- Janet Yellen, the chair of the Fed
The world's largest economy has almost stalled in the first quarter due to harsh weather conditions. Even though analysts are betting on a significant acceleration in the second quarter, 0.1% growth in the first three months forced the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to revise its global economic outlook.
Economic expansion in the 34-high income economies slowed down for the second straight quarter. Earlier, economists were expecting that developed economies will pull growth in the nearest future, as China is losing momentum, however, the latest GDP reports undermined this presumption. The combined GDP growth of the 34 OECD members expanded just 0.4% in the first quarter of this year, following a 0.5% growth in 2013 final's quarter. Moreover, it is a significant slowdown from the third quarter, when growth stood at 0.7% pace. The main downside pressure came from the U.S., where severe weather left economic output almost unchanged. Among the top seven developed economies, Britain and Japan led the way with 3.1% and 2.7% expansion respectively. At the same time, Italy showed contraction, shrinking 0.5% over the observed period.
Markets are steady ahead of the FOMC minutes, even though the meeting is unlikely to provide any surprises. However, more optimistic comments from Janet Yellen will be highly welcomed.
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