Have you left the grocery store lately, appalled at the price you paid for food?
If so, you are hardly alone.
Read the full storyCommentary: Food Prices Crush Family Budgets
Tag: inflation
Prices Rose in December, Federal Data Shows
Newly released federal inflation data shows prices rose in December.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis released its Producer Consumption Expenditure, a key marker of inflation, which showed a 0.2% increase last month. That is an increase of 2.9% in the last year.
Read the full storyInflationary Woes: More Chain Stores Closed in 2023, Continuing into 2024
More chain stores closed in 2023 as a result of high inflationary costs, with the trend continuing in 2024 led by the iconic department store, Macy’s.
In 2023, retail stores, pharmaceutical and fast-food chains continued a trend of previous years: declaring bankruptcy and closing their doors or shutting down some locations to cut costs, citing inflation, higher costs, and profit losses.
Read the full storyContinued Inflation Tops List of Worries for Democrats, Republicans
A new poll shows that Democrats and Republicans are concerned more about inflation than other potential crises, but voters from the two parties don’t see eye to eye on other concerns, including the potential of a terrorist attack on U.S. soil or potential chaos after the 2024 election.
The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll conducted in conjunction with Noble Predictive Insights found that Republicans (45%) were more concerned about inflation than Democrats (32%). Concerns that inflation could continue and further drive up prices were highest for voters with children under 18 (47%) and those 45 to 54 years old (47%).
Read the full storyCorporate Media in Crisis as Outlets Grapple with Biden’s Economy
Numerous legacy media outlets are struggling with challenges posed by President Joe Biden’s economy and resorting to drastic measures, Axios reported on Friday.
Close to a dozen of these outlets are firing workers, dealing with employee strikes or looking to sell, according to Axios. The Federal Reserve’s imposition of high interest rates to bring down inflation is hindering their ability to accumulate more debt, complicating their efforts to extend the timeline for resolving their financial difficulties.
Read the full storyTennessee Legislature Will Consider Cap of How Much Property Taxes May Increase
A Tennessee bill would cap property tax increases in the state at 2 percent plus inflation each year and 6 percent plus inflation over a three-year span.
A higher percentage increase in property tax rates would require a referendum.
Read the full storyPoll Finds Americans Worried About National Debt
Americans are worried about the national debt, according to the results of a new poll.
Americans have the national debt crisis as one of their top concerns along with war, inflation and crime. Those polled think the overspending has a direct impact on their personal security and also has an impact on the security of the United States, according to a recent study commissioned by Main Street Economics, a nonprofit group designed to educate Americans on the nation’s debt crisis.
Read the full storyBig Pharma Raises Hundreds of Drug Prices Despite Biden Admin Efforts to Keep Costs Down
Top pharmaceutical companies raised the list price on 775 brand-name drugs in just the first half of January, even as President Joe Biden aims to keep prices low, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The median price hike of the drugs was around 4.5%, with some rising by 10% or more, despite an inflation rate of 3.4% year-over-year in December, according to data from 46brooklyn Research acquired by the WSJ. The price hikes are in contrast to the president’s efforts to tame rising drug prices, taking actions such as imposing automatic rebates to Medicare for drugmakers that raise their prices faster than the price of inflation, which first went into effect in December, affecting 48 drugs covered under Medicare Part B.
Read the full storyAnalysis Ties Surge in Inflation to Increased Spending, Value of Debt
The U.S. government and those of other countries could be using higher inflation to lessen the value of growing public debt resulting from increased spending during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new analysis by a Harvard economist working with The Heritage Foundation.
The study covers government spending from 2020 through 2022, the high point of the pandemic, and looked at the U.S. and 20 other economies in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD.
