In this week's Market Minutes recap, hear from our team of investment experts as they share their perspectives on the latest market and economic activity. Our panel shares detailed insights into the CPI report, unemployment claims, the FOMC meeting, and the ECB report.

Brian Pietrangelo, Managing Director of Investment Strategy
Cynthia Honcharenko, Director of Fixed Income Portfolio Management 
George Mateyo, Chief Investment Officer
Rajeev Sharma, Head of Fixed Income 

01:45 – The Consumer Price Index (CPI) report showed a year-over-year decline from 3.2% in October to 3.1% in November. 

02:23 – For the week ending December 9th, the Initial Unemployment Claims report showed a decline in claims to 202,000. This signifies the resiliency for the job market we expect to see heading into 2024.

03:34 – The FOMC meeting and press conference took place Wednesday, and we heard from Fed Chair Powell regarding their outlook for 2024, as well as the projection of slowly lowering interest rates.

09:33 – While the market expected to hear about a pause in rates for December during the FOMC meeting, the Fed looks to be moving towards the market’s expectations for 2024 of 5 anticipated rate cuts, but not all the way there, only projecting 3 rate cuts at this time. 

11:52 – The European Central Bank (ECB) report was released and confirmed that rates will remain unchanged.

12:19 – Final comments on our 2024 Economic and Investment Outlook and continuing to stay focused on quality portfolios and staying diversified.