Companies are bracing for potential trouble ahead by lowering their advertising budgets, cutting costs and adapting to their customers' changing spending habits.
U.S. employers added 528,000 jobs in July, showing the labor market remains strong, despite high inflation and softening economic growth. The unemployment rate fell to 3.5%.
Few voters may be thinking of Jerome Powell as they go to the polls in November, but all will be coping with economic conditions strongly influenced by Powell's Federal Reserve Board.
GDP, or gross domestic product, tells us how much the economy grew in the previous quarter. There's fears that the economy contracted for a second quarter in a row.
Biden has been faulted for speeches that do not seem to meet the moment or lack the urgency to compel others to follow. His soothing approach to issues that prompt anger has often failed to soothe.
With inflation at a four-decade high, a growing number of forecasters worry the U.S. economy may be headed to a recession as the Fed gears up to raise interest rates aggressively.
U.S. employers added 678,000 jobs in February as the unemployment rate fell to 3.8%, from 4% in January. The Federal Reserve hopes to curb inflation without stalling job growth.
Consumer prices in January were up 7.5% from a year ago, the biggest annual gain since 1982. That may seem like a lot for those under 40, but older folks have lived through even sharper price hikes.
The Federal Reserve is preparing to raise interest rates sooner and — perhaps — more aggressively after inflation reached the highest in nearly 40 years.
The U.S. economy is lacking more than a million immigrant workers who would be here if not for the pandemic and Trump-era cuts. That may be hurting industries that depend on immigrants, like trucking.
