CNBC Economy

Initial jobless claims totaled 412,000 last week, an increase of 37,000 from the previous week and higher than the 360,000 estimate.

However, the central bank gave no indication as to when it will begin cutting back on its aggressive bond-buying program.

Every quarter, members of the FOMC forecast where interest rates will go in the short, medium and long term.

This is a comparison of Wednesday's Federal Open Market Committee statement with the one issued after the Fed's previous policy-making meeting on April 28.

The Fed is not expected to take any policy actions after its meeting this week, but it is likely to signal that it is thinking about them.

Vaccine policy will top all other economic polices this year as the world tries to recover from the coronavirus crisis, the IMF's Kristalina Georgieva said.

After three straight weeks of declines, mortgage demand came crawling back, thanks to a drop in interest rates.

Month over month, the producer price index increased 0.8%, faster than the 0.5% estimated in a Dow Jones survey.

Rising construction costs are sidelining buyers and making it harder for some builders to get construction loans.

The central bank risks its credibility by keeping policy loose and allowing inflation to grow in a way that may not be transitory, Paul Tudor Jones told CNBC.

Nearly all spending categories have recovered with the exception of travel, according to the Bank of America CEO.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan encouraged the Federal Reserve to ease up on its ultra-easy monetary policy.

The total balance sheet for households and nonprofits rose to $136.9 trillion in the first quarter, a 3.8% gain from the end of 2020

The 3.8% rise in the core inflation rate, which excludes food and energy prices, was the sharpest increase in nearly three decades.

Economists expect core consumer inflation hit 3.5% in May, the fastest annual pace in 28 years.

The Bleakley Advisory Group's Peter Boockvar predicts inflation will be the most widespread in decades.

Mortgage rates fell slightly last week, but not enough to light a fire under mortgage demand.

Job openings in April soared to a record 9.3 million as the economy rapidly recovered from its pandemic depths, according to the JOLTS report.

The goods and services shortfall declined to $68.9 billion for the month, down from the upwardly revised $75.02 billion in March.

Comments by Fed officials in the past several weeks suggest the issue of tapering looks likely to be discussed as soon as next week's FOMC meeting.