The greenback is strengthening again after a rocky 2023 as Wall Street accepts interest rate cuts will come later than previously expected.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against the British pound, euro, Swiss franc, Japanese yen, Canadian dollar and Swedish krona, is up 2.8% for the year as of Friday morning.
The U.S. currency slipped last November, ending the year lower against that basket of currencies as investors grew more optimistic that the Federal Reserve would soon cut interest rates. But Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said in January that rate cuts were unlikely to begin in March, as investors widely believed.
The hot economic data of the last few weeks has supported the assumption that the Fed will keep interest rates high for longer. The economy added a staggering 353,000 jobs in January, underscoring the labor market's continued resilience despite increased rates. The consumer price index rose 3.4% annually in December, still above the central bank's 2% target.
People also read…
A stronger dollar is bad news for American businesses, but it also means U.S. businesses and consumers could spend less on imported goods and increase Americans' purchasing power when traveling abroad.
Check out how Nebraska's economy is doing.
How the economy is developing in Nebraska
Get local news delivered to your inbox!
Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter.
Comments are closed.