Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank was deeply committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment after a former staff economist published a lengthy blog post critiquing the treatment of women and minority economists in academic and policy-making circles.

“There’s been a lot of pain and injustice and unfair treatment that women have experienced in the workplace, not just among economists, but among economists and at the Fed,” Mr. Powell said at a news conference Wednesday in response to...

The Federal Reserve releases a statement at the conclusion of each of its policy-setting meetings, outlining the central bank’s economic outlook and the actions it plans to take. Fed watchers closely parse changes between statements to see how the Fed’s views are evolving. This tool compares the latest statement with its immediate predecessor and highlights […]

The central banks of South Korea and the U.S. agreed to extend their $60 billion currency swap facility by six months, the Bank of Korea said Thursday.

The currency-swap deal will be extended through March 31, the Bank of Korea said.

The extension of the deal, which helped ease the U.S.-dollar liquidity crunch triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic,...

FRANKFURT—Germany suffered a record economic contraction in the second quarter as measures to slow the pandemic’s spread closed businesses and kept consumers at home, but Europe’s powerhouse is nonetheless expected to shrink by less and recover faster than other major economies.

Germany’s gross domestic product fell 10.1% compared with the previous quarter, the largest decline since comparable records began in 1970, and roughly double its contraction at the nadir of the global financial crisis in 2009, the federal statistics...

The U.S. economy contracted at a record 32.9% annual rate last quarter and weekly jobless claims rose to 1.43 million, amid signs of a slowing recovery.

The Commerce Department’s initial estimate of U.S. gross domestic product in the second quarter is the steepest drop in records dating to 1947. The decline came as states imposed lockdowns across the country to contain the coronavirus pandemic and then lifted restrictions. Economists expect the economy to resume growth in the third quarter, which began on July 1.

A historic GDP report is due out today. We'll have a special edition of the newsletter after the numbers are out. First, Jeff Sparshott here with the latest on the economy.

Breaking Bad

The U.S. economy is set to officially record its steepest quarterly contraction since World War II, and early signs of recovery look uneven as the country faces a summer surge in coronavirus cases. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal project second-quarter U.S. gross domestic product fell at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 34.7% from April through June. The annualized rate overstates the severity of the drop in output because it assumes the quarterly pace continues for a year, something forecasters don’t expect to happen. The GDP report is likely to show the deep hit to consumer and business spending from lockdowns, social distancing and other initiatives aimed at containing the virus. States in May started reopening their economies—leading to partial rebounds in...

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the U.S. economic recovery isn’t over, but it appears to be slowing, during a press conference Wednesday following the central bank’s policy meeting. He said the increase in Covid-19 infections is getting in the way of the recovery and that the “path forward for the economy is extraordinarily uncertain and will depend, in large part, on our success in keeping the virus in check.” Fed officials at the meeting left their benchmark interest rate unchanged near zero and again vowed to use all their tools to support the economy. Here is a transcript of Mr. Powell’s press conference,...

The U.S. economy is set to officially record its steepest quarterly contraction since World War II, and recent signs point to a slowing recovery as the country faces a summer surge in coronavirus cases.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal project second-quarter U.S. gross domestic product—the broadest measure of goods and services produced across the economy—fell at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 34.7% from April through June, a period when states imposed lockdowns across the country to slow the virus and then lifted restrictions.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday the central bank can still do more for the economy.

But when it comes to going beyond what the Fed already has done in recent months, the central bank leader didn’t offer specifics on what that might entail.

“We are committed to using our full range of tools to support the U.S. economy...

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell discussed the central bank’s bond buying, the economic outlook and social distancing during a press conference after the Fed’s policy meeting concluded Wednesday. Here are some of the highlights.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell tells reporters that the impact of Fed asset buying is two-pronged. The bond buying is helping smooth market functioning but it’s also providing stimulus, he said. “We understand, accept, and are fine with the...

The Federal Reserve releases a statement at the conclusion of each of its policy-setting meetings, outlining the central bank’s economic outlook and the actions it plans to take. Fed watchers closely parse changes between statements to see how the Fed’s views are evolving. This tool compares the latest statement with its immediate predecessor and highlights […]

The Federal Reserve said the U.S. economy faced major challenges from the coronavirus pandemic and reiterated its pledge to take aggressive action to support an eventual recovery.

“The path of the economy will depend significantly on the course of the virus,” officials said in a statement released after the conclusion of their policy meeting on Wednesday.

“The...

WASHINGTON—Disagreement in Congress over whether to scale back unemployment aid for workers laid off during the coronavirus pandemic centers on a key question: Are the extra weekly payments of $600 keeping people from returning to work?

