from Yahoo Finance
Yellen: We Need Tariffs to Protect ‘Stimulus’ From ‘Inflation Reduction Act’
by Ian Hanchett
Breitbart.com
During an interview with Bloomberg on Monday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen commented on President Joe Biden’s reported forthcoming announcement of increased tariffs on China by stating that the move is being made because President Joe Biden wants to protect “the stimulus that’s being provided through the Inflation Reduction Act” to support certain industries.
Yellen stated, “The President believes that it’s critically important for the United States to have a role and a presence in strategic industries like semiconductors and like clean energy that are going to be the foundation of good jobs and national security in the decades ahead. He believes it’s unacceptable, as I do, to be completely dependent on China in these areas.
Gen Z is Getting Hit Hard by Inflation
by Krystal Hur
CNN
New York (CNN) – Gen Z is in the financial trenches.
A new study from credit reporting agency TransUnion found those in their early 20s are earning less, have more debt and see higher delinquency rates than Millennials did at their age.
The findings outline the credit usage of 22 to 24 year old Gen Zers. Millennials who fell in that age range in 2013 were asked about their credit usage during that period. Gen Zers are defined as those born between 1995 and 2012, and Millennials as those born between 1980 and 1994.
Gen Zers, like Millennials, have had to deal with economic calamities early in their careers. For Gen Z, it was the Covid-19 pandemic. For Millennials, it was the global financial crisis.
Americans Are Choking On Surging Fast-Food Prices. “I Can’t Justify the Expense,” One Customer Says
by Khristopher J. Brooks
CBS News
Kevin Roberts remembers when he could get a bacon cheeseburger, fries and a drink from Five Guys for $10. But that was years ago. When the Virginia high school teacher recently visited the fast-food chain, the food alone without a beverage cost double that amount.
Roberts, 38, now only gets fast food “as a rare treat,” he told CBS MoneyWatch. “Nothing has made me cook at home more than fast-food prices.”
Roberts is hardly alone. Many consumers are expressing frustration at the surge in fast-food prices, which are starting to scare off budget-conscious customers.
A January poll by consulting firm Revenue Management Solutions found that about 25% of people who make under $50,000 were cutting back on fast food, pointing to cost as a concern.
Stubborn Inflation Poses Risk to Recently Upgraded U.S. Forecasts for Economic Growth
So far, 2024 isn’t going quite how it was supposed to for the US economy: Inflation has been higher than expected and household spending seems to have lost some momentum.
by Matthew Boesler
Financial Post
(Bloomberg) — So far, 2024 isn’t going quite how it was supposed to for the US economy: Inflation has been higher than expected and household spending seems to have lost some momentum.
Those trends represent a new risk for economic growth forecasts that were upgraded around the turn of the year, largely on the view that rapid disinflation would help bring about rising real incomes and lower borrowing costs.
Two key reports due Wednesday, on consumer prices and retail sales, will give an indication of how real the threat is to the outlook. Payroll and wage growth slowed in April, and without a corresponding cooldown in price increases, families’ budgets will come under further strain.
Wall Street Week Ahead Earnings Bolster U.S. Stocks, Crucial Inflation Report Looms
by Lewis Krauskopf
Reuters.com
NEW YORK, May 10 (Reuters) – A strong earnings season and blockbuster reports from tech industry titans fueled a U.S. stock market rebound from the first real swoon of 2024. Next week’s inflation data could determine whether the good vibes continue.
The benchmark S&P 500 index (.SPX), opens new tab is up over 9% for the year, up near its late-March record high, following a 5% pullback that occurred last month.
The bounce has overlapped with a stronger-than-expected first-quarter reporting season for U.S. companies. With well over 80% of the S&P 500 having reported results, companies are on track to have increased earnings by 7.8%, well ahead of the April expectation of 5.1% growth, according to LSEG IBES.
Consumer Sentiment Hits Lowest Level This Year as Inflation Weighs On Americans’ Wallets
by Derek Saul
Forbes
Consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level of 2024 this month, according to a University of Michigan poll, as Americans react sourly to inflation that won’t go away during the election year, though the economy remains far from the recession braced for by many.
Key Facts
The Michigan survey’s preliminary May index reading came in at 67.4, coming in far weaker than mean economist forecasts of 76 and registering its weakest level since November.
The sharper-than-expected decline came as Americans expressed “worries that inflation, unemployment and interest rates may all be moving in an unfavorable direction in the year ahead,” Joanne Hsu, the director of the phone poll, said in a statement.
Bond Traders Wait for CPI to Fuel – or Doom – the Market’s Rally
by Liz Capo McCormick and Ye Xie
Yahoo! Finance
The release of the April consumer-price index on Wednesday is poised to provide the biggest test yet of the rally that started this month when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell swatted away worries that the central bank may raise interest rates again. It gained steam after the Labor Department reported a slowdown in job growth, pulling yields down sharply from last month’s peaks.
The advance has increased the stakes in the upcoming inflation data — which could either extend it or doom it as another ill-fated turnaround. Bank of America Corp. strategists said the market will be in a “holding pattern” until then.
Inflation Tightens Its Grip On Biden’s Re-Election Prospects
by John Carney
Breitbart.com
Inflation Haunts the Biden White House
The specter of inflation haunts the corridors of the West Wing, and the Biden administration’s every attempt to exorcise the poltergeist of rising prices only deepens the grip of its possession.
The most recent consumer price index (CPI) reports have show inflation accelerating at an alarming pace. After the annualized monthly rise in CPI fell below two percent in October and November, inflation surged higher and has been running much hotter each month since.
In December, inflation rose at an annualized rate of 2.8 percent. In January, this accelerated to 3.7 percent. In February, we hit 5.4 percent. In March, the latest figure available, the consumer price index climbed at an annualized rate of 4.6 percent.
How Do People’s Experiences of Inflation Differ?
by Alberto Cavallo
EonoFact
The Issue:
Inflation rates are among the most closely watched economic statistics, but, as with many statistics that attempt to capture what is happening throughout the economy, aggregate measures mask important particulars. Measuring inflation requires simplifying assumptions about the basket of goods that a typical consumer purchases in a given month as well as eliding demographic differences and distinctions within product categories. Looking closely at prices within disaggregated product groups and using high-frequency online price data helps to reveal the nuances underneath monthly inflation numbers and how the experience of rising prices differs across groups of people.
Trump’s Plans For a Second Term: Raise Prices On Everything
by Ryan Teague Beckwith
MSNBC
Donald Trump has long cited his economics degree from the prestigious Wharton School as evidence of his “super genius stuff” skills in business.
But if he were a student there right now, he’d get a failing grade for his proposals’ effects on rising prices.
With polls showing that inflation remains a top concern among voters, the presumptive Republican nominee has somehow put together a campaign platform featuring multiple proposals that would raise prices on everything from groceries to new cars, both directly and indirectly.