Tag Archives: economy

Bloomberg News reports: U.S. employers added more jobs than forecast last month, despite a surge in Covid-19 infections and related business closures. Nonfarm payrolls increased 467,000 in January after an upwardly revised 510,000 gain in December, a Labor Department report showed Friday. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4%, and average hourly earnings jumped. In a surprise display of strength, …

The Washington Post reports: The U.S. economy grew 5.7 percent in 2021, the fastest full-year clip since 1984, roaring back in the pandemic’s second year despite two new virus variants that rocked the United States. The economy grew 6.9 percent from October to December, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said Thursday, a sharp acceleration from the 2.3 percent it grew …

ABC News reports: Employers added a lackluster 199,000 jobs last month — significantly lower than economists’ expectations — and the unemployment rate fell to 3.9%, the Department of Labor said Friday. Hiring in December was even less than the revised figure for the previous month, when 249,000 jobs were added to the economy in November. The stalled job growth comes …

The Associated Press reports: Holiday sales rose at the fastest pace in 17 years, even as shoppers grappled with higher prices, product shortages and a raging new Covid-19 variant in the last few weeks of the season, according to one spending measure. Mastercard Spending Pulse, which tracks all kinds of payments including cash and debit cards, reported Sunday that holiday …

CNN reports: Senator Joe Manchin’s opposition to the Build Back Better Act prompted Goldman Sachs to swiftly dim its US economic outlook. The Wall Street firm told clients Sunday it no longer assumes President Joe Biden’s signature legislation will get through the narrowly divided Congress, citing the West Virginia Democrat’s announcement that he’s a “no” on the $1.75 trillion bill. …

The Associated Press reports: The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week despite signs that the U.S. labor market is rebounding from last year’s coronavirus recession. Jobless claims rose by 18,000 to a 206,000, still low by historical standards. The four-week average, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, fell by 16,000 to less than 204,000, the lowest level …

NBC News reports: Consumer prices rose by 6.8 percent in November over the previous year, the highest annual inflation rate since June 1982, according to the latest Consumer Price Index data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, released Friday. The figure exceeds the 6.2 percent year-over-year figure from October. Volatile energy prices, supply chain snarls, high consumer demand, and loose …

CNBC reports: The U.S. economy created far fewer jobs than expected in November, before a new Covid threat created a scare that growth could slow into the winter, the Labor Department reported Friday. Nonfarm payrolls increased by just 210,000 for the month, though the unemployment rate fell sharply to 4.2% from 4.6%, even though the labor force participation rate increased …

CNN Business reports: Dollar Tree will soon be $1.25 tree. The company — one of America’s last remaining true dollar stores — said Tuesday it will raise prices from $1 to $1.25 on the majority of its products by the first quarter of 2022. The change is a sign of the pressures low-cost retailers face holding down prices during a …

The Wall Street Journal reports: President Biden is set to nominate Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to a second term leading the central bank, the White House said Monday, opting for continuity in U.S. economic policy despite pushback from some Democrats who wanted someone tougher on bank regulations and climate change. Mr. Biden will also nominate Fed governor Lael Brainard …

The New York Times reports: Consumer inflation surged in October as fuel costs picked up, supply chains remained under pressure and rents moved higher — bad news for economic policymakers at the Federal Reserve and for the Biden White House, which had been emphasizing a recent slowdown in price gains. Inflation picked up to 0.9 percent last month from September, …

Bloomberg News reports: The U.S. labor market got back on track last month with a larger-than-forecast payrolls gain, indicating greater progress filling millions of vacancies as the effects of the delta variant faded. Nonfarm payrolls increased 531,000 last month after an upwardly revised 312,000 gain in September, a Labor Department report showed Friday. The unemployment rate fell to 4.6% while …

ABC News reports: Wages jumped in the three months ending in September by the most on records dating back 20 years, a stark illustration of the growing ability of workers to demand higher pay from companies that are desperate to fill a near-record number of available jobs. Pay increased 1.5% in the third quarter, the Labor Department said Friday. That’s …

Yahoo Finance reports: U.S. holiday sales could rise over 10% this year, a trade body said on Wednesday, as major consumer goods makers and retailers work to prevent supply chain disruptions from leaving shelves empty of in-demand toys and games. The National Retail Federation (NRF) forecast sales to increase between 8.5% and 10.5%, to between $843.4 billion and $859 billion, …

Bloomberg News reports: Applications for U.S. state unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest since March 2020, showing employers are hanging onto their workers in a tight labor market. Initial unemployment claims in regular state programs totaled 293,000 in the week ended Oct. 9, a decrease of 36,000 from the prior week, Labor Department data showed Thursday. The median …

Yahoo News reports: Initial unemployment claims fell further last week to the lowest level since March 2020, bringing the level of weekly new filings closer to pre-virus levels. New weekly jobless claims posted a fourth straight weekly decline, coming in yet again below the psychologically important 400,000 level. But even with the drop, new weekly claims are still elevated compared …

CNBC reports: Initial jobless claims declined for the third consecutive week as the U.S. labor market continued its recovery from last year’s recession. New claims for jobless benefits totaled 375,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday, matching estimates from economists surveyed by Dow Jones. The reading for the previous week was revised upward by 2,000 to 387,000 claims. The …

The New York Times reports: The American economy roared into midsummer with a strong gain in hiring, but there are questions about its ability to maintain that momentum as the Delta variant of the coronavirus causes growing concern. Employers added 943,000 jobs in July, the Labor Department reported Friday, but the data was collected in the first half of the …

Bloomberg News reports: It was the whopping-yet-still-disappointing 6.5% annualized growth number for the second quarter that got most of the attention when the U.S. gross domestic product report came out Thursday. But the data release from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis also included revisions to GDP and related measures back to 1999, making this an opportune time to …

The New York Times reports: Vaccinations and federal aid helped lift the U.S. economy out of its pandemic-induced hole this spring. The next test will be whether that momentum can continue as coronavirus cases rise, masks return and government help wanes. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output, grew 1.6 percent in the second quarter of the year, …