Read the full storyFederal Reserve Employees Went Through DEI Training as Inflation Rose
New documents reveal that, as the nation suffered from the strain of historically high inflation, employees at the Federal Reserve spent more time going through diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training than addressing the financial crisis.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, the newly-obtained documents reveal that there were four DEI training sessions held in the spring and summer of 2021. These lessons featured such teachings as “correct pronoun usage is a civil right” and acknowledging “White privilege,” as well as demanding the use of “inclusive language” such as “Latinx,” a word that is meant to erase the historically gendered language used in Hispanic languages.
Read the full storyPart-Time Jobs Are Booming Under Biden as Americans Look to Make Ends Meet
More Americans are having to take part-time jobs as consumers struggle with economic factors like high inflation, while full-time employment has sunk in tandem, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Around 133,196,000 workers were employed with full-time jobs in the U.S. in December, which was down from 134,727,000 in November — a drop of more than 1.5 million, according to the BLS. During that same time frame, the number of Americans employed in part-time positions rose by 762,000, while the number of people with multiple jobs increased by 222,000.
Read the full storyInflation Rose More than Expected in Latest Data
Consumer costs increased at an elevated level again in December, according to newly released federal economic data, raising new concerns about spiking inflation.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday released the Consumer Price Index, a key marker of inflation, showing the cost of a range of every day goods and services for Americans rose more than expected.
Read the full storySmall Business Owners Pessimistic About the Economy, Poll Shows
Small business owners are pessimistic about the future of the economy, according to a new poll.
The National Federation of Independent Businesses released the polling data Tuesday, which shows that the group’s “Small Businesses Optimism Index” decreased slightly in November to 90.1, its 23rd straight month below the historical average of small business optimism.
Read the full storyCommentary: Americans Turn on Globalists Saying Government Spending, Greed, and Global Issues Drive Inflation
A new survey reveals inflation is still the primary concern for Americans by a wide margin, and the public is beginning to turn on big government and recognize government spending and globalism as the culprits behind a dwindling standard of living.
This comes at a time when the country is poised to choose between another four years of excessive spending and an evaporating middle-class or return to an America First philosophy that strengthens the middle-class and structures international policy in our favor.
Read the full storyCommentary: As Inflation Cools, Fed Keeps Rates Steady, Slowdown Expected in 2024
The Federal Reserve on Dec. 13 held the Federal Funds Rate—the rate at which banks lend to each other—steady at 5.25 percent to 5.5 percent, as the consumer inflation once again cooled to 12-month average level of 3.1 percent, according to the latest data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Leading the cooldown were drops in energy prices as gasoline dropped 6 percent in November, following a 5 percent drop in October.
Read the full storyInflation Refuses to Go Away as Prices Stay Elevated
Inflation ticked slightly down year-over-year in November but continued to remain well above the Federal Reserve’s target, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) release on Tuesday.
The consumer price index (CPI), a broad measure of the prices of everyday goods, increased 3.1% on an annual basis in November, compared to 3.2% in October, according to the BLS. Core CPI, which excludes the volatile categories of energy and food, remained high, rising 4.0% year-over-year in October, compared to 4.0% in October.
Read the full storyCommentary: Bidenomics Is The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
The labor market continues to soften, with 199,000 jobs created last month, well below the recent average. Real job creation is far lower than this topline number suggests. Nearly 50,000 jobs were unproductive government jobs, continuing the trend of disproportionately high government job growth. The return of striking auto workers accounted for about 30,000 jobs. And 77,000 jobs were created in healthcare, which is a quasi-government industry. That leaves only about 40,000 jobs created in the real economy.
Real wages continue to stagnate, growing at the same rate as core inflation following significant declines in the first two years of Biden’s presidency. As usual, job creation in previous months was revised down in today’s report. Nearly one million more Americans are unemployed since April.
Read the full storyCommentary: Joe Biden’s Failures Are His Successes
If you were the owner of a professional football team, and you had just finished in last place for the third year in a row, one would expect management to implement serious personnel changes before the following season—that is if the team actually cared about winning.
