Monetary Base Contracted for 16th Month

(Positive) In June 2017, the monetary base was $3.792 trillion. In absolute terms, the monetary base decreased for the third straight month. Compared with one year ago, in June the monetary base decreased 1.3 percent. This was the 16th straight month and the 18th month in the last 19 months that it has contracted. However, the 1/12 rate of contraction was below 2 percent for the fourth month in a row. Therefore, the annual rate of change in the monetary base, now -5.0 percent, contracted at a decelerating rate for the fourth month in a row and was at its slowest rate of contraction since November 2016.