OCTOBER 28, 2024 – SLOW DATA WEEK BEFORE THE ELECTION AND FED MEETING
The next Federal Reserve meeting will take place November 6-7, the day after the US Presidential election. In the run up to the regularly scheduled meeting several significant data releases will be announced this week. These include the preliminary Q3 GDP, the core PCE which is the Fed’s preferred inflation measure and jobs numbers including wage growth. The job report will be of particular interest, as job growth over the last two months has indicated a stronger-than-expected economy, creating fears of a rebound in inflation that has been trending down to the 2 percent target. The data should not change anything immediately, though it could affect the pace of change. At present, the market is expecting, with 95 percent certainty, interest rates will come down by a quarter of a percent next week.