Washington Wire

Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level since January last week, indicating a healthy labor market that continues to support the economy. Initial jobless claims dropped by 20,000 to 201,000 in the week ending Sept. 16, returning to within striking distance of the lowest level in more than five decades, according to Labor Department…

The Fed's decision to keep its key lending rate between 5.25 and 5.50 percent gives policymakers more time to assess the health of the US economy amid signs of robust economic growth and a strong labor market. Through updated economic forecasts, the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee indicated it believes the economy will fare far better than…

Following the disaster declaration issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, individuals and households affected by Hurricane Idalia that reside or have a business in Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks, Bulloch, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Cook, Echols, Emanuel, Glynn, Jeff Davis, Jenkins, Lanier, Lowndes, Pierce,…

The Federal Reserve has been on a rate-hike roll in 2022 and 2023, boosting interest rates 11 times and lifting the benchmark federal funds rate from 0.25% to as much as 5.5% in the process. With the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting scheduled Sept. 19 and 20, recent inflation and consumer-sentiment numbers suggest the Fed may continue to raise rates…

So far, the recession that many economists have been predicting has not happened. That does not mean that we are completely out of the woods. Although inflation has settled down from last year's rates, it is still 50% higher than the Federal Reserve's target.

U.S. inflation-adjusted household income decreased 2.3% in 2022 from a year earlier, highlighting the toll of a higher cost of living for American families. The median income last year was $74,580 compared with $76,330 in 2021, according to the Census Bureau's annual report on income, poverty and health insurance coverage. The report also showed the U.S….

Proposed federal regulations for short-term, limited duration health plans should exclude fixed indemnity and specified disease supplemental benefits which provide consumers important financial protections against high costs associated with medical care, the American Council of Life Insurers said in comments sent to three federal agencies.

DEARBORN, MICH.- "Bidenomics" still isn't resonating with the American people. Despite ultralow unemployment, moderating inflation and no signs of a much-anticipated recession, Americans are down on the economy and President Biden's stewardship of it. Those explanations have some merit, but there's another potential reason Democrats' economic agenda hasn't…

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she's increasingly confident that the U.S. will be able to contain inflation without major damage to the job market, hailing data showing a steady slowdown in inflation and a fresh influx of job seekers. "I am feeling very good about that prediction," Yellen said Sunday when asked about her previous hopes that the U.S. would…

Inflation needs to decline further before the Federal Reserve considers ending its more than yearlong string of quarterly interest-rate hikes meant to slow breakneck economic growth, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta chief executive told a student gathering this week at Broward College. Although he acknowledged consumer price increases have slowed…

WASHINGTON- An inflation gauge closely tracked by the Federal Reserve remained low last month, adding to signs of cooling price increases and raising the likelihood that the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged when it next meets in late September. Thursday's report from the Commerce Department showed that prices rose just 0.2% from June to July, the third…

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services sent a letter to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands requiring them to determine whether they have an eligibility systems issue that could cause people, especially children, to be disenrolled from Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program even if they are still eligible for coverage, and requiring them to immediately act to correct the problem and reinstate coverage.

The 12- month inflation rate began to rise in early 2021 and peaked at 8.9 percent in June 2022. That's what the Federal Reserve's policymakers had in mind when they began to raise the federal funds interest rate in March 2022. The average rate on a 30- year mortgage is up from 4.2 percent in March 2022 to 7 percent now.

JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming- Business these days in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is still good- just not as robust as it was after the U.S. economy roared out of the pandemic recession. As the Federal Reserve prepares to hold its annual economic conference there, its policymakers are trying to guide the nation's economy toward something akin to what's happening in Jackson Hole.

Halfway through the third quarter, the economy is looking surprisingly strong. A tracker from the Atlanta branch of the Federal Reserve has real gross domestic product growth, based on the limited data we've gotten so far, tracking at 5.8%, which would be the fastest for anon-pandemic quarter in 20 years. If the U.S. keeps up this blistering pace, it would trump…

That's the highest it's been since April 2002 and comes after the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates aggressively in a bid to fight inflation. The monthly payment on a $350,000 house today, assuming a 20 percent down payment, would be $1,880, compared to $1,159 in 2021, when interest rates were below 3 percent. "A lot of buyers have been priced out," said Robert…

Federal Reserve officials hinted at the idea of a' soft landing' for the U.S. economy, minutes of the central bank's July policy meeting indicated, suggesting a recession will likely be avoided but cautioning on the need for near-term rate hikes. The minutes, taken from the Fed's policy meeting that ended on July 26, reflect both the central bank's official…

WASHINGTON- Even President Joe Biden has some regrets about the name of the Inflation Reduction Act: As the giant law turns 1 on Wednesday, it's increasingly clear that immediately curbing prices wasn't the point. "I can't think of any mechanism by which it would have brought down inflation to date," said Harvard University economist Jason Furman, who added that…