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Stories Tagged as

Inflation

Amid persistent inflation, just what is "discretionary" spending?

by Savannah Maher
Mar 2, 2023
Retailers’ financial results show weaker spending on nonnecessities like electronics. Here's where consumers are pulling back.
As consumers tighten their purse strings, expenses like takeout and dining out may be on the chopping block.
Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images
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Yellen: "Progress on inflation is not going to be a straight line"

by Kai Ryssdal , Andie Corban and Sarah Leeson
Mar 2, 2023
The Treasury secretary says "people don't need to lose their jobs" to cool down the labor market.
"There's a great sense of community but an enormous amount of trauma that everyone in Ukraine is experiencing," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says. Above, Yellen at a school in Kyiv earlier this week.
Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images
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Where's the sweet spot for wage growth?

by Sabri Ben-Achour
Mar 1, 2023
Economists say 3.5% wage growth is about right when you take inflation and productivity growth into account — but we're not there yet.
Right now, wage growth is at 4.4% year over year. But economists say 3.5% is the ideal figure.
Kena Betancur/Getty Images
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"New smaller size, same great price!" The products we buy are shrinking, and so is the value.

by Janet Nguyen
Mar 1, 2023
Less of a good thing: “Marketplace” listeners tell us about products they've seen that have undergone "shrinkflation."
At Dollar Tree, packages of Hampton Farms peanuts have decreased from 1 pound to 8 ounces. Many companies are dealing with inflation by recalculating price versus quantity.
Courtesy of Percy Wilson
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A more productive U.S. economy could unlock $10 trillion

by David Brancaccio and Alex Schroeder
Feb 27, 2023
Higher productivity could drive up wages, temper inflation and aid the energy transition, the McKinsey Global Institute finds.
Jean-Sebastien Evrard/AFP via Getty Images
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Economic Pulse

A 118-year-old department store perseveres in a tenuous economy

by Sabri Ben-Achour and Jarrett Dang
Feb 17, 2023
How a department store more than a century old has survived two pandemics, the Great Depression, and multiple recessions.
Dunham's Department Store in Wellsboro, PA. Ann Dunham Rawson, whose great-grandparents opened Dunham's, said the store is doing well despite wider economic anxiety.
Courtesy Ann Dunham Rawson
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The producer price index hints at where consumer prices are headed

by Lily Jamali
Feb 16, 2023
Wholesale prices rose 0.7% in January, showing that inflation is sticking around.
Food prices for suppliers dropped 1% month over month, according to the producer price index.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
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For the 2023 Farm Bill, expect a political showdown over SNAP benefits

by Savannah Maher
Feb 16, 2023
Congress will be debating food aid programs covered by the bill, just as pandemic-era funding increases for food aid expire while grocery costs remain high.
As grocery costs remain high, a shrinking budget for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could be a strain for recipients.
Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
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Economic Pulse

What one egg producer says about how the industry is doing

by Sabri Ben-Achour and Erika Soderstrom
Feb 16, 2023
Sam Krouse, co-CEO of MPS Egg Farms, says wholesale prices are down as farms recover from avian flu and consumer demand eases.
Sam Krouse, co-head of MPS Egg Farms, says the industry is recovering well from a widespread outbreak of avian flu that caused prices to skyrocket.
David Silverman/Getty Images
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Keeping up with cat-flation and the rising minimum wage

by Nicholas Guiang
Feb 14, 2023
The entrepreneur behind a Florida cat cafe hopes 2023 brings reduced costs and many more adoptions.
The costs of cat care supplies have increased, and the owner of a cat cafe in Florida is looking for alternatives.
Andrew Burton/Getty Images
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