Initial jobless claims climbed to 744K, the second weekly increase since the first post-COVID sub-700K print we saw two weeks ago.
Fed Chair Powell played down the risk of inflation with the recovery still needing more time to fully materialize as he promised to help the U.S. restore a “great economy.” He highlighted the remaining shortfall in the labor market as evidence of the recovery needing more time with accommodative policy.
Short-term expected volatility, measured by the VIX Index, fell to its lowest level since February 2020 as equity indices continue to breach all-time highs.
One-fifth of economic growth over the next 5 years is anticipated to come from China, according to an IMF economic report. They project the top contributes to economic growth will be China, as well as the U.S. and India, which they forecast to contribute 20.4%, 14.8%, and 8.4%, respectively, to the total economic growth over 2021 to 2026.