Sticky inflation could endanger the possibility of a rare ``soft landing''
Jeffrey Schmid replaces Esther George, who retired in January
New rating, AA+, is still considered well into investment grade
Data suggests the labour market is slowly normalizing from post-pandemic extremes
Weakening inflation suggests the Fed may be able to achieve a difficult ``soft landing'' for the economy
Here's how certain trends may play out
A key question is whether Wednesday's increase will be the Fed's last
Economists have been downgrading their probabilities of a U.S. recession
Inflation rate falls to an annualized rate of 3% in June with easing prices for gasoline, airline fares, used cars and groceries
The latest evidence of economic strength makes it all but certain that the Fed will resume rate hikes