Workers and their employers are paying a lot more for job-based health insurance this year. The annual cost of family health insurance coverage at work soared to an average of nearly $24,000 this year, according to KFF’s Employer Health Benefits Survey, released Wednesday. That’s up 7% from last year. Employees are shelling out an average […]
Tag: inflation
‘Shrinkflation’ becoming a commonplace trend
If you’ve noticed you’re getting less for more while you shop, it’s not just you. ‘Shrinkflation’ – reducing a product’s size or quantity while keeping its price stable – is rampant. As the global economy grapples with issues including rising raw material costs, supply chain backlogs and higher post-pandemic labourer wages, consumers are bearing the […]
‘Maganomics’ or ‘Bidenomics’ that is the ?
The White House is warning against so-called MAGAnomics, referring to former President Trump’s economic agenda, to tout President Biden’s economic agenda. The president is traveling to Maryland today to give a speech on the so-called Bidenomics, and the White House shared in a memo ahead of that to argue that the president and former president’s […]
Inflation accelerates again because of gas prices
Inflation re-accelerated for a second straight month in August, reversing previous declines in prices as consumers continued to grapple with the rising cost of everyday goods. The Labor Department said Wednesday that the consumer price index, a broad measure of the price for everyday goods including gasoline, groceries and rents, rose 0.6% in August from […]
Boomers to blame for current housing market
The current housing market has defied expectations of a downturn in real estate prices caused by this year’s surging mortgage rates. Instead, prices and demand have remained strong, confounding experts and stymying many first-time homebuyers. The reason? “Blame the boomers,” according to one Wall Street economist. It may seem paradoxical, acknowledged Barclays senior economist Jonathan […]
Gas prices soar under Biden administration
Gas prices remain high across the country despite slower demand and weaker inflation, an issue that could become critical for President Joe Biden ahead of the 2024 election, analysts have told Newsweek. When Biden took office in January 2021, gas prices were an average of $2.4 per gallon across the country, according to historical data […]
Why is there no alternative to the Panama canal?
The Panama Canal is essential to global trade, but a recent drought has left large numbers of ships waiting to pass along it, raising questions about whether an alternative route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans is needed. It is a traffic jam on a colossal scale. More than 200 ships, according to some estimates, […]
Interest Rates poised to go up says Fed Chief
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Friday inflation is still too high, and he warned that restoring price stability will likely require an extended period of elevated interest rates. Speaking to a gathering of economists and central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyo., Powell said it’s encouraging that inflation has cooled — from 9.1% last […]
As pandemic cash dwindles; day of reckoning is near
US consumers are approaching a reckoning as the excess cash they built up during the pandemic dwindles. How they respond will help determine whether the world’s largest economy can dodge a recession. Over the past two years, consumers have drawn down the more than $2 trillion in extra savings they accumulated during the pandemic in […]
US inflation rises in July
Prices for many items continued to rise in the US last month, despite a sharp increase in interest rates to stamp out inflation. The rate of inflation rose at 3.2% over the year to July, driven by higher housing, car insurance and food costs, the Labor Department said. That was up from 3% in June, […]
Biden’s economy looks good on paper, but we’re not feeling it
The United States economy is finally showing signs of significant improvement, much to the relief of President Joe Biden, but one area has challenged a total economic victory for his administration. Last week, the Commerce Department announced surprisingly strong numbers for the second quarter of 2023. Gross domestic product (GDP), adjusted for inflation, grew beyond […]
What Recession? US on a Barbie spending spree!
The numbers are in and things look surprisingly rosy for the U.S. economy: The Federal Reserve is still cautious, but big brands – including Coca-Cola, Hilton and Visa — are singing praises to shoppers seemingly undeterred by companies’ raising prices. What’s more, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Barbie are enticing people to part with their money, […]