US economy

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April Report Holds Tentative Sign Inflation Could Be Peaking

It hit 8.3% last month, but slowed from 40-year high

(Newser) - Inflation slowed in April after seven months of relentless gains, a tentative sign that price increases may be peaking while still imposing a financial strain on American households. Consumer prices jumped 8.3% last month from 12 months earlier, the Labor Department said Wednesday. That was below the 8.5%...

US Economy Shrinks for the First Time Since 2020

But experts say the economy is still robust

(Newser) - In the first quarter of 2022, the US economy shrank for the first time since COVID sent it into a "deep, dark hole" in 2020—but economists believe the fall in GDP is a blip, not a sign the US is entering a recession again. The economy contracted at...

His Father's Death Exposed Family's Fall From Middle Class

The exact opposite of intergenerational wealth is forcing families out of the middle class

(Newser) - "Backward mobility" is one term economists use to describe the descent of many middle-class families into "the bottom 50% of Americans who collectively have a negative net worth." That financial trend is the background for Eli Saslow's piece for the Washington Post on the "death...

Key Inflation Measure Hits a 39-Year High

Meanwhile, consumer spending fell 0.6% last month

(Newser) - A measure of prices that is closely tracked by the Federal Reserve rose 5.8% last year, the sharpest increase since 1982, as brisk consumer spending collided with snarled supply chains to raise the costs of food, furniture, appliances, and other goods. The report Friday from the Commerce Department also...

Bounce Back for US Economy in 2021 Was a Major One

Nation's GDP saw strongest calendar-year growth since the Reagan years

(Newser) - The US economy grew last year at the fastest pace since Ronald Reagan's presidency, bouncing back with resilience from 2020's brief but devastating coronavirus recession. The nation's gross domestic product—its total output of goods and services—expanded 5.7% in 2021. It was the strongest calendar-year...

Americans Might Have to Spend Like Europeans
Americans Might Have
to Spend Like Europeans
opinion
Nov 14, 2021 11:10 AM CST

Americans Might Have to Spend Like Europeans

Ever-increasing consumption isn't a sustainable model, Allison Schrager writes

(Newser) - The data back up the notion that the buying and selling of consumer goods drives the US economy. Two-thirds of the gross domestic product consists of household consumption. Especially when the economic going gets tough, Americans are urged to go shopping. But the system has hit a snag, with prices...

White House Ditches Its Favorite Word About Inflation


White House
Ditches Its
Favorite Word
About Inflation
the rundown
Nov 11, 2021 10:40 AM CST

White House Ditches Its Favorite Word About Inflation

Biden and officials no longer downplaying rise in prices as 'transitory'

(Newser) - For months, the White House downplayed concerns about inflation by describing the steep rise in prices as "transitory"—just a temporary blip related to the pandemic recovery. But as Kevin Liptak writes in a CNN analysis, President Biden didn't use the term Wednesday when discussing the news...

Got Milk Controversy? CNN Does
Got Milk Controversy?
CNN Does
THE RUNDOWN
Nov 5, 2021 12:09 PM CDT

Got Milk Controversy? CNN Does

A Texas family's milk consumption was featured in a news segment on inflation; backlash followed

(Newser) - The US economy continues to be a hot topic, especially as we head toward another winter still wrangling with COVID, and a CNN report this week tried to get to the heart of "how badly inflation is hitting the middle class." The five-minute segment intro'd by commentator...

Fed Now Expects Inflation to Linger

Central bank is going to start dialing back economic aid

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve will begin dialing back the extraordinary economic aid it's provided since the pandemic erupted last year, a response to high inflation that now looks likely to persist longer than it did just a few months ago . In a statement Wednesday after its latest policy meeting, the...

A Swing and a Miss for September's Jobs Report

Just 194K jobs were added last month

(Newser) - US employers added just 194,000 jobs in September, a second straight tepid gain and evidence that the pandemic still has a grip on the economy, with many companies struggling to fill millions of open jobs. Friday's report from the Labor Department also showed that the unemployment rate fell...

