FED CHAIRMAN DEFENDING GRADUAL PACE OF RATE HIKES
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday he believes the central bank’s current pace of gradually hiking interest rates is the right policy and criticism from President Donald Trump has not altered its approach.
Powell said that even with the Fed’s third hike this year, rates are at a low level that is still boosting growth. But the Fed is prepared, if necessary, to raise rates past “neutral” to a level where they are restraining growth, he said.
But at the moment rates are a “long way from neutral,” he said.
U.S. services firms grew at a record pace in September.
WASH-
INGTON» U.S. services firms expanded at a record pace last month, stepping up production and hiring, in another sign of strength for the American economy.
The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, reports that its services index hit 61.6 in September, up from 58.5 in August and the highest in records going back to 2008. Anything above 50 signals growth, and services companies are on a 104month winning streak.
Economists had expected the index to fall slightly in September.
Survey: U.S. companies added a healthy 230,000 jobs last month.
WASH-
INGTON» U.S. businesses added a robust 230,000 jobs in September, a private survey found, a sign that strong economic growth is spurring companies to add more workers.
Payroll processor ADP said Wednesday that September’s job gain was the most in seven months. It followed 168,000 new jobs in August, a figure that was revised slightly higher.
Hiring was strong across most major industries.
DeVos to miss deadline in easing college fraud protections.
WASHING-
TON» Students defrauded by forprofit colleges will get a reprieve from the Education Department’s push to ease regulations for those schools because the government said it would miss a deadline for releasing an updated rule on loan forgiveness.
The department had been set to issue the new regulation, known as borrower defense, by Nov. 1 so it could take effect at the start of the 2019 school year. The delay means the rule won’t apply until the 2020 school year or later, according to Clare McCann, a highereducation expert with New America.