Higher interest rates are expected to push up the value of the dollar and suck in foreign funds to the US financial system. The US economy is now in its 77th consecutive month of growth. For December, the last full month of Obama’s term in office, the economy added 178,000 jobs. Economists welcomed the figures, though many warned that wages growth of 2.8% failed to indicate that the economy was overheating. “Today, the Fed cleared the last small obstacle on its way to a now virtually certain interest rate rise next week,” said Oliver Kolodseike, senior economist at consultancy the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

Source: The Guardian March 10, 2017 14:01 UTC