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What the Federal Reserve's favorite inflation measure can tell us

Jan 25, 2023
The personal consumption expenditures price index, better known as the PCE, tracks what we paid for goods and services in the previous month.
The PCE give less weight to consumer staples like gasoline than the consumer price index does.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Commercial lending is a mixed bag across the country, bankers say

Jan 24, 2023
In Southern California and South Carolina, businesses are looking for loans. But in the Midwest, owners are hesitant to borrow.
Banks across the country are reporting mixed lending activity, with some businesses borrowing to expand office space or buy new real estate.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

How much should interest rates keep rising? Fed officials now disagree

Jan 23, 2023
Some officials want a 0.75% rate hike at the next meeting. Others think a 0.5% increase is enough.
High-profile officials in the Federal Reserve System have offered differing attitudes toward future rate hikes following data that suggest a recent moderating of inflation.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Has the drop in immigration contributed to inflation?

Jan 20, 2023
Immigrants have accounted for a major share of labor force growth for years, increasing production, which keeps inflation lower, experts say.
Immigration to the U.S. dropped dramatically during the pandemic. Above, new U.S. citizens at a naturalization ceremony in Massachusetts on Jan. 5.
Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

The average U.S. renter now spends 30% of their income on rent, a new all-time high

Jan 20, 2023
When people have to spend more and more on rent, there's not much left over for other essentials.
Though there are large geographic differences, the average renter household in the U.S. is spending 30% of their income on rent.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Bank of Japan maintains its ultralow interest rate policy

Jan 18, 2023
A lot of investors were betting that the Bank of Japan would join other central banks in hiking rates to beat back inflation.
Though some investors thought the Bank of Japan, seen above, would join other big central banks and push interest rates higher, it did not.
Richard A. Brooks/AFP via Getty Images

For Black and Latino families, inflation can hit even harder

Jan 18, 2023
A recent New York Fed report finds that households in these demographics have experienced higher-than-average rates of inflation.
Black and Latino households tend to spend a larger proportion of their budgets on necessities like food.
Elijah Nouvelage/AFP via Getty Images

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Why consumers are pulling back on spending

Jan 17, 2023
A New York Fed survey shows consumers are cutting back. But inflation means they're paying more for the same stuff.
Consumer spending peaked over the summer and has been falling ever since, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

With more Brits retiring early, the Bank of England warns of a shrinking workforce — and rising inflation

Jan 17, 2023
A surge in the number of early retirees threatens to prolong inflation in the U.K.
The Bank of England, seen above, warns that a shrinking workforce and prolonged labor shortages could drive up inflation.
Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images

What if we told you inflation was back to its target rate?

Jan 17, 2023
When we focus on recent months rather than year-on-year increases, inflation numbers look pretty good, says economist Alan Blinder.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell, above, isn't ready to declare victory over inflation yet, says economist Alan Blinder.
Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images