USA-Economic rebound accelerates despite obstacles-Fed

by Howard Schneider and Ann Saphir

WASHINGTON, June 2 (Reuters) – The rebound in the US economy has accelerated in recent weeks despite a long list of supply chain problems, recruitment difficulties and rising prices, said the US Federal Reserve (Fed) in its Beige Book published on Wednesday.

Growth was “somewhat faster” from early May to late May, Fed wrote, with central bank officials noting the positive effects of the advancement of the vaccination campaign and the easing of measures. of social distancing in force in the face of the coronavirus health crisis.

But getting a $ 20 trillion economy back on track are challenges in themselves, Fed officials said, citing difficulties for construction companies to meet demand and delays in delivering materials.

Prices are rising and this inflation is expected to continue, the central bank says in the Beige Book.

This document, which summarizes the observations of the 12 regional branches of the central bank on the evolution of activity and employment in the United States, should serve as a basis for the debates of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the committee of the Fed’s monetary policy, at its next meeting on June 15 and 16.

Analysts do not anticipate any change in monetary strategy on this occasion but do not exclude, faced with the recent acceleration in the rise in prices, that the Fed may modify its discourse on the outlook for interest rate developments and especially its purchases of bonds on the financial markets.

(French version Marc Angrand and Jean Terzian)

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