Author: Zachary Halaschak

Inflation rose to 3.5% for the year ending in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday in an update to the consumer price index. The rise in headline inflation is more than expected and an unwelcome development for the Federal Reserve, which has been aiming to move toward cutting interest rates in the coming months. It’s also bad news for…

West Virginia is banning four more banks from state contracts over their ESG policies and “boycotts” of fossil fuel companies. Riley Moore, the West Virginia state treasurer, made the announcement on Monday. The firms, which include Citibank, TD Bank, Northern Trust, and HSBC Holdings, had all been notified in February that their state contracts were at risk.…

EXCLUSIVE — Eric Hovde, the Wisconsin Republican aiming to take on incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), said he wants to help prevent a looming fiscal crisis. During a Friday interview with the Washington Examiner, Hovde, a 59-year-old businessman, said he hopes to get the economy out of the “debt hole” it is in should voters…

The economy added 303,000 jobs in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, a number that exceeds expectations and comes as good news for President Joe Biden as the general election draws nearer. Economists had forecast about 212,000 new payroll jobs, adjusted for seasonal variation. The unemployment rate fell to 3.8%, a low level by historical standards.…

A top Federal Reserve official said the central bank may not lower interest rates as expected if it doesn’t see progress on lowering inflation, a statement that raised fear in markets. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari, one of the voting members of the Federal Open Market Committee, acknowledged that the Fed might…

The number of new applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased by 9,000 to 212,000 last week, the highest level since January. The reading marks the highest number of jobless claims in months and shows the labor market might be taking on a bit of water as the Federal Reserve keeps interest rates high and teases another upward rate revision.…

The Federal Communications Commission will vote to restore net neutrality rules, a move that would reverse a controversial FCC ruling from 2017. Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the vote on Wednesday. It has a very good chance of passing, given that of the five commissioners of the FCC board, three are Democrats. The initial move…

Soaring interest costs are set to exceed all defense spending this year, with the gap only growing over the next decade as lawmakers stare down major fiscal problems. This year, the United States will be shackled with $870 billion in payments on net interest. That is nearly 5.7% more than the $822 billion the government…

The number of job openings in the United States increased by very slightly to 8.76 million in February, a sign that the labor market still has underlying strength despite higher interest rates that have weighed on some sectors. The new numbers, including openings across all sectors for that month, were released as part of the Job Openings and Labor…

Gold prices set a new record on Monday as a recent inflation report buoyed optimism that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in June. Gold futures on Monday were trading at $2,275, up about $37 or just over 1.6% — the highest price since the contract’s creation in the 1970s. The upward momentum is…