Median household income jumped to $68,700 in 2019, the highest since record-keeping began in 1967. Many of those gains have likely been erased this year, as the pandemic left tens of millions jobless.
Half or more of U.S. households say the financial impact of the pandemic has been serious. An NPR and Harvard survey found Houston households were affected the most, especially Blacks and Latinos.
The U.S. auto industry has an absenteeism problem. The word might bring to mind people playing hooky, but during a pandemic there are lots of good reasons people might not show up to work.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered a nationwide eviction ban for people who can't pay rent and have no place to go. It's helping some, but many others are getting evicted anyway.
There are dividing lines when it comes to how families are weathering the pandemic: Those living in big cities, those making less than $100,000 a year, and Latino and Black families are faring worst.
In the largest U.S. cities, at least half of all households have seen a serious financial loss such as lost job, wages or savings. Many problems are concentrated in Black and Latino households.
Consumer prices rose 0.4% in August and 1.3% over the last 12 months. Some economists say that official measure understates inflation, because the pandemic has changed both what and how we buy.
The pandemic has changed how people are shopping in ways that are not reflected in official measurements like the Consumer Price Index, due out Friday morning. Lived inflation is probably even higher.
Fires continue to rage in the West Coast. The Senate failed to advance another COVID-19 relief bill. And, Microsoft says the Russian hackers who disrupted the 2016 election are back.
New York City has gotten the coronavirus under control much more successfully than most parts of the U.S. But now it's dealing with severe economic consequences of the shutdown, according to a poll.
Flight attendants, pilots and other airline employees hope a deadlocked Congress will agree to extend a federal payroll relief program and prevent mass layoffs.
Many of the serious financial problems are concentrated among Black and Latino households in America's four biggest cities, according to the poll, which gathered responses from July 1 through Aug 3.