Debt-Ceiling Standoff Could Start a Recession, But Default Would Be Worse
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Jerome Powell Keeps June Interest-Rate Pause in Play
Fed chair says banking strains could mean rates don’t have to rise as much to tame inflation
Home Prices Posted Largest Annual Drop in More Than 11 Years in April
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Americans Curb Spending on Home Improvements
Home Depot warned that its annual sales will fall for first time since 2009. The company said demand for home-improvement goods is softening as shoppers spend more on services.
Shoppers Boosted Retail Sales in April
Retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.4% last month compared with March, the first increase in sales since January.
Plunging Tax Revenue Accelerates Debt-Ceiling Deadline
The pandemic led first to a boom, and now a bust, in tax collections.
Conferences Are Back, Boosting City Economies
Convention halls across the country are filling up again, restoring a vital source of economic fuel that had been cut off during the pandemic.
Why Graduates Aren't Hot on Accounting Careers: Low Starting Pay, Onerous Testing
Accounting majors in the class of 2023, the first to enter a postpandemic professional world, will find no shortage of demand for their services as the industry grapples with a scarcity of candidates. They will, however, find starting salaries to be relatively low compared with other possible professions and an evolving workplace experience.
Fed Official Signals Support for Further Rate Increases
Federal Reserve governor Michelle Bowman says there hasn’t been sufficient evidence of a labor market or inflation slowdown.
Inflation Eased in April but Remains Stubbornly High
Prices rose 4.9% from a year earlier, marking the 10th straight month of cooling.
America's Factory Boom Boosts Sales of Excavators, Steel and Trucks
Construction of semiconductor and battery factories helps Caterpillar, Nucor and other manufacturers plow past economic uncertainty and rising interest rates.
A Debt Deal Could Help Solve the Country's Inflation Problem
Spending cuts could prompt the Fed to cut interest rates sooner, easing some of the pressure on banks.
Pollution Reveals What Russian Statistics Obscure: Industrial Decline
The satellite detection of pollutants in the atmosphere offers an independent look at what is really going on with Russia’s economy.
April Jobs Report Shows Hiring Picked Up
Hiring picked up as employers added 253,000 jobs last month. The unemployment rate fell to 3.4%.
Jobs Report to Show How Labor Market Weathered Bank Failures, High Interest Rates
The Labor Department will release April’s hiring data and unemployment rate Friday.
Federal Reserve Raises Rates, Signals Potential Pause
Central bank officials remove earlier guidance that had pointed to further increases.
New Zealand Economy Well Placed to Handle Surge in Rates, RBNZ Says
SYDNEY—New Zealand’s financial system is well placed to handle rising interest rates and uncertainty in the international financial system, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand said in its latest report card on financial stability.  New Zealand households are facing increased debt servicing costs due to rising interest rates, but levels of loan default are low,…
Tight Supply Fuels Demand for Newly Built Homes
Home builders are enjoying stronger-than-expected business this spring, capitalizing on the recent fall in mortgage rates.
U.S. Layoffs Jumped in March
Construction, leisure and hospitality and healthcare job cuts drove the layoff increase as job openings fell to the lowest level since April 2021.
Why Is Inflation So Sticky? It Could Be Corporate Profits
Inflation has proved more stubborn than central banks bargained for when prices started surging two years ago. Now some economists think they know why: Businesses are using a rare opportunity to boost their profit margins. Figures released Tuesday by the European Union’s statistics agency showed consumer prices in the eurozone were 7.0% higher than a…