Maybe the team needs a new coach that the players respect and trust to make the right play calls. Maybe they need a quarterback that doesn’t lead the league in interceptions and can run outside the pocket. Maybe they need an offensive line that will actually protect the quarterback from hitting the deck on every third and long. Maybe they need a kicker who doesn’t choke under pressure. Or maybe they just need their star wide receiver to stay healthy.
Read the full storyInflation Has Cost Average Americans over $11,000 per Year Under Biden
Just to maintain the same standard of living that Americans had at the beginning of President Joe Biden’s term, households have to spend an additional $11,434 per year, according to CBS News.
Since January 2021, when Biden first took office, inflation has risen 17%, far outpacing the 2% per year that the Federal Reserve aims for, while average hourly wages have only increased 13.6%, according to the Congressional Joint Economic Committee’s (JEC) state inflation tracker. As a result, more Americans reported that they are struggling financially than they did before the COVID-19 pandemic as persistent inflation continues to take its toll, according to CBS News.
Read the full storyCommentary: Hispanics Reject Biden’s Agenda
Joe Biden and the Democrats hemorrhage Latino support into 2024. In fact, the trend grows into perhaps the biggest single liability for the Left into next year’s election. The liberal site Axios sent up a warning flare, declaring the breakdown in Biden’s Hispanic support as “an alarming, re-election-threatening, full-blown crisis for the White House.”
The latest battleground state polling from my organization, the League of American Workers, validates that assessment, and points to potential seismic gains for the cause of patriotic populism among Hispanics this election cycle. Specifically, the latest survey highlights massive Hispanic dissatisfaction with Biden and leftist policies in the key battleground of Arizona, one of the most Hispanic states in America.
Read the full storyAnalysis: Consumer Prices Up 6.1 Percent Since April 2021 a Personal Income Falls Behind
by Robert Romano The U.S. economy has been on a rollercoaster ever since the COVID pandemic of 2020, first with high unemployment and near deflationary levels as the global economy was locked down, followed by a deluge of government spending, borrowing and printing almost $7 trillion, followed by inflation that has largely outstripped incomes. The last of the COVID transfer payments, which contributed substantially to the inflation — what Milton Friedman dubbed “helicopter money” — went out in March 2021, and so the question is how have the American people been faring since? Nominal personal income has increased at an average, annual rate of 4.4 percent, according to data compiled by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the meantime, the Consumer Price Index has increased at an average annual rate of 6.1 percent. The Bureau of Economic Analysis defines personal income as “The income that persons receive in return for their provision of labor, land, and capital used in current production, plus current transfer receipts less contributions for government social insurance (domestic).” That’s slightly confusing, and so the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank defines personal income it as “the income that persons receive in return for their provision of labor,…
Read the full storyCommentary: The High Price of Gaslighting Americans on Bidenomics’ ‘Success’
Anyone still wondering why voters trust former President Trump more than President Biden on the economy should read what the White House posted on X about inflation last week: “Ahead of the holiday season, costs are down for everything from airline tickets and car rentals to toys and TVs.” Biden and his underlings continue to believe public disapproval of his disastrous economic performance can be improved with happy talk and cherry picked statistics. It assumes Americans can’t remember how much less the cost of living was when Biden was elected.
Read the full storyRetailers Brace for Slow Holiday Season as Inflation Bites
Consumers are expected to cut back on discretionary spending this holiday season, hurting retailers, amid persistent inflation and declining savings, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The National Retail Federation anticipates consumer spending to rise around 3% to 4% in November and December, not including inflation, compared to a 5.4% increase that was observed in 2022 and a 5.4% gain in 2021 during the same time frame, according to the WSJ. In an effort to increase sales, many retailers are giving deeper discounts to lure consumers who may be apprehensive about buying products they don’t need, looking to boost their sales on Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the last two weeks of December, when holiday deals typically occur.
