions and labor shortages.
• Michael Busler: Shocking, Irresponsible Fed Policy Led to 7% Inflation
  
  The US Bureau of Labor Statistics just released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase for the month of December. The 0.5% increase means that for the entire year 2021, inflation was 7%, a 40-year high.

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