Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said yesterday that the Fed has more hikes to go before the fed funds rate becomes restrictive, even at the expense of growth. "With growth well below trend over the next couple of years, it is possible that a shock could push the U.S. economy into recession for a time," she said. The market is still pricing in more than an 80% chance that the FOMC boosts rates by another 75 basis points in November.

Shares in the largest gig economy companies tumbled yesterday after the Biden administration proposed a new rule that would make it more likely that gig workers will be classified as employees instead of independent contractors. Uber fell as much as 16.7 per cent, while shares in rival Lyft and food delivery service DoorDash hit record lows as investors worried the Labor Department’s proposal would dramatically raise wage costs. The proposal would establish a “test” that the Labor Department could use to determine if workers are employees or independent contractors based on how much control they have over their hours and their job responsibilities.

Wholesale prices rose more than expected in September despite Federal Reserve efforts to control inflation, according to a report Wednesday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The producer price index, a measure of prices that U.S. businesses get for the goods and services they produce, increased 0.4% for the month. On a 12-month basis, PPI rose 8.5%, which was a slight deceleration from the 8.7% in August.