By Alicia Wallace, CNN Business Minneapolis (CNN Business) – Heading into the all-important holiday shopping season, American consumers still aren’t feeling very confident about the state of the US economy. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index landed at 56.8 in November, up from the preliminary reading of 54.7 measured
By Parija Kavilanz, CNN Business New York CNNBusiness — Is there anything at your local grocery store (besides avocados) that’s getting less — not more — expensive as families plan their upcoming Thanksgiving Day meals? Well, yes, but you have to look carefully. While 90% of grocery items right now
By Tami Luhby, CNN New York CNN Business — Employers continued hiking wages to attract workers and hold on to existing staff during the third quarter. But the raises did not keep up with inflation — and the continued increase is unwelcome news for the Federal Reserve, since higher wages
By Allison Morrow, CNN Business New York CNN Business — No one expected the Federal Reserve to be able to smother inflation swiftly. But after seven months of rapidly rising interest rates, the central bank has hardly made a dent. Thursday’s look at the September consumer price data shows we’re
By Vivekanand Jayakumar, The Hill Once again, U.S. consumers are sharply reorienting their spending patterns — the two-year-long pandemic-induced spending splurge on durable goods appears to be waning just as pent-up demand for services takes off. Despite inflation remaining near 40-year highs, overall consumption expenditure in the U.S. remains quite
U.S. President Joe Biden arrives for the meeting of European Union (EU) leaders in Brussels, Belgium, March 24, 2022. (Shutterstock) By Liz Peek, The Hill President Biden wants Americans to know: Curbing inflation is his top, top, top priority. He recently penned an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal
By Jeff Cox, CNBC Consumers kept spending in April, with retail sales rising about in line with Wall Street expectations despite an ongoing surge in prices. Monthly sales rose 0.9% overall, just below the Dow Jones estimate for a 1% increase, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Excluding autos, sales increased
By Jeff Cox, CNBC Consumers grew a little more optimistic about inflation in April, though they still expect to be spending considerably more in the year ahead, a Federal Reserve survey released Monday shows. Inflation expectations over the next year fell to a median 6.3%, a 0.3 percentage-point decrease from
By Jeff Cox, CNBC U.S. homebuilding unexpectedly rose in March, but starts for single-family housing tumbled amid rising mortgage rates. Housing starts increased 0.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.793 million units last month, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday. Data for February was revised higher to a
By Patti Domm, CNBC Consumer price inflation in March is expected to have spiked the most since December 1981, driven by higher food costs, rising rents and runaway energy prices. The consumer price index will be released Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. ET, and economists expect a monthly jump of 1.1%
