The Federal Reserve received mixed news in the latest data on U.S. inflation as it mulls another rate hike. Consumer prices rose 8.3% in August from a year earlier, data released on Sept. 13, 2022, shows. While this pace is down from the 8.5% annual gain experienced in July, it’s still higher than what some […]
Jobs are up! Wages are up! So why am I as an economist so gloomy?
In any other time, the jobs news that came down on Dec. 2, 2022, would be reason for cheer. The U.S. added 263,000 nonfarm jobs in November, leaving the unemployment rate at a low 3.7%. Moreover, wages are up – with average hourly pay jumping 5.1% compared with a year earlier. So why am I […]
Inflation report is a mixed bag – an economist explains why some items are rising faster than others
Economists worried about soaring inflation got some good news to start the year: The rate of inflation has eased. The first report card of 2023 on consumer prices, released on Jan. 12, showed that the overall cost of goods and services decelerated to an annual pace of 6.5% in December, the slowest in over a […]