Finance

Fed holds rates steady, sees slower growth and higher inflation amid Trump uncertainties

Published

9 months ago

March 19, 2025

Fed holds rates steady, sees slower growth and higher inflation amid Trump uncertainties

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady Wednesday for the second meeting in a row and maintained a prior prediction for two rate cuts at some point this year.

What the central bank did change, however, was its outlook on inflation and economic growth amid uncertainties stemming from some of President Trump’s economic policies.

Fed officials now see inflation staying higher this year than previously estimated and economic growth going lower than prior predictions.

Policymakers estimate that the core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) measure of inflation will be 2.8% at the end of 2025, compared with 2.5% previously.

And the US economy is now projected to grow at an annualized pace of 1.7% instead of 2.1%. The unemployment rate is seen edging up to 4.4% from 4.3% previously.

“Uncertainty around the economic outlook has increased,” Fed officials said in their policy statement.

The adjustments are the first from policymakers during the new Trump administration, just as the new president’s economic policies are being put into place.

The signature move from the White House since Jan. 20 has been the imposition of tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico, as well as on steel and aluminum. Trump promises to announce a new slate of “reciprocal” duties on many more countries early next month.

Fed Chair Jay Powell has also consistently stressed a wait-and-see approach to assessing the economic impact of policy changes.

He did the same Wednesday at a press conference, telling reporters that the Fed is focusing on “separating the signal from the noise” when evaluating how Trump’s policies may affect the economic outlook.

“We do not need to be in a hurry to adjust our policy stance.”

The Fed has now held borrowing costs steady for two consecutive meetings, maintaining its benchmark interest rate in the range of 4.25%-4.5%. The pause follows three consecutive rate cuts in late 2024.

The central bank also announced it will begin slowing the pace of Treasuries being drawn off its balance sheet starting in April, reducing the amount of Treasuries allowed to roll off from $25 billion to $5 billion. The Fed, however, will maintain the pace of mortgage-backed securities being drawn down by $35 billion per month.

Fed governor Chris Waller dissented in Wednesday decision because he would have preferred to continue the current pace of decline in letting bonds mature off the Fed’s balance sheet. He agreed with the decision to hold rates steady.

Waller and his Fed colleagues on Wednesday kept their median estimate first made in December for two rate cuts in 2025, even as a much-studied “dot plot” showed a large number of policymakers favored fewer or no cuts.

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Finance

Crunch Fitness, Petland could get a new neighbor at Pensacola Square

Published

3 hours ago

December 20, 2025

Press Room

Crunch Fitness, Petland could get a new neighbor at Pensacola Square

The Pensacola Square shopping plaza, which includes businesses such as Hobby Lobby, Books-A-Million and Crunch Fitness, may be getting a new tenant.

Alabama-based loan agency Regional Finance is looking to open its first Florida branch at unit 117 of Pensacola Square.

Regional Finance has over 350 branch locations across 19 U.S. states at this time, including Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and North Carolina, and they provide a range of services to their clients, ranging from personal and auto repair loans to furniture, appliance and travel loans.

They submitted an application to the city in order to conduct alterations on the space, which is located next to Petland inside the plaza, and the plans are still under review by city officials at the time of writing.

moved onto a new chapter with the addition of national gym franchise Crunch Fitness, which is bringing flocks of people into the southern half of the plaza since it opened off North Davis Highway.

Plans submitted to the city of Pensacola show it could get a new tenant soon. However, this addition may not appeal to as many potential customers as its neighbors.

If the plans for their first Florida branch are approved, the loan agency will join a plaza with multiple popular businesses, including Hobby Lobby, Beall’s and Petland, that still has room to grow.

Trader Joe’s even showed interest in leasing a space inside the plaza at one point, according to a showcase of the property by Cushman & Wakefield.

Crunch Fitness, a gym that signed a 15-year lease for its space, is has help revitalizing interest in Pensacola Square, along with recent additions like Fuji Sushi & Grill & Hotspot as well as incoming tenants like Concentra.

Concentra, one of the top occupational health services providers in the U.S., will open inside the former home of Rainbow clothing.

While the address for the project is 6235 N. Davis Hwy, the alterations won’t be carried out on the Hobby Lobby and Books-A-Million chunk of the plaza.

That section was purchased last year for $7 million by Destiny Worship Center, a not-for-profit corporation based in Destin with locations in Crestview, Freeport, Fort Walton Beach and Panama City Beach but none in Pensacola, sparking concern that the businesses would be replaced by a new church.