Read the full storyCommentary: Argentina’s First-Ever Libertarian President
Voters in Argentina have elected a libertarian as president for the first time in their history. On Sunday, Argentina had its second round of voting, and Javier Milei received 55.69% of the vote against the Peronist Sergio Massa’s 44.31%. In a country that suffers 143% annual inflation and a poverty rate hovering around 43%, Milei has a long and difficult road ahead.
Milei’s win marks the first time in 40 years that someone outside Argentina’s two largest parties was elected. La Libertad Avanza, Milei’s 3-year-old political party, finally broke through the entrenched and archaic political apparatus. In a tweet back in June, Milei stated that Argentina was choosing between the old politics and the new ideas. During his presidential campaign, Milei pledged to tackle Argentina’s inflationary unhealthy economy by dollarizing the peso and minimizing government spending.
Read the full storyTennessee Collects Third-Lowest Taxes per Capita in Country, Analysis Shows
A new analysis by the international research think tank Tax Foundation shows which states in the nation collect the least and most taxes per capita as of fiscal year (FY) 2021, the most recent year for which full state-by-state data are available.
Read the full storyCommentary: Red Warning Lights Are Flashing on U.S. Economy as 2024 Rapidly Approaches
As 2023 is winding down to a close, the U.S. trade in goods deficit with the world is down $101 billion for the first nine months of the year to $802 billion, an 11.2 percent decrease so far, with still three months of data left to collect for the year, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Simultaneously, existing home sales measured by the National Association of Realtors are down to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.79 million, a 16.7 percent decrease from its Feb. 2023 level of 4.5 million, and are averaging 4.16 million for the past 12 months. Overall, existing home sales are down the past 12 months by almost 32 percent from their 2021 high of 6.12 million. That’s a lot.
Read the full storyMortgage Applications Increase to Six-Week High
Applications for mortgages ticked up to a six-week high for the week ending on Nov. 17 in a sign that the housing market might become more accessible to average Americans following rising prices and high mortgage rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
The number of mortgage applications increased by 3% compared to a week earlier when seasonally adjusted, according to a press release from the MBA. The increase in volume follows a decline in the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, which fell to 7.41% from 7.61% in the same time period.
Read the full storyReport: Economic Recession Coming for the U.S.
A new economic analysis of the U.S. economy projects a recession around the corner.
An international nonprofit, The Conference Board, has released its Leading Economic Indicators report, which projects into the next year for the U.S. economy. That analysis, among other things, projects high inflation, high interest rates and declining consumer spending.
Read the full storyNew Analysis Reveals Retailers with Best Discounts This Black Friday
A new analysis conducted by WalletHub shows which retailers are offering the best discounts for this year’s Black Friday.
Read the full storyCommentary: Five Stupid Things the Left Would Have You Believe
I was on a media panel talking about what the Left has done to the Fourth Estate in America and how that damage might ultimately be repaired. And afterward, I spent a lot of time interacting with sponsors and attendees, and a common thread seemed to run through those conversations.
Namely, the multiplicity of utterly indefensible, absurd propositions that make up the narratives and constructs by which our left-wing current ruling class seeks to base its power over us.
Read the full storyCost of Thanksgiving Meal Up 14 Percent, Study Finds
According to a University of Tennessee (UT) study, American families will be spending more on this year’s Thanksgiving dinner.
A team from the university, led by Professor and Consumer Economics Specialist Ann Berry, surveyed grocery store pricing for Thanksgiving staples between November 1 to November 8, “including turkey and stuffing, cranberry sauce, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, English pea salad, deviled eggs, pumpkin pie with whipped cream and rolls.”
Read the full storyAs Inflation Worries Investors, Wall Street Is Buying Up American Soil
Wall Street is moving to buy up U.S. farmland in hopes that it will be a safe bet to hedge against inflation and concerning economic conditions, according to Reuters.
