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1. Fed holds rate steady as Iran war drives inflation
In what will likely be his last meeting as chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome H. Powell and his colleagues voted to keep rates steady, which was expected by analysts. However, the decision was "more divisive than expected," according to the New York Times.
"Officials were broadly on board with Wednesday’s action, but they have started to splinter over what guidance the Fed should provide about the path forward," according to the NYT's updates. "The primary point of opposition is whether the Fed should be more explicit that the next move from officials may not be a rate cut but could in fact be a rate increase, as inflation risks rise because of the Iran war."
Following the meeting, Powell unexpectedly announced he planned to stay on as a governor after his term as chair ends May 15, a role he can hold until January 2028.
2. Short-term rental hosts feel same World Cup demand pinch as hoteliers
Hoteliers have had to come to terms with lower-than-expected demand for the World Cup so far as the tournament looms less than two months away. Short-term rental hosts in the host markets find themselves in the same boat, concerned that high ticket prices for both the matches and airfare coupled with negative sentiments toward the U.S. could affect bookings, the Wall Street Journal reports.
According to data from AirDNA, Boston is the only city with more than half of its short-term rental supply booked during the group stage of the World Cup at 55%.
Mae Stewart, a design consultant and an Airbnb host in Atlanta, said she spent $60,000 over the past two years renovating and refurnishing her three-bedroom house in an effort to attract demand from World Cup fans. Her expectations have tempered, and she's hoping for some last-minute pickup.
“I don’t think it’s going to be the huge windfall that I once thought it was,” Stewart said.
3. Hotel data experts dissect March's outperformance
This month on "Tell Me More: A Hospitality Data Podcast," hosts Isaac Collazo, STR's senior director of analytics, and Jan Freitag, CoStar's national director of hospitality analytics, take a look at the industry's stand-out performance in March, which included year-to-date revenue-per-available-room growth to 3.8% over the prior year.
Collazo said it was the best March performance since 2023 and was "even higher than my estimates."
"This is the first time we've seen ADR above inflation in 14 months," he added, noting that the March U.S. inflation rate was 3.3%.
4. Uber to add hotel bookings
The same app that takes users from point A to point B will soon include an option that allows them to book a place to stay. Through a partnership with Expedia Group, Uber will offer more than 700,000 hotel listings directly on the app, NBC News reports.
In another partnership with short-term rental company Vrbo, Uber users will be able to book a vacation rental in the app as well later this year.
The update “just makes the app much easier for [the user], and they don’t have to go to multiple apps,” Sachin Kansal, Uber’s chief product officer, said.
5. US economy grows 2% in the first quarter
In the first quarter of the year, the U.S. economy as a whole grew 2%, according to the Wall Street Journal. Artificial intelligence and a rebound from the fourth quarter's slower business, which was driven by the government shutdown, defined the quarter.
While economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal expected a 2.2% increase in gross domestic product, the Commerce Department reported a seasonally and inflation adjusted 2% annual rate growth for the January to March period.
“What you have here is an AI-inspired GDP increase, that in coming quarters will see a drag due to the Iran war,” Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM, said in the article.