Official nonetheless pledged that the Federal Reserve and other agencies would take whatever steps deemed necessary to protect the banking system
Inflation remains elevated, bank failures likely to “weigh on economic activity”
Most economists think the Fed will raise rates by a quarter-point on Wednesday
SVB was highly susceptible to depositors quickly withdrawing their money at the first sign of trouble
The Fed may get some unintentional help in its inflation fight from the aftereffects of the SVB collapse
February unemployment rate rose to 3.6%
Getting inflation back to 2% “has a long way to go,” Fed chair tells senators while analysts raise spectre of a half-point hike
A run of strong U.S. economic data could lead to greater-than-forecasted hikes
A third of economists expect a recession to begin in the April-June quarter
But Fed board member says current environment differs from past inflationary periods in four ways