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Traders work as screens broadcast a news conference by US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell following the Fed rate announcement, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, USA, on May 7, 2025.

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Hard Numbers: Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady, US Navy jets skid into the sea, The one-percent impact on the climate, Feathery “mass cannibalism” in South Africa

4.5: The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday left its key interest rate unchanged for the third time in a row, keeping it at 4.25%-4.5%, where it’s been since December. President Donald Trump has publicly pressured Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to lower rates. “The economy itself is still in solid shape,” Powell told reporters Wednesday, but he said a “great deal of uncertainty” remains about the impact of Trump’s global tariffs and wider trade wars.

2: Speaking of uncertainty, why are US warplanes falling into the sea? According to reports, two F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets have slid off the deck of the USS Harry S. Truman carrier into the Red Sea over the past week alone. The first plunged into the water when the warship made a hard turn to evade fire from Houthi rebels. The second may have experienced a landing problem. Each jet costs a cool $60 million – cue Commander Stinger, “you don’t own that plane, the taxpayers do!”

10: The richest 10% of the global population are responsible for two-thirds of the global temperature rise since 1990, according to new research published by Nature Climate Change. The study also claims that compared to the average person, the world’s richest 1% contributed 26 times more to extreme heat globally and 17 times as much to droughts in the Amazon. Private jets are not, as it happens, great for the environment.

350,000: Animal welfare officers in South Africa euthanized more than 350,000 chickens after a state-owned poultry company ran out of funds to feed them. Officials couldn't estimate how many other chickens had died before this intervention due to “mass cannibalism” at the farm (yes, chickens eating each other). Still, on the plus side, the NSCPA’s action saved more than 500,000 chickens who may now be… eaten by people anyway.

US President Donald Trump alongside Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, back when the latter was the nominee for his current position, in Washington, D.C., USA, on November 2, 2017.

REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Could the Fed’s independent streak be over?

The United States’ judicial branch is set to reexamine an old decision that could have huge new consequences for the credibility and stability of the world’s largest economy.

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Flags of Canada and China.

REUTERS/Jason Lee

HARD NUMBERS: China executes Canadians, Tariffs slow economic growth, Canada buys Australian tech, Fed keeps rates steady, Egg seizures escalate while drug busts drop

4: The Canadian government has strongly condemned China’s use of the death penalty, following revelations the country executed four Canadian citizens for drug-related offenses, despite appeals for clemency. China carries out more executions than any other country and has a conviction rate of over 99%.

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US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks to the media during a press conference at the Federal Reserve, in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025.

Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA

A tale of two central banks

On Wednesday, the Bank of Canada cut interest rates, but the US Federal Reserve did not. After three cuts in a row, the Fed’s decision to hold rates steady between 4.2% and 4.5% was expected as unemployment has dropped and stabilized. Still, it will irritate Donald Trump, who’s been clamoring for another cut.
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A trader works on the trading floor at The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) following the Federal Reserve rate announcement, in New York City, U.S., September 18, 2024.

REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

The Fed goes big for its first rate cut since 2020

The Federal Reserve dropped interest rates by half of a percentage point on Wednesday, its first cut since 2020. The move – larger than the .25 bps that was also under consideration – is a show of confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%, and it aims to boost to the labor market. The cut will bring the benchmark federal-funds rate to a range between 4.75% and 5%.

The Fed decided that keeping rates high “was becoming restrictive and worried the labor market could turn sour quickly,” according to Robert Kahn, Eurasia Group’s managing director of macro-geoeconomics. “They didn't want to fall behind the curve and decided to get a quick start at easing.”

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Fed poised for 50 basis point rate cut

Kyodo

Breaking: Fed poised for 50 basis point rate cut

The Federal Reserve appears set to drop its benchmark interest rate by 50 base points today. That lending rate – which influences borrowing costs broadly – can put the economy in a chokehold when rates are high, or stimulate it when lowered.

According to Eurasia Group’s Managing Director of Global Macroeconomics Robert Kahn, “enough progress has been made on inflation to begin the process of easing financial conditions with a big first move to protect against recession.”

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Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifies during a U.S. House Oversight and Reform Select Subcommittee hearing on coronavirus crisis, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 22, 2021.

Graeme Jennings/Pool via REUTERS

August jobs report raises uncertainty ahead of Fed meeting

Friday’s new US jobs report showed that unemployment ticked down to 4.2% and employers added 142,000 jobs in August, lower than the 161,000 expected. The weaker-than-expected report is a continuation of a labor market cooling trend that has set off alarm bells that interest rates may have been too high for too long.

Look inside the numbers: The sector that saw the most job growth was construction, which gained 34,000 jobs, likely due to the Biden administration’s infrastructure spending. It was followed by health care, which added 31,000 jobs, and the public sector’s 24,000 new jobs.

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Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifies during a U.S. House Oversight and Reform Select Subcommittee hearing on coronavirus crisis, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 22, 2021.

Graeme Jennings/Pool via REUTERS

25 or 50? Jobs report likely to influence magnitude of Fed’s rate cut

Uncertainty will be high as the markets open today. Selloffs in the US market this week have raised recession fears while investors await the release of Friday’s US jobs report. Both are likely to determine whether the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by 25 or 50 basis points.
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