Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has a new North Star to guide his fight against inflation, and it will put American paychecks at the heart of monetary policy next year. Because wages are an especially big cost for those service industries, "the labor market holds the key to understanding inflation in this category," he told the Brookings Institution in…

The Federal Reserve and the stock market are butting heads over the central bank's efforts to fight inflation. "The Fed and the stock market are fighting. They're in a brawl right now, "said Callie Cox, U.S. investment analyst at online investment firm eToro, in a Friday phone interview.

Job growth was“ essentially flat” in the second quarter with only 10,500 jobs added, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said. The Philadelphia Fed’ s new assessment shows that employment numbers in 29 states and the District of Columbia were significantly lower than the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported for the March-through-June period.

The NCOIL Paid Family Leave Insurance Model Act provides a framework for states to create a new line of insurance in which any insurer licensed to transact life insurance or disability income insurance will also be able to provide coverage for paid family leave.

Let's remember how we got into this latest housing affordability pickle: It's largely the Federal Reserve's fault. The pandemic era's homebuying frenzy grew into bubble status primarily due to historically low mortgage rates. Cheap financing made giant price gains more palatable than you might think.

The rule, proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, would ban ads that market Medicare Advantage plans with confusing words, imagery or logos. The proposed rule "takes important steps to hold Medicare Advantage plans accountable for providing high quality coverage and care to enrollees,” said agency Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure in…

The Federal Reserve reinforced its inflation fight Wednesday by raising its key interest rate for the seventh time this year and signaling more hikes to come. The Fed made clear, in a statement and a news conference by Chair Jerome Powell, that it thinks sharply higher rates are still needed to fully tame the worst inflation bout to strike the economy in four…

These days, the Federal Reserve sets interest rate policy independently from the executive branch, but that hasn't always been the case. In 1951, Marriner S. Eccles, who led the Fed from 1934 to 1948, made a decision that led to a split between the Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve, ushering in a new era for U.S. economic policy. "As the U.S. turn to war,…

Contacts across the U.S. Federal Reserve Districts expressed optimism heading into 2022, though supply-chain disruptions that came as a result of resurgent demand were already creating headwinds. In a telling statement a few short days after the invasion, Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund and David Malpass,…

Consumer price index data released Tuesday by the Labor Department still showed inflation near 40- year highs. But a slower pace of price growth may help Americans catch a break from more than a year of rapid inflation, all while giving the Federal Reserve room to hike interest rates at a slower pace. The Federal Open Market Committee, the panel of Fed officials…

The Federal Reserve is hoping to slow its interest rate hikes and give Americans some relief from rising mortgage and car payments. The Labor Department is set to release new consumer price index data for November on Tuesday, a day before the Fed is expected to increase rates for the final time this year. The Fed's efforts to put the brakes on the housing market…

Forget the work-from-home revolution or quiet quitting: The COVID-19 pandemic's biggest impact on the U.S. labor market will be as a mass disability event. It's a shock that the economy is not well prepared to handle. An estimated 1 in 4 COVID patients experience symptoms lasting months.

It comes out of the $86 billion in taxpayer money allocated to faltering pension plans in Mr. Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package last year. Mr. Biden said the payout will ensure 350,000 union workers and retirees can collect benefits through at least 2051. "Thanks to today's announcement, tens of thousands of union workers in states like Ohio, Michigan,…

The Federal Reserve reports that consumer credit— mainly credit cards, student loans and auto loans— was up by $27 billion in October, a billion more than in September. Credit card balances alone were up 15% in the third quarter— the quickest growth in 20 years, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. "Everyone got their stimulus checks, and a lot of people…

More challenges are arising for the Texas economy, both in the manufacturing and service sectors, according to new reports from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. "This month's survey painted an ominous picture for Texas manufacturing— production was flat and new orders declined sharply. The anonymous Texas Business Outlook Survey received feedback from…

Put on your statistical noise-canceling headphones, and the sound you hear is that of falling underlying inflation. Even Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, said in effect as much in his speech Wednesday. It's not happening yet, but in the nottoo- distant future, we'll probably see inflation fall enough that we'll have to make some hard decisions about when…

The gap between the consumer price index for all urban consumers and the Fed Funds Rate remains too wide to reflect progress toward inflation reduction, according to John Connaughton, director of the North Carolina Economic Forecast. The Federal Reserve, which meets again in December, is expected to roll out smaller interest rate increases, but the pace of…

Every time there is trouble looming for the economy, my schedule of presentations and interviews explodes. It happened during my more than 40 years on the North Carolina State University faculty, and it still happens in my retirement as I continue to interact with groups and the media. I'm seeing the same reactions today with worries about inflation and…

A bill (S. 5149) introduced by Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) would amend a definition that would currently result in burdensome requirements for insurance agents and brokers who assist consumers enrolling into Medicare.