Rob Bell, senior advisor and asset manager for Bellcore Commercial, who represented Destiny Worship Center in the sale, emphasized this week that it’s still unlikely Hobby Lobby will leave the plaza anytime soon because they still hold a long-term lease inside the building.

Finance

State aims to reclaim $850K from campaign finance vendor

Published

15 hours ago

December 19, 2025

Press Room

State aims to reclaim 0K from campaign finance vendor

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — The state is now looking to recoup around $850,000 from a company they said didn’t meet deadlines to create a campaign finance website.

It’s The Guardian and was supposed to be up and running in October, but that didn’t happen. The Guardian is the name of the state’s online campaign finance reporting system.

“They were unable to deliver a compliant system,” said Ethics Commission Executive Director Leeanne Bruce Boone during their meeting on Friday.

The company at the center of it all is RFD and Associates, based in Austin, Texas. They were hired in December 2024 to begin the project of creating The Guardian 2.0.

The previous company, according to the commission, was with Civix. However, problems arose between the state and that company, so they had to shift and find a new vendor.

The commission appropriated around $2.2 million for the endeavor.

Months went by, and according to the commission’s timeline, deadlines were missed altogether.

Dates in June were missed, and in August, the company received a warning from the Ethics Commission. The Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) had to get involved in October and conduct an independent technical assessment.

The October date was proposed by the company, but it wasn’t met. In November, a formal notice of system failures and vendor non-compliance was noted.

“None of the milestones were met,” said Bruce Boone during the meeting. “Extensive corrective steps over many months. Written warnings were sent.”

At the Friday meeting, the commission voted to cut the contract with the company, and a contract with the previous one was then sent out.

“Terminate the contract and proceed with legal action,” said Bruce Boone.

Bruce Boone said that in total $850,000 was actually spent throughout this process on RFD. The new contract with Civix, she said, is estimated to cost over $230,000 and should last for three years. The effort is needed ahead of the 2026 election.

Now the commission has decided to bring in the Attorney General’s Office to see if they can get the money back.

“I take very seriously my role to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent fairly and appropriately,” AG Drummond said in a statement. “My office stands ready to take legal action to recover damages, hold those responsible accountable, and work with the Ethics Commission to ensure the public has a reliable means to access campaign finance reports.”

News 4 attempted to get a statement out of the Chief Operating Officer of RFD and Associates, who had been in the meeting but quickly left after the commission voted.

“No comment,” said COO Scott Glover.

What would you say to taxpayers about that?

In response, he said, “I don’t agree with the ethics commission’s decision. That’s all I have to say.”

The Guardian had been delayed by several months, but the commission did respond appropriately and timely manner to requests made for documents.

The Guardian was back online Friday afternoon.

Finance

One.funding and MV Commercial launch MV Asset Finance

Published

1 day ago

December 19, 2025

Press Room

One.funding and MV Commercial launch MV Asset Finance

Representatives from One.funding worked closely with MV Commercial’s team. Credit: M Isolation photo / Shutterstock.com.

One.funding has partnered with UK-based MV Commercial to introduce MV Asset Finance, which offers an alternative method for MV Commercial’s customers to secure finance, according to a LinkedIn post.

In developing MV Asset Finance, representatives from One.funding worked closely with MV Commercial’s team to better understand business priorities and the requirements of their customer base.

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According to the post, the service aims to remove friction, ensure complete transparency, and enable a seamless process from initial engagement to completion by integrating support within MV Commercial’s operations and presenting it under their brand.

MV Commercial supplies fleet solutions for vehicles within the UK.

The company’s offerings include trucks, trailers, and light commercial vehicles that are available for sale, rental, or contract hire.

Its current rental and Ready to Go fleets consist of 2,000 specialist trucks, vans, and trailers across various depots in Airdrie, Grantham, Livingston, Oxford, Haydock, and London Luton.

One.funding CEO Lee Schofield said: “At One.funding, we’ve 20 years of experience in building point-of-sale finance that fits naturally into how businesses sell. MV Asset Finance shows what’s possible when that experience is embedded into the MV Commercial journey, making it easier for their customers to keep moving and keep growing.”

A recent example involved AMK Plant & Tipper Hire, which added a DAF FAD XD450 Construction eight-by-four tipper truck to its fleet, the company’s first DAF tipper purchase.

The transaction was finalised in three weeks; MV Commercial supplied the vehicle while financing was arranged through the newly launched MV Asset Finance framework.