Oil passed $110 a barrel, aluminum hit a fresh record and wheat rose to the highest since 2008. In Europe, natural gas prices and coal set all time highs, deepening the region’s energy crisis.
Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday that he supports a traditional quarter-point increase in the Federal Reserve’s benchmark short-term interest rate when the Fed meets later this month, rather than a larger increase that some of its policymakers have proposed.
Moscow’s war on Ukraine and the ferocious financial backlash it’s unleashed are not only inflicting an economic catastrophe on President Vladimir Putin’s Russia. The repercussions are also menacing the global economy.
Robust consumer spending has combined with widespread product and worker shortages to create the highest inflation in four decades—a heavy burden for U.S. households, especially lower-income families faced with elevated costs for food, fuel and rent.
The debate over how quickly to raise interest rates is being closely watched by financial markets and also could have an impact on the broader economy.
Americans are paying nearly a dollar more for a gallon of gas than they did last year as the growing threat of war in Ukraine moved oil prices higher.
Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said Monday that she was open to lifting interest rates by more than the traditional quarter-point at the central bank’s next meeting in March.
Walmart executives said that its shoppers are still in good financial shape, and they don’t see any major changes in consumer behavior patterns like trading down to cheaper labels—although they’re paying close attention to higher prices.
In total, fewer than 1.6 million Americans were collecting jobless aid the week that ended Feb. 5, a decrease of about 26,000 from the previous week.
Volatility in retail sales data is emerging after the pandemic and as related supply crunches drastically altered the behavior of Americans
Inflation, under control for four decades, re-emerged as an economic issue last year as the United States rebounded with unexpected speed from 2020’s short but devastating coronavirus recession.
A worsening inflation picture has touched off a range of opinions from the Federal Reserve’s policymakers about just how fast they should raise interest rates.
The four-week average for claims, which compensates for weekly volatility, declined by 2,000, to 253,250, after rising for five straight weeks as the omicron variant of the coronavirus spread, disrupting business in many parts of the U.S.
The acceleration of prices ranged across the economy, from food and furniture to apartment rents, airline fares and electricity.
The persistence of inflation, now running at an annual rate of 7%, has provided ammunition to conservative critics of the central bank known as “monetarists” for their adherence to the writings of economist Milton Friedman.
The report Friday from the Commerce Department also said that consumer spending fell 0.6% in December, with purchases of cars, electronics, and clothes declining.
The economy ended the year by growing at an unexpectedly brisk 6.9% annual pace from October through December as businesses replenished their inventories, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
The International Monetary Fund slashed the growth forecast for the United States—world’s largest economy—to 4%, down from the 5.2% it predicted in October.
Jobless claims rose for the third straight week—by 55,000, to 286,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The jump in claims marked the biggest one-week increase since mid-July.
Target’s top executive said U.S. consumers will drive less and consolidate their shopping into fewer trips as they adjust to pricier gasoline and the highest inflation rate in almost four decades.
