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The latest news and analysis about the health of the US economy.
Beef costs have risen faster than most other items in the consumer price index, with the broad beef and veal category up 15% over the past year as of January. Uncooked ground beef reached a fresh record after soaring by the most since June 2020 in government data released Friday. The gains are a standout from the rest of the consumer grocery basket where things have broadly improved.
Chicago Fed president Austan Goolsbee said after January's inflation data that further progress is needed before the Fed cuts rates again.
Inflation cooled more than expected in January, according to consumer data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
A stronger-than-expected jobs report for the month of January is likely to cement that the Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady for a while.
A much-anticipated labor market update isn't due out until Wednesday morning, but the White House is already working to downplay expectations.
The economy added 130,000 jobs in January — far more than economists had anticipated — while the unemployment rate remained flat at 4.3%, Labor Department data released Wednesday showed.
Two new voting members on the Federal Reserve this year said Tuesday they would prefer to hold rates steady for now because of concerns about inflation.
Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said Friday he sees the central bank's benchmark interest rate as "broadly in the range of neutral" and will closely examine the data when considering any additional rate cuts.
Consumers feel a bit better than they did last month.
Layoff announcements ballooned in January, hitting the highest level for the month since 2009, according to a Thursday report from the global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
