JUSA - Fed Officials Are Conflicted On Policy Decisions

• The 10-year Treasury yield declined a bit during the Afghanistan crisis, so all eyes are now on the Fed to see how new realities will impact monetary policy. The Fed released its latest FOMC minutes, which revealed a disagreement within the FOMC about when QE tapering will begin.
• On Tuesday, the Commerce Department reported that retail sales declined 1.1% in July, worse than the economists’ consensus estimate of a 0.3% decline. However, there was quite a bit of good news buried in the details of the report.
• In improvement on the jobs front, initial unemployment claims declined to 348,000 in the latest week, down from a revised 377,000 in the previous week. Continuing unemployment claims declined to 2.82 million, down from a revised 2.899 million in the previous week.
• China’s National Bureau of Statistics reported this week that retail sales decelerated to an 8.5% gain in July, down from June’s 12.1% gain. There is a growing concern that China’s strict Covid restrictions may impact economic growth.

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