reporter: the federal reserve just made history announcing that they re raising interest rates by 3/4 of a percentage point for the second meeting in a row. we haven t seen anything like that in back to back meetings in modern fed history, but we re not in nor times. we re dealing with the worst inflation inflation prices in 40 years. inflation remains elevated due in part to russia s invasion of ukraine and very high food and energy prices. so the fed is stepping in and acting like the firefighter. they re trying to put this inflation fire out. the goal here is to raise borrowing costs and try to cool off red hot demand, and that should hopefully allow supply a chance to catch up. but you know, officials also signaled that they re not nearly done with rate hikes. they said it would, quote, will be appropriate to continue raising interest rates. and here s the problem. they re raising rates into an economy that is already showing cracks here. in the new statement today, the
give us bird s eye view here of the health, the strength of this economy in the context of these num numbers. you had to look at the labor market first, and right now the labor market is one of the bright spots in the economy. now, the future uncertain and there s lots of flashing signals, which we can talk about, but for starters, the labor market is as of now in very good shape. also, the housing market slowing, but i would say that s the place that s probably the most vulnerable. i would say the reason people may describe their relationship or their perception of the economy as you just described it, victor, is because asset prices have collapsed over the last six months, collapsed may be too strong of a word, although in some cases it truly has collapsed but because financial assets have adjusted substantially lower over the last six months, and because the rhetoric around and because
inflation. i m talking about those interest rates rising and oil prices and of course the housing market slowing at a time when we re seeing mortgage rates at levels we haven t seen in seven years. all of those will continue to simmer in the background. but today we are seeing green arrows across the board. the dow up at the open. the total devastation left behind by hurricane michael could take your breath away. impassable roads. homes wiped off the map. but now the mission for many is simple. try and rebuild what s been destroyed. miguel joins us now live again from mexico beach. really just ground zero of this horrible storm. tell us what you have been seeing there, miguel. reporter: the level of devastation is incredible. and search and rescue still trying to get through much of this town to see if anyone is injured or dead. everyone we speak to says they will be shocked if there are not