Economy

CNN Business reports: Dan Salaja was a teenager with a new license last time he remembers gas selling for less than a dollar a few decades ago. “If I was a betting man, I would have bet a large amount of money we’d never see gas for less than a dollar again,” said the manager of Casey’s General Store in …

The New York Times reports: The Federal Reserve said it would buy as much government-backed debt as it needs to keep financial markets functioning, and unrolled a series of programs meant to shore up both large and small businesses — a whatever-it-takes effort to cushion the economic blow of the pandemic. “Aggressive efforts must be taken across the public and …

ABC News reports: Modell’s Sporting Goods, the century-old family-owned sporting goods chain, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will be closing its remaining 115 stores. It becomes the latest traditional retailer to succumb to a fast-changing environment. In recent years Payless ShoeSource Corp., Toys R Us and children’s chain Gymboree have filed for Chapter 11 reorganization or liquidated their …

The Hill reports: The U.S. added 273,000 jobs in February, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department, blowing past expectations ahead of a feared coronavirus economic slump. The unemployment rate stayed roughly even at 3.5 percent while the labor force participation rate held steady at 63.4 percent. February’s job gain comes after an upwardly revised increase of 273,000 …

The Washington Post reports: Trump is highly concerned about the market and has encouraged aides not to give predictions that might cause further tremors. On Wednesday morning, he announced he would be holding a press conference at 6 p.m. about the coronavirus. In recent days, Trump has devoted the majority of his public statements to slamming Democrats or complaining about …

Bloomberg reports: The White House acknowledged what many economists considered obvious through much of last year: President Donald Trump’s trade stance depressed economic growth and business investment. “Uncertainty generated by trade negotiations dampened investment,” Trump chief economist Tomas Philipson told reporters in a briefing on the annual Economic Report of the President released on Thursday. The admission contrasted with Trump’s …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Macy’s Inc. plans to close 125 department stores over the next three years, an admission that a fifth of its locations cannot thrive as shoppers buy more online and make fewer trips to malls. The company is also cutting about 2000 corporate jobs and closing several offices. It will abandon a dual national headquarters location …

Reuters reports: U.S. farm bankruptcy rates jumped 20% in 2019 – to an eight-year high – as financial woes in the U.S. agricultural economy continued in spite of massive federal bail-out funding, according to federal court data. According to data released this week by the United States Courts, family farmers filed 595 Chapter 12 bankruptcies in 2019, up from 498 …

Reuters reports: The U.S. economy maintained a moderate pace of growth in the fourth quarter, and again fell short of attaining the Trump administration’s coveted but elusive 3% annual growth target because of slumping business investment amid damaging trade tensions. The Commerce Department’s snapshot of gross domestic product on Thursday will show the Federal Reserve’s three interest rate cuts in …

Axios reports: Chief financial officers are bracing for an economic slowdown this year, according to Deloitte’s quarterly survey of nearly 150 executives at top North American companies. Multiple surveys showed plunging optimism among top executives last year, thanks largely to trade war uncertainty. Deloitte’s survey is a signal that skittishness continues to curb companies’ hiring and spending plans this year, …

CNBC reports: President Donald Trump plans to ink the “phase one” trade deal with China at the White House on Jan. 15.  The president said “high level representatives of China” will attend the signing. Trump added that he will travel to Beijing “at a later date” to start talks toward a second piece of the trade pact. The White House …

MarketWatch reports: President Donald Trump’s strategy to use import tariffs to protect and boost U.S. manufacturers backfired and led to job losses and higher prices, according to a Federal Reserve study released this week. “We find that the 2018 tariffs are associated with relative reductions in manufacturing employment and relative increases in producer prices,” concluded Fed economists Aaron Flaaen and …

Bloomberg News reports: In 2019, the world’s richest 500 people saw their collective net worth jump by 25 percent or $1.2 trillion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index published Friday. Combined, the collective net worth of the world’s 500 wealthiest individuals totaled $5.9 trillion. American billionaires alone added $500 billion to their wealth, with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg gaining $27.3 …

Bloomberg News reports: This year saw weak annual gains in luxury home prices, new tax proposals on million-dollar properties, and restrictions for foreign investors. But that didn’t stop luxury homebuyers in the U.S. from shelling out upwards of $100 million apiece for mansions, penthouses, and beachside properties. A Manhattan penthouse topped the list of 2019’s 10 most expensive residential real …

Bloomberg News reports: Holiday shopping set records over the weekend, with Super Saturday sales reaching $34.4 billion, the biggest single day in U.S. retail history, according to Customer Growth Partners. “Paced by the ‘Big Four’ mega-retailers — Walmart, Amazon, Costco and Target — Super Saturday was boosted by the best traffic our team has seen in years,” said Craig Johnson, …

Bloomberg News reports: Americans are projected to fall seriously behind on their credit card bills at the highest rate in a decade as banks push a record number of people to get plastic. The share of credit card borrowers who are at least 90 days past due on their accounts will probably tick up to 2.01% next year, the highest …

CNN reports: Paul A. Volcker, who helped shape American economic policy for more than six decades, most notably by leading the Federal Reserve’s brute-force campaign to subdue inflation in the late 1970s and early ’80s, died on Sunday in New York. He was 92. Mr. Volcker, a towering, taciturn and somewhat rumpled figure, arrived in Washington as America’s postwar economic …

Bloomberg News reports: U.S. job gains roared back in November as unemployment matched a half-century low and wages topped estimates, giving the Federal Reserve more reason to hold interest rates steady after three straight cuts. Stock futures and the dollar jumped while Treasuries slid. Payrolls jumped 266,000, the most since January, after an upwardly revised 156,000 advance the prior month, …

The Associated Press reports: This year’s Black Friday was the biggest ever for online sales, and Adobe Analytics says carts filled on phones, computers and tablets rang up $7.4 billion in transactions. That ranks just behind the $7.9 billion haul of last year’s Cyber Monday, which holds the one-day record for online sales. Adobe measures sales at 80 of the …

Gallup Polling reports: More than 13% of American adults — or about 34 million people — report knowing of at least one friend or family member in the past five years who died after not receiving needed medical treatment because they were unable to pay for it, based on a new study by Gallup and West Health. Nonwhites, those in …