These excerpts are from the National Journal Toolbox,which is produced every Thursday by the National Journal’s Daily Briefings Team.
- Officials at the Federal Reserve said Wednesday they will continue their policy of bond-buying to stimulate the economy, and suggested they could increase or decrease the rate of buying—now at $85 billion a month—based on economic conditions and inflation, The Wall Street Journal reports. Read more
- With two sequester adjustments—the FAA and meat inspectors—on the books, other special-interest groups, unions, and lobbyists are planning to rev up their efforts to undo the cuts piece by piece, National Journal’s Nancy Cook reports. Read more
- A steep drop in the number of homes listed for sale and rising demand sent home prices in the U.S. up 9.3 percent from a year ago, according to The Wall Street Journal. Read more
- Jobs numbers continue to disappoint this spring, with payroll processor ADP reporting that businesses added 119,000 jobs in April, below the 150,000 figure expected by a consensus of economists, Bloomberg reports. Read more
- A Look Ahead: Economists are predicting payrolls to rise by 153,000 for April, following a dismal report for March. Unemployment is expected to remain at 7.6 percent when the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its new employment situation for April on Friday.
The National Journal Toolbox is produced every Thursday by Glen Justice, Jonathan Miller, Cory Bennett, Jordain Carney and Courtney McBride with National Journal’s Daily Briefings Team. Read the May 2 edition here.