Senate Republicans this week proposed reducing the payments to $200 a week, saying the larger payments are keeping workers on the sidelines because many receive more in jobless aid than they did working. Senate Democrats have proposed keeping the $600 a week payments temporarily and shrinking...

On a day when the Federal Reserve announced some of its key emergency lending facilities will keep going until the end of the year, new data pointed to trouble for the U.S. economy. The Dallas Fed said in its latest service sector report for July that “labor market indicators suggest further cuts in jobs and employee hours, while firms’ outlooks once again turned pessimistic,” amid a massive retreat in retail activity as the coronavirus pandemic accelerated in Texas. Additionally, The Conference Board said that in July consumers grew less optimistic about the short-term outlook for the economy and labor market and remained...

This is the web version of the WSJ’s newsletter on the economy. You can sign up for daily delivery here. The Federal Reserve wraps up a two-day meeting with a policy statement and press conference, and lawmakers are trying to pass a fifth round of coronavirus stimulus—with key benefits set to run out on Friday. […]

When Donald Trump ran for president in 2016, he treated the Federal Reserve as an adversary. In a plan released by his 2020 challenger Joe Biden on Tuesday, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee seeks to spur the central bank down a road it’s already on.

Mr. Biden’s campaign laid out a broad economic agenda that said the nation’s central bank needs to more formally take account of how its actions are affecting ethnic minorities. In a statement on the campaign’s website, the former vice president said he wants to...

Federal Reserve officials are likely to continue their debate Wednesday about how to provide more support to the economy now that interest rates are pinned near zero, but are unlikely to announce major policy changes.

The central bank releases an updated policy statement at 2 p.m. Eastern time after the conclusion of its two-day meeting. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell follows with a news conference starting at 2:30 p.m., at which he could explain how he and his colleagues are thinking about possible additional steps. Here’s a look at what to watch:

Home-price growth slowed slightly in May, as home sales fell for a third straight month due to a widespread shutdown of economic activity in many parts of the country.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, which measures average home prices in major metropolitan areas across the nation, rose 4.5% in the year that ended in May, down from a 4.6% annual rate the prior month.

Sales...

The Federal Reserve said Tuesday it will extend the operation of seven emergency lending programs by three months, through Dec. 31, to support economic activity during the coronavirus pandemic.

Those programs had been authorized in March and April to operate through September.

In a statement, the Fed said the extension would “facilitate planning...

This is the web version of the WSJ’s newsletter on the economy. You can sign up for daily delivery here.

Money Talks

The dollar is on track to close out its worst month since April 2011 as a rise in coronavirus infections across the U.S. threatens to damp the economic recovery and keep low interest rates in place for longer. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against a basket of other currencies, fell Monday to its lowest level since June 2018, according to FactSet. Investors have sold the dollar and bought currencies of countries with lower infection levels in recent weeks. That has erased 3.8% of the currency’s value in July, putting it on track for its worst one-month performance in over nine years. The recent surge in cases in parts of the U.S. has prompted local authorities to halt or rewind plans to let business activity resume, raising doubts about the prospects for the economy. California, Texas and Florida, which are among the...

Orders for long-lasting U.S. factory goods rose in June as the economy continued its climb back from disruptions related to the coronavirus pandemic, though a summer surge in virus infections could damp future gains.

New orders for durable goods—products designed to last at least three years—increased a seasonally adjusted 7.3% in June from the previous month, the second consecutive monthly gain, the Commerce Department said Monday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected orders to rise 5.4%.

The Federal Reserve’s asset buying is taking a summer break after surging in the spring, but that doesn’t mean the central bank has dialed back its support for markets or the economy.

The Fed’s holdings of bonds, loans and other assets reached $7 trillion in June, up from $4.2 trillion in February, reflecting multiple financial-assistance programs launched in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Analysts...

Individuals convicted of minor crimes will find it easier to land a job at a bank after a regulator eased restrictions the industry had warned were unduly tough.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Friday said it was easing lenders’ ability to hire individuals convicted of offenses such as shoplifting in a bid to expand the pool of potential employees in the financial industry.

A...

The Federal Reserve’s two-day monetary-policy meeting will highlight a busy week for economic news, which includes manufacturing data out of the U.S. and China. Also on tap is the first look at second-quarter gross domestic product in the U.S. and Europe.

Monday

U.S. durable-goods orders for June are expected to increase for the second consecutive...

Federal Reserve officials meet Tuesday and Wednesday facing growing doubts about the prospect for a sustained economic rebound due to the nation’s uneven public-health response to the coronavirus.

Officials have warned this month in speeches and interviews that the economy faces a deeper downturn and more difficult recovery if the country doesn’t take more effective action to slow the spread of infection.

Since...