By Jeanne Whalen Americans’ once-in-a-generation job market has come to an end. The red-hot hiring and rock-bottom unemployment that helped millions of workers find new gigs, boost their wages and reinvent their careers are giving way to more prosaic times. While the market is still healthy by many measures, signs of difficulty are creeping in. The […]
By Sam Goldfarb, Peter Santilli and Anthony DeBarros The Wall Street Journal’s latest quarterly survey of business and academic economists shows forecasters remain firmly optimistic about the economic outlook, despite some hints of weakness in recent data. The following graphics show what economists are thinking now and how their forecasts—and the economy—have evolved over recent months and years. After looking at […]
By Joanne Drilling As the Covid-19 comeback continues for downtowns, much of the attention has been focused on the return to the office — or the lack thereof in many cities. But new data suggests the key to a strong downtown recovery may lie beyond the office. That’s according to the latest research by University of […]
By Norah Mulinda The stock market’s worst group notched its best day of the year as a cooler-than-expected inflation report stoked bets that the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates in September. Shares of real estate companies jumped 2.7% Thursday for their biggest gain of 2024, climbing to their highest level since March as investors snapped up homebuilder, digital and commercial […]
By Vince Golle and Craig Stirling The Federal Reserve’s favored inflation yardsticks are poised to show the tamest monthly advances since late last year — a stepping stone for officials to begin lowering interest rates, possibly as soon as September. Economists expect no change in the May personal consumption expenditures price index and a minimal 0.1% gain in the core measure that excludes […]
By Nick Timiraos The Federal Reserve voted to lower interest rates by a half percentage point, opting for a bolder start in making its first reduction since 2020. The long-anticipated pivot followed an all-out fight against inflation the central bank launched two years ago. Eleven of 12 Fed voters backed the cut, which will bring the […]
By Andy Medici The Internal Revenue Service plans to deny tens of thousands of improper Employee Retention Credit applications even as it promises to renew processing legitimate claims. The agency in an announcement this week said it had taken the time since its Sept. 14 moratorium on processing new ERC applications to analyze the more than 1 million ERC […]
Inflation slowed down on an annual basis in August, with the Consumer Price Index rising by 2.5 percent compared to a year ago. This is a noticeable drop from July’s 2.9 percent and a significant decline from the peak of 9.1 percent seen in 2022. Next week, Federal Reserve officials are expected to lower interest […]
By Jane Lanhee Lee Riverlane, a startup that makes semiconductors to help reduce quantum computing errors, raised $75 million in its latest round of funding. The round was led by Europe’s Planet First Partners, which focuses on climate tech investments. Venture capital firm ETF Partners and Singapore’s EDBI also joined. It marked the latest in a […]
A little more than a month ago, we predicted in this space that the backlog of major, crucial bills that piled up toward the end of the legislative session would get short shrift, since lawmakers would be consumed with trying to pass the perennially late state budget. Unfortunately, the month of July played out exactly as we […]
