Category: high inflation

Supermarkets Limiting Discounts Amid Soaring Food Inflation

While food prices remain elevated and customers look for cheaper deals, supermarkets have begun to limit the discounts they provide and are running fewer promotions. In the third quarter, food and beverage products were sold with a 20.6 percent price reduction on average, which is less than the 25.7 percent discount during 2019, a Wall…


Americans Feeling the Bite of Food Inflation as Prices Soar to Highest Level in 43 Years

Food inflation in the United States has jumped to its highest level in over four decades, putting more stress on American consumers, while agricultural output in the country took a beating following droughts. “From the same month one year ago, the PCE [Personal Consumption Expenditures] price index for August increased 6.2 percent. Prices for goods…


Clinton-Era Labor Secretary Blames Corporate Price Gouging for Inflation, Calls for Price Controls

Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich is blaming “corporate greed” as the driving force behind soaring inflation, insisting that wages are not to be blamed for the phenomenon. The Federal Reserve’s notion that inflation is being supported by rising wages triggered by a tight labor market, and that the solution to the problem is to…


Inflation Drives More Americans to Skip Bill Payments: Bank of America

Out-of-control inflation is now forcing a significant proportion of Americans to skip their utility payments, according to Bank of America (BoA). “Around 17 percent of households had either missed or made a late payment. For households with income below $50K, the proportion rises to 25 percent,” BoA said in a Sept. 23 report detailing the…


Home Prices Cooled Down at Fastest Pace in ‘History of the Index’

U.S. home prices decelerated at a record pace in July, despite remaining elevated compared to a year back, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, which covers all nine U.S. census divisions, registered a 15.8 percent gain in July 2022 compared with July 2021, a Sept….


US Economic Growth Forecast Slashed as Inflation to ‘Remain at High Levels’: OECD

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) now expects the United States to grow slower this year and the next, according to its September economic outlook interim report. The United States is projected to grow by 1.5 percent in 2022—a full percentage-point decrease from the June estimate of 2.5 percent—and 0.5 percent in 2023,…


Keeping Up With Inflation: FedEx Announces Biggest Ever General Rate Increase

FedEx has announced plans to increase its general tariff rates by its biggest margin as the company grapples with inflation and slowing business. “Effective January 2, 2023, FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, and FedEx Home Delivery rates will increase by an average of 6.9 percent,” the company said in a news release on Sept. 22. The general rate…


Sen. Paul Blames Rise of Inflation on Biden Administration’s ‘Free Checks’

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is blaming the Biden administration for triggering a rise in inflation and warns that more price increases are on the horizon. We are losing “more to inflation” than what the government handed out in the form of free money, Paul said in an interview with Newsmax while responding to a NerdWallet…


The Economists Self-Censored and Inflation Is a Result

Commentary Consumer inflation rate in the United States has remained above 4 percent since April 2021, 5 percent since June 2021, and 8 percent since March 2022. This last month’s inflation report came in at 8.4 percent, above analysts’ forecasts, disappointing hopes that the inflation rate might start to subside. A significant part of the current inflation is a rather…


Slowing Housing Market Saps Home-Goods Retail Sales

Businesses in the home-goods industry are facing a tough time, with falling sales numbers and order cancellations amid a slowdown in the housing market. Sales at furniture and home furnishing stores fell 1.6 percent in August 2022 compared to the same time last year, according to a U.S. Census Bureau news release, on Sept. 15,…