Economic Beat: Major U.S. equity benchmarks ended the week broadly lower

How will current market developments affect you? The thought leaders at Fifth Third Bank can help make sense of it all. Listen to the Economic Beat as they discuss what happened last week and what they expect will be the focus of this week.

Economic Beat: December 20, 2021

The primary explanation for last week's pullback was the Fed. The Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted to double the pace of tapering asset purchases from a reduction of $15 billion per month to $30 billion per month. The faster pace puts officials in a position to raise short-term interest rates sooner to counter inflation pressures if needed. Fed Chair Powell cited inflation developments and further improvement in the labor market for the policy pivot. Listen to this week’s full Economic Beat update or read the transcript below.

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