Unusually high interest rate policy given how other measures have normalized: Key economic measures in 2024 compared with 2019
| 2019 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Effective federal funds rate | 2.2% | 5.3% |
| Inflation | 1.5% | 2.6% |
| Change in inflation | -0.5% | -1.6% |
| Nominal wage growth | 3.0% | 3.8% |
| Hires rate | 3.9% | 3.6% |
| Unemployment rate | 3.7% | 3.9% |
Note: 2024 represents the latest month of data available (July or August, depending on measure) or the 12-month average ending with the latest month of data. The effective federal funds is the average of the last 12 months (the same as the current) versus the average in 2019. The unemployment rate and hires rate are the 12-month average of the latest months available and the average in 2019. Inflation is the change in prices from July 2024 to July 2023, and December 2018 to December 2023; the change in inflation is the change in each of these inflation rates July 2023 to July 2024 and December 2018 to December 2019. Nominal wage growth is the year-over-year growth rate for August 2023 to August 2023 and December 2018 to December 2019.
Source: Unemployment rate, hires rate, and wage growth from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Current Population Survey, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, and Current Employment Statistics, respectively. Inflation is measured using Personal Consumption Expenditures Excluding Food and Energy (Chain-Type Price Index) produced by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PCEPILFE, September 6, 2024.