Economy

First-time claims for unemployment insurance were little changed over the past week, indicating that the heightened pace of layoffs during the pandemic may have hit a plateau, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Initial filings for the week ended Nov. 13, totaled 268,000, a decline of 1,000 from a week ago and slightly higher than the

A breakdown of the latest U.S. data indicates that inflation is confined to certain sectors and will not pose a threat to the recovery, according to Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics. U.S. CPI inflation came in at an annual 6.2% in October, its steepest climb for more than 30 years. Energy, shelter

Real estate agents leave a home for sale during a broker open house in San Francisco, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images Rising mortgage interest rates continue to take their toll on demand, especially in the refinance market. Total mortgage application volume fell 2.8% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage

U.S. shoppers accelerated their level of spending in October even as the prices of goods jumped at their fastest pace since the 1990s, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Retail sales, a measure of how much consumers spent on goods ranging across categories from autos to sporting goods and food and gas, increased 1.7% for October,

Carpenters work on building new townhomes that are still under construction while building material supplies are in high demand in Tampa, Florida, May 5, 2021. Octavio Jones | Reuters Higher prices and longer wait times do not appear to be turning buyers away from the nation’s homebuilders. With demand still surging, homebuilder confidence in the

The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve building stands in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. Erin Scott | Bloomberg via Getty Images Interest rates could remain at their record lows “forever,” according to one asset manager, despite a recent rush to normalize policy by many of the world’s central banks. GAM Investments’ Julian

A person shops in the meat section of a grocery store on November 11, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. Mario Tama | Getty Images Republicans on the Joint Economic Committee on Monday warned that inflation is having an outsized effect on Americans in the lowest income brackets given acceleration in the price of housing, gasoline

A truck picks up a shipping container at the Port of Savannah in Georgia. The supply chain crisis has created a backlog of nearly 80,000 shipping containers at this port, the third-largest container port in the United States, with around 20 ships anchored off the Atlantic coast, waiting to offload their cargo. Paul Hennessy |

Inflation across a broad swath of products that consumers buy every day was even worse than expected in October, hitting its highest point in more than 30 years, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. The consumer price index, which is a basket of products ranging from gasoline and health care to groceries and rents, rose 6.2%

Traders on the floor of the NYSE Source: NYSE Traders in the futures markets moved up their expectations for the first Federal Reserve interest rate hike to July from September, following a hotter than expected inflation report. “It’s a very sharp move we’re seeing the back end of 2022,” said Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer

A pedestrian walks by a now hiring sign at a Lamps Plus store on September 16, 2021 in San Francisco, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images Consumer confidence hit a 10-year low in November as inflation climbed to the highest levels since the early 1990s, complicating efforts from policymakers to sell the case that the

A record-high 4.4 million people, or 3% of workers, quit their job in September, according to the Labor Department’s latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey released Friday. The tight market, where workers have more leverage to move around and employers are doing everything they can to staff up, is already impacting the holiday shopping

Shipping containers in the Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California, U.S., on Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021. Kyle Grillot | Bloomberg | Getty Images The rate of consumer price increases jumped to a three-decade high in October as supply chain disruptions and holiday-shopping demand fueled inflation across a range of industries. But as hot

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks on the bipartisan infrastructure deal at the Port of Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland, on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. Samuel Corum | Bloomberg | Getty Images As government economists work to find ways to combat soaring inflation and ease supply chain disruptions, President Joe Biden is leaning on his ability to

Signage outside the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) headquarters in Washington, D.C. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images The IRS announced higher federal income tax brackets and standard deductions for 2022 amid rising inflation. The consumer price index surged by 6.2% in October compared to the previous year, the biggest jump in more than three decades.

A gas pump at an Arco gas station in San Diego, California. Mike Blake | Reuters October’s surge in consumer prices was driven by some factors that may linger. Market pros say the Federal Reserve may be forced to move up the timeline on its ultimate inflation-fighting tool: interest rate hikes. The consumer price index

Ornamental statues at China Evergrande Group’s Life in Venice real estate and tourism development in Qidong, Jiangsu province, China, on Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021. Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images BEIJING — The U.S. Federal Reserve warned Monday of potential spillover from China’s real estate troubles to the U.S. financial system. Since this summer,

U.S. dollar banknotes are seen in this photo illustration. Jose Luis Gonzalez | Illustration | Reuters Household debt passed $15 trillion for the first time in the third quarter, as rising prices pushed up balances for homes and autos, the New York Federal Reserve reported Tuesday. Mortgages rose 2.2% to nearly $10.7 trillion, and autos