Investment funds have accumulated over a million acres of farmland in the U.S., a small part of the 900 million acres in the U.S. but significant for the market when looking at the pace of acquisitions, according to Reuters. The move from investors is drawing the concern of some, including lawmakers, who see the quick constraint on supply as a barrier for the next generation of farmers who can’t buy at the elevated price.
Read the full storyArizona Inflation Slows in October, Though Residents Still Pay Thousands More
After months of experiencing some of America’s highest inflation rates, federal data shows many Arizonans are finally starting to see some relief.
A new report from the Common Sense Institute of Arizona reviews federal inflation data from October. The research organization found most aspects of the state’s Consumer Price Index have slowed from being among the highest in the nation at 9% in January.
Read the full storyCommentary: As Consumer and Producer Inflation Cools, Recession Maybe on the Horizon in 2024
Both annualized consumer and producer inflation decreased in October from 3.7 percent to 3.2 percent and from 2.2 percent to 1.3 percent, respectively, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, amid a drops in oil prices.
On the consumer side, gasoline prices dropped 5 percent in October and are down 5.3 percent over the past twelve months.
Read the full storyInflation Still Biting Homebuyers as Headline Number Falls
The price of shelter increased substantially in October despite topline month-to-month inflation remaining flat, dashing many Americans’ dreams of buying a home, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Inflation decelerated to 3.2% in October, down from 3.7% in September, owing to substantial deflation in the price of energy, but the shelter sector individually had prices increase by 5.5% for the year. Since the beginning of 2021, when President Joe Biden first took office, home prices have risen 29%, rents are up 17% and mortgage rates have neared 8%, according to the WSJ.
Read the full storyOctober Inflation Rate 3.2 Percent, Unchanged from Previous Month and Above Target Rate: Feds
The seasonally adjusted inflation rate for October 2023 remained unchanged from the previous month and sits at 3.2%, according to the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index Report released Tuesday.
The rate increased by 3.2%, compared to October 2022. In September, inflation was at 3.7% compared to the same time the previous year.
Read the full storyChildcare Costs Rising Even Faster than Sky-High Inflation, Report Reveals
The cost Americans are paying to provide childcare for their kids has risen dramatically since 2019, outpacing inflation overall, which has also risen substantially, according to the Bank of America (BofA) Institute.
The average childcare payment has risen by 32% since 2019 to $700 a month as of September, affecting middle- and upper-income households the most, according to data compiled by the BofA Institute. In that same time period, general inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, rose 20% following a highly inflationary period since President Joe Biden took office in 2021, according to Axios.
Read the full storyEconomy Shows Huge Growth in Third Quarter as Fed Struggles to Rein in Inflation
The U.S. economy grew at a rate of 4.9% in the third quarter of 2023, according to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) statistics released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) on Thursday morning.
In the second quarter of 2023, real GDP rose 2.1% after being revised down from an initial estimate of 2.4%. Economists expected that GDP would be around 4.7% for the third quarter of 2023, far higher than the 2% to 3% that is common for the U.S.
Read the full storyCommentary: The People in Charge of Our Money Supply Have No Idea What They’re Doing
If you still think the people running America’s central bank understand inflation and interest rates, think again.
A prime example is Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Austan Goolsbee, who was wrong about inflation and is now wrong about interest rates and a soft landing for the economy. He is an ideologue clearly undeterred by facts—a scary reality for someone who helps control the money supply.
Read the full storySky-High Inflation Is Ratcheting Up Healthcare Costs for Working Americans
The costs of health care for average Americans have been hit particularly hard by the sustained high inflation the U.S. economy has seen over the past few years, according to KFF, a nonpartisan organization focused on health policy.
Just this year, premiums on family health insurance coverage for workplace plans increased by 7%, even as Americans’ wages only grew by 5.2% and total inflation rose by 5.8%, while over the last five years, premiums have risen 22% with wages increasing 27% and inflation 21%, according to a KFF news release. Inflation has continued to remain well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, rising 3.7% year-over-year in September after increasing the same in August.
