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Stories Tagged as

Inflation

For every unsold good, there's a liquidator waiting

by Kristin Schwab
Aug 24, 2022
Big-box retailers are dumping excess inventory because of lower sales. Liquidators, who resell that merchandise, are thriving.
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Employers get creative with inflation compensation

by Meghan McCarty Carino
Aug 18, 2022
From early bonuses to gas cards and free lunch, companies offer perks to retain employees while struggling to keep their costs down.
To help workers deal with high prices, some employers have given bonuses or moved up pay increases. Other approaches include gasoline stipends or additional paid time off.
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How relevant are Federal Reserve meeting notes in a changing economy?

by Nancy Marshall-Genzer
Aug 17, 2022
Inflation seems to be easing since the central bank met in July. But analysts observe the dynamics among policymakers.
Wall Street often uses the minutes from Federal Reserve meetings to predict market trends, but the meeting notes don't always reflect current economic information.
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Ice cream trucks struggle despite the heat

by Kai Ryssdal and Nicholas Guiang
Aug 16, 2022
Ice cream trucks are raising prices to keep up with increasing costs. That's putting a chill in sales, Christina Morales of The New York Times reports.
As inflation heats up, ice cream truck drivers are being forced to raise prices.
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What Walmart and Home Depot's rising sales say about consumer sentiment

by Justin Ho
Aug 16, 2022
Walmart customers are thinking about rising prices. Home Depot customers are thinking about rising interest rates.
A look at Home Depot's sales indicates that people are opting to improve their existing homes rather than buy a new place.
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For Social Security recipients, "there’s no keeping up" with rising costs

by Savannah Maher
Aug 15, 2022
The program is expected to provide a large benefits increase in 2023. Until then, many on fixed incomes have to tighten their budgets.
Marketplace Senior Economics Contributor Chris Farrell outlines the benefits of this month's boost to government retiree benefits.
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Some kinds of inflation are "stickier" than others

by Mitchell Hartman
Aug 15, 2022
"Flexible" prices, like those for gas and produce, may not track inflation trends as well their "sticky" counterparts, like shelter and dining out.
Processed food is a "sticky" price item. The nonfood expenses, like packaging, advertising, shipping and labor, are likely to stay expensive for a while, says Jim Hertel at Inmar Intelligence.
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What can the producer price index tell us about inflation?

by Lily Jamali
Aug 11, 2022
The PPI offers a glimpse into what you might be paying for goods and services in the very near future.
The producer price index declined by half a percentage point in July. That's consistent with other measures that suggest an easing of inflation pressures.
Emilee Chinn/Getty Images for H&M
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Gas prices keep falling, but Americans still feel inflation's bite

by Lily Jamali
Aug 10, 2022
Lower prices at the pump are offering some relief from other areas of inflation, like rent and food. But gas prices are a volatile indicator.
Because gas prices are so volatile, they can be misleading when you’re tracking inflation, says Severin Borenstein of UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.
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Why the price of groceries is going up faster than a meal out

by Samantha Fields
Aug 10, 2022
In part, that’s because restaurants don’t want to scare away customers.
"If consumers were truly, truly worried," says economist Jennifer Lee, discretionary spending on things like restaurant lunches "would be one of the first areas they would cut back on."
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