Articles written by Christopher Rugaber
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Why Americans feel gloomy about the economy despite falling inflation and low unemployment
WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation has reached its lowest point in 2 1/2 years. The unemployment rate has stayed below 4% for the longest stretch since the 1960s. And the U.S. economy has repeatedly defied predictions of a coming recession. Yet according...
Why the US job market has defied rising interest rates and expectations of high unemployment
WASHINGTON (AP) — Last year's spike in inflation, to the highest level in four decades, was painful enough for American households. Yet the cure — much higher interest rates, to cool spending and hiring — was expected to bring even more pain....
Sharply higher gas prices pushed up inflation in August, yet underlying price measures cooled
WASHINGTON (AP) — A spike in gas prices pushed up inflation in August, yet most other costs rose at a more modest pace, evidence that price increases overall are still cooling. In a set of conflicting data released Wednesday, the Labor Department...
Farm laborers to receive greater protections under Biden administration proposal
WASHINGTON (AP) — Immigrant farm workers would receive a raft of new protections under a Biden administration proposal to be announced Tuesday, which would boost safety requirements on farms and raise transparency around how such workers are...
Fed Chair Powell could signal the likelihood of high rates for longer in closely watched speech
JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming (AP) — When Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivers a high-profile speech Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, many analysts think he could make one thing clear: That the Fed plans to keep its benchmark interest rate at a...
US inflation has steadily cooled. Getting it down to the Fed's target rate will be the toughest mile
WASHINGTON (AP) — Over the past year, inflation in the United States has tumbled from 9% all the way to 3%, softening most of the price pressures that have gripped the nation for more than two years. Now comes the hard part. Squeezing out the last...
The US government's debt has been downgraded. Here's what to know
WASHINGTON (AP) — Late Tuesday, Fitch Ratings became the second of the three major credit-rating firms to remove its coveted triple-A assessment of the United States government's credit worthiness, a move that spurred debate in Washington about...
Federal Reserve raises rates for 11th time to fight inflation but gives no clear sign of next move
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate Wednesday for the 11th time in 17 months as part of its ongoing drive to curb inflation. But it provided little guidance about when — or whether — it might hike rates again. Wed...
Americans likely saw little relief from inflation in April
WASHINGTON (AP) — After steadily declining for nearly a year, consumer price data to be released Wednesday will likely show that U.S. inflation remained stubbornly high in April, a sign that it might be entering a newer, stickier phase. Consumer...
Government races to reassure US that banking system is safe
NEW YORK (AP) — Depositors withdrew savings and investors broadly sold off bank shares Monday as the federal government raced to reassure Americans that the banking system was secure after two bank failures fed fears that more financial...
US adds a robust 311,000 jobs despite Fed's rate hikes
WASHINGTON (AP) — America's employers added a substantial 311,000 jobs in February, fewer than January's huge gain but enough to keep pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates aggressively to fight inflation. The unemployment rate ros...
US inflation slows to 6.4%, but price pressures re-emerge
WASHINGTON (AP) — The pace of consumer price increases eased again in January compared with a year earlier, the latest sign that the high inflation that has gripped Americans for nearly two years is slowly easing. At the same time, Tuesday's...
Fed's Powell: Strong hiring could force further rate hikes
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday that if the U.S. job market further strengthens in the coming months or inflation readings accelerate, the Fed might have to raise its benchmark interest rate higher than it now...
An unexpected job surge confounds the Fed's economic models
WASHINGTON (AP) — Does the Federal Reserve have it wrong? For months, the Fed has been warily watching the U.S. economy's robust job gains out of concern that employers, desperate to hire, would keep boosting pay and, in turn, keep inflation high....
Fed lifts rate by quarter-point but says inflation is easing
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve extended its fight against high inflation Wednesday by raising its key interest rate a quarter-point, its eighth hike since March. And the Fed signaled that even though inflation is easing, it remains high...
Can US avoid a recession? As inflation eases, optimism rises
WASHINGTON (AP) — For months, the outlook for the U.S. economy has been a mostly bleak one: Inflation hitting a four-decade high, consumer spending weakening, interest rates surging. Most economists penciled in a recession for 2023. An economic...
A slowdown in US inflation eases some pressure on households
WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation in the United States slowed again last month in the latest sign that price increases are cooling despite the pressures they continue to inflict on American households. Consumer prices rose 7.1% in November from a year...
US wholesale inflation eases to 8%, 4th straight slowdown
WASHINGTON (AP) — Prices at the wholesale level rose 8% in October from a year ago, the fourth straight decline and the latest sign that inflation pressures in the United States are easing from painfully high levels. The annual figure is down from...
Fed unleashes another big rate hike but hints at a pullback
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve pumped up its benchmark interest rate Wednesday by three-quarters of a point for a fourth straight time to fight high inflation but also hinted that it could soon reduce the size of its rate hikes. The Fed's...
Powell's stark message: Inflation fight may cause recession
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve delivered its bluntest reckoning Wednesday of what it will take to finally tame painfully high inflation: Slower growth, higher unemployment and potentially a recession. Speaking at a news conference, Chair...
Driven by consumers, US inflation grows more persistent
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. inflation is showing signs of entering a more stubborn phase that will likely require drastic action by the Federal Reserve, a shift that has panicked financial markets and heightens the risks of a recession. Some of the...
US wholesale inflation fell in July for 1st time in 2 years
WASHINGTON (AP) — Prices at the wholesale level fell from June to July, the first month-to-month drop in more than two years and a sign that some of the U.S. economy's inflationary pressures cooled last month. Thursday's report from the Labor...
US inflation will likely stay high even as gas prices fall
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans may finally be catching a break from relentlessly surging prices — if just a slight one — even as inflation is expected to remain painfully high for months. Thanks largely to falling gas prices, the government's infl...
EXPLAINER: Mixed US inflation signs. Where are prices going?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumers struggling with skyrocketing prices for food, gas, autos and rent got a tantalizing hint of relief last month, when prices didn't budge at all from June after 25 straight months of increases. With gas prices continuing...
Lower prices offer Americans slight reprieve from inflation
WASHINGTON (AP) — Falling prices for gas, airline tickets and clothes gave Americans a little bit of relief last month, though overall inflation is still running at close to its highest level in four decades. Consumer prices jumped 8.5% in July...