Read the full storyHome Sales Decline to 2008 Levels as Record Mortgage Rates Take Their Toll
The U.S. real estate market is on track to sell the least number of homes since 2008, when Americans were engulfed in the subprime mortgage crisis and the Great Recession, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The number of total existing-home sales is projected to reach only 4.1 million by the end of 2023, the lowest since around 2008, when the world was embroiled in a global financial crisis, despite a higher U.S. population, according to the WSJ. Mortgage rates are currently at their highest point since the year 2000, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 7.57 percent, bringing purchasing demands for housing to a three-decade low, according to Freddie Mac.
Read the full storyAtlanta Has the Fifth-Highest Inflation of Any City in the Country
The metro Atlanta area has some of the highest inflation rates of any city in the country.
WalletHub, a personal finance website, compared 23 major Metropolitan Statistical Areas using two key Consumer Price Index-related metrics.
Read the full storyInflation Continues to Rise, Federal Data Shows
Consumer prices rose significantly in September, newly released federal inflation data shows, further undoing a trend of slowing inflation that had begun earlier this year.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday released its Consumer Price Index, a key marker of inflation that tracks the cost of a range of consumer goods and services. That index rose 0.4% in September alone, a notable increase that is higher than months earlier this year.
Read the full storyInflation, Labor Continue to Plague Ohio Business Owners
Business owners continued to believe inflation is their biggest problem, according to a new survey released Tuesday by the National Federal of Independent Business Ohio.
The NFIB’s monthly business optimism index also fell by half a point in September, marking the 21st consecutive month the index fell below the 49-year average of 98. It stands at 90.8.
Read the full storyInflation Continues to Hit America, Data Shows
Newly released inflation data breaks down how much prices have increased in each state.
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released new data Wednesday for how the Personal Consumption Expenditure, a key marker of inflation, rose in each state last year. According to the BEA, PCE is a measure of the prices Americans pay for goods and services.
Read the full storyInvestors Say They are Betting Inflation Is Here to Stay
Investors bet on the U.S. entering an era of sustained high inflation as Treasury yields spike, according to Reuters.
The bond market has seen a surge in interest rates for 10-year Treasury yields, reaching 4.59 percent, the highest point since September 2007 before the country was sent into a recession just months later, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The state of the bond market indicates that investors believe that the age of low inflation and interest rates is over as the country enters a “high-pressure equilibrium,” driving inflation higher than what was previously considered normal, according to Reuters.
Read the full storyNational Deficit, Inflation Soars Despite ‘Inflation Reduction Act’
The U.S. Congressional Budget Office reports that the federal government is borrowing far more this fiscal year than the year before even as inflation continues to rise.
The CBO released its deficit estimate which said the U.S. deficit hit about $1.5 trillion in the first 11 months of this fiscal year.
Read the full storyAmerican Income Falls as Inflation Increases, U.S. Census Bureau Says
Americans are bringing home less money as inflation squeezes family budgets, according to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The U.S. Census Bureau announced Tuesday that real median household income fell in 2022 compared with 2021. Real median household income fell by 2.3% from $76,330 in 2021 to $74,580 in 2022.
Read the full storyProducer Prices Spike in August
Newly released federal inflation data shows that producer prices spiked in August, undoing a steady downward inflationary trend.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Producer Price Index Thursday, a key marker of inflation, which showed producer prices rose 0.7% in August alone. Much of that increase came because of an rise in the cost of gasoline.
Read the full storyInflation Surges Above Expectations Despite Fed’s Rate Hikes
Inflation rose significantly in August, marking the second month in a row that inflation has ticked up, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) release on Wednesday.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI), a broad measure of the prices of everyday goods, increased 3.7% on an annual basis in August, compared to 3.2% in July, according to the BLS. Core CPI, which excludes the volatile categories of energy and food, remained high, rising 4.3% year-over-year in August, compared to 4.7% in July.
Read the full story