US retailers discounted heavily on Black Friday to clear out bloated inventories but customers responded with only modest traffic, leaving profitability in doubt for many chains.
Total online shopping orders this holiday season are expected to decline from 2021 as consumer budgets are pinched by inflation.
US consumer prices were resurgent last month, dashing hopes of a nascent slowdown and likely assuring another historically large interest-rate hike from the Federal Reserve.
US consumer sentiment rose in early August to a three-month high on firmer expectations about the economy and personal finances.
US inflation decelerated in July by more than expected, reflecting lower energy prices, which may take some pressure off the Federal Reserve to continue aggressively hiking interest rates.
US employers added more than double the number of jobs forecast, illustrating rock-solid labor demand that tempers recession worries and suggests the Federal Reserve will press on with steep interest-rate hikes to thwart inflation.
The US economy is losing momentum heading into the back half of the year, highlighted by the government’s latest report card that showed weaker consumer spending and declines in business and residential investment.
US economic productivity during the pandemic was driven entirely by firms with remote work capacity, according to a new study co-authored by Robert Gordon of Northwestern University.
US retail sales were stronger than expected in June, but after several economists adjusted the data for inflation, they still point to a leveling off in spending.
US inflation accelerated in June by more than forecast, underscoring relentless price pressures that will keep the Federal Reserve on track for another big interest-rate hike later this month.
Inflation continued to heat up in June, hitting a fresh pandemic peak that keeps the Federal Reserve geared for another big interest-rate hike later this month, economists project.
US retail sales fell in May for the first time in five months, restrained by a plunge in auto purchases and other big-ticket items, suggesting moderating demand for goods amid decades-high inflation.
US inflation accelerated to a fresh 40-year high in May, a sign that price pressures are becoming entrenched in the economy.
Economists like to strip food and energy out of their inflation calculations. They’re too volatile to be meaningful, they say. But for everyday Americans coping with exploding prices, those items are pretty much all they care about right now.
The likely moderation of US job growth in coming months will reflect a combination of hiring challenges in a remarkably tight labor market, shifts in spending patterns and outright soft spots within a handful of industries.
US consumer confidence dropped in May to the lowest since February, underscoring the impact of decades-high inflation on Americans’ economic views.
The widespread adoption of remote work across the US has left local employers learning to compete with out-of-state companies offering big-city salaries.
The value of overall retail purchases increased 0.9%, after an upwardly revised 1.4% gain in March, Commerce Department figures showed Wednesday. Excluding vehicles and gas stations, sales rose 1% last month. The figures aren’t adjusted for inflation.
The ocean shipping industry, among the world’s biggest polluters, is asking a key regulator to overhaul its emissions directives so that all carriers are working off the same rulebook as they make the expensive changes needed to cut output of harmful carbons.
The U.S. economy unexpectedly shrank last quarter, the first contraction since 2020, as a ballooning trade deficit and softer inventory growth belied an otherwise solid consumer and business demand picture.
Bookings for durable goods -- items meant to last at least three years -- increased 0.8% in March after a revised 1.7% decline a month earlier, Commerce Department figures showed Tuesday. The figures aren’t adjusted for inflation.
Bank CEOs kicked off earnings season with a consistent message that household finances and demand are in solid shape. Procter & Gamble Co., which counts Tide, Bounty and Pampers among its brands, has seen consumers reaching for premium-brand products. Bank of America Corp. and credit-card giant American Express Co. noted solid travel demand.
The Federal Reserve should raise interest rates to the neutral range as quickly as possible and can move above that should price pressures persist, Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said.
Prices paid to U.S. producers jumped in March from a year ago by the most in records back to 2010, topping all estimates and underscoring persistent early-stage inflationary pressures that risk feeding through to consumers.
The consumer price index increased 8.5% from a year earlier following a 7.9% annual gain in February, Labor Department data showed Tuesday. The widely followed inflation gauge rose 1.2% from a month earlier, the biggest gain since 2005. Gasoline costs drove half of the monthly increase.
The consumer price index, due Thursday, is forecast to accelerate to a 7.8% increase in February from a year ago, which would be the most since 1982. But economists are now saying it could peak somewhere in the 8%-9% range this month or next, as the invasion of Ukraine and severe restrictions on the Russian economy send the prices of staples like oil and food soaring.
Prices paid to U.S. producers jumped in January by more than forecast, pointing to persistent inflationary pressures as companies contend with supply-chain and labor constraints.
Orders placed with U.S. factories for durable goods fell in December for the first time in three months, pointing to a pause in capital investment at the close of the fourth quarter.
The mixed picture of the U.S. labor market that emerged in 2021 isn’t going anywhere this year.
Federal Reserve officials intensified their battle against the hottest inflation in a generation by shifting to end their asset-buying program earlier and signaling they favor raising interest rates in 2022 at a faster pace than expected.
Economists are getting a dose of humility on forecasting inflation after a resurgent coronavirus, a tenuous global supply network and stimulus-fueled consumers combined to send U.S. prices well beyond the expectations of Wall Street and policy makers.
San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly expects supply-chain constraints to persist into next summer, but price pressures should abate after pandemic effects wane.
The latest reading of the labor market on Friday comes at a time of more worker upheaval than the country has seen in decades.
Emergency unemployment benefits in the U.S. expired two weeks ago, but employers who expected an increase in job applications are still largely waiting for them to roll in.
Prices paid by U.S. consumers surged in June by the most since 2008, topping all forecasts and testing the Federal Reserve’s commitment to sticking with ultra-easy monetary support for the economy.
An unexpected jump in U.S. wages has given financial markets a new reason to worry that higher inflation may be here to stay.
Americans are shedding their masks, buying concert tickets and booking vacations like it’s 2019. But there’s one thing that’s doesn’t appear to be going anywhere as the pandemic fades: remote work.
As the U.S. job market comes roaring back, there’s a growing debate about whether there are enough workers to power faster economic growth.
With Democrats on the verge of passing an almost $2 trillion stimulus bill and Covid-19 vaccinations moving ahead, the U.S. economic outlook is much sunnier than it looked in early January.
The U.S. economy is starting to display pockets of price pressures, further stoking the debate among economists and market participants over the future path of inflation.
With Covid-19 cases stabilizing and Democrats oiling the tracks to pass large parts of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan -- even without Republican support -- economists are raising their 2021 economic growth forecasts.
Chances of another federal stimulus package got a boost as Democrats swept this week’s Senate runoff elections in Georgia, offering the prospect of more support for people and businesses hammered by the pandemic.
Sales of previously owned U.S. homes fell in November for the first time in six months, suggesting that surging prices and a record-low supply are constraining red-hot demand.
The U.S. economy has splintered along state and city lines, with the speed of the rebound largely dependent on the magnitude of local business restrictions to combat an unending surge in Covid-19 cases.
For decades, the attitude of unions and their advocates to increased automation could be summed up in one word: no. They feared that every time a machine was slipped into the workflow, a laborer lost a job.
U.S. industrial production in June posted the largest monthly gain since 1959, indicating manufacturing is stirring to life after coronavirus-related shutdowns.
Some 2020 graduates are finding jobs, even in this economy. Luck plays a role, sure, but so does a willingness to compromise.
Reduced buying of goods or services that require in-person contact -- such as hotels, transportation and food services – suffered the most, while spending on things like landscaping services and home swimming pools didn’t fall.
Customers will be able to buy fractional shares with a minimum of $5 and a maximum of $10,000.
Since the market downturn began, TD Ameritrade has seen new-account openings for its automated investing platform jump 150%.