Stocks Dip After Fed Says Economy &#39;Downshifted&#39;
Stocks Drop After Fed
Releases 'Beige Book'
MARKETS
Sep 8, 2021 3:42 PM CDT

Stocks Drop After Fed Releases 'Beige Book'

Economy 'downshifted' over the summer

(Newser) - Stocks closed lower on Wall Street Wednesday following a Federal Reserve report that shows US economic activity slowed this summer amid rising worries over resurgent coronavirus cases and mounting supply chain problems and labor shortages. The Fed’s latest survey of the nation’s business conditions, dubbed the “Beige...

Federal Reserve Chair Signals a 'Tapering' May Be Coming

Jerome Powell says if hiring stays on track, Fed will start to pull back on its low-rate pandemic policies

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve will start dialing back its ultra-low-rate policies this year as long as hiring continues to improve, Chair Jerome Powell said Friday, signaling the beginning of the end of the Fed's extraordinary response to the pandemic recession. Investors seemed to like the sentiment, with markets rising, notes...

New GDP Number Marks a Milestone for Economy

'Officially back and fully recovered,' declares 'Washington Post'

(Newser) - The new GDP numbers are out, and they show that the economy grew at a fast pace in the second quarter—though not quite as fast as expected.
  • The number: The nation's gross domestic product increased by 6.5% from April through June, below expectations of 8.4%, reports
...

Fed: No Change in Rates Despite Strong Recovery

But central bank may start dialing back policies later this year

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that the US economy is strengthening and making progress on the Fed's employment and inflation goals, a small step toward dialing back its ultra-low-interest rate policies, perhaps later this year. The statement the Fed issued after its latest policy meeting said that ongoing vaccinations...

This Is Going to Be a Big Week for Markets

Earnings season, already off to a hot start, continues, and the Fed meets

(Newser) - Wall Street is in the midst of earnings season, and the results so far have been unprecedented. Roughly a quarter of S&P 500 companies have reported second-quarter results, and 88% have come in better than expected, reports Axios . If that trend holds up, it would be the highest percentage...

COVID Delivered Shortest Recession in US History

Severe downturn officially lasted 2 months, ending in April 2020

(Newser) - Economists have concluded that the pandemic inflicted a deep recession on the US economy last year, but also the shortest one in history. The National Bureau of Economic Research, the official arbiter of such things, declared Monday that the recession lasted all of two months, ending in April 2020, reports...

New Data Suggest a Robust Recovery Is on the Way

Household income increases by a record amount in March, thanks to stimulus checks

(Newser) - The US saw the largest monthly increase in household income in March since government records began tracing that metric more than 60 years ago. The record 21.1% surge, following a 7% decline in February, came after President Biden signed a relief package that included $1,400 stimulus checks. Those...

A Big Sign That the US Economy Is on the Upswing

684K filed for unemployment benefits last week in the US, the lowest number since pandemic began

(Newser) - The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply last week to 684,000, the fewest since the pandemic erupted a year ago and a sign that the economy is improving. Thursday's report from the Labor Department showed that jobless claims fell from 781,000 the week before. It'...

After Virus, China to Pass US Economy Sooner

Nations' handling of the pandemic is the difference, British forecast says

(Newser) - China is now on track to pass the US five years sooner than previously forecast, becoming the world's largest economy by 2028. The two nations' handling of the pandemic has changed the trajectory, Britain's Center for Economics and Business Research said in an analysis released Saturday. It called...

Fed Says Outlook for 2021 Has Brightened

But interest rate is staying near zero

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it will keep buying government bonds until the economy makes "substantial" progress—a step intended to reassure financial markets and keep long-term borrowing rates low indefinitely. The Fed also reiterated after its latest policy meeting that it expects to keep its short-term benchmark...

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