Minutes of the Board's discount rate meetings on July 20 and July 29, 2026
Minutes of the Board's discount rate meetings on July 20 and July 29, 2026
Read the primary sourceDaily briefing · August 25, 2026
Today's Economic Brief
The latest official readings show consumer-price growth at 3.5%, unemployment at 4.1%, annualized real GDP growth at 1.5%. New releases and revisions can change that picture.
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What changed
State and metro employment: Second quarter 2026
National employment growth in the second quarter of 2026 accelerated slightly to 0.3% compared with one year ago. However, this aggregate figure conceals wide variation in job growth across U.S. states: 38 states experienced jo...
Read the primary sourceA Fracturing Wage Floor? Below-Minimum Wages in the Twenty-First Century
The prevalence of workers earning below the minimum wage grew to its highest recorded level by 2025. Fourth District states deviate from national trends.
Read the primary source02
Why it matters
- Consumer-price growth is 3.5%, up 0.8 percentage points from Jun 2025.
- Unemployment rate is 4.1%, little changed from Jun 2025.
- Federal funds rate is 3.63%, down 0.7 percentage points from Aug 2025.
These comparisons describe published observations; they do not assign causes.
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