The cost of goods and services rose at a slower annual rate than expected in January, providing hope that the nagging U.S. inflation problem could be starting to ease. The consumer price index for January accelerated 2.4% from the same time a year ago, down 0.3 percentage point from the prior month, the Bureau of…
Customers shop at Walmart on January 22, 2026 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Will Newton | Getty Images Investors got some good news this week on the state of the labor market and more may be on the way Friday on inflation. The consumer price index, a broad measure of goods and services costs across the…
Westminster, South Bank, London, England. Scott E Barbour | The Image Bank | Getty Images The U.K. economy grew a meager 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to preliminary figures from the Office for National Statistics on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters expected the economy to have grown 0.2% over the October-December period, following 0.1% growth in the…
Jobseekers speak with recruiters past event signage during the WorkSource North Seattle Career Fair in Seattle, Washington, US, on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. David Ryder | Bloomberg | Getty Images The January nonfarm payrolls report beat Wall Street expectations in both job creation and the unemployment rate. Here are the top five takeaways: From a…
A recruiter displays information while speaking to a jobseeker during the WorkSource North Seattle Career Fair in Seattle, Washington, US, on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. David Ryder | Bloomberg | Getty Images January job gains were better than anything the U.S. economy saw in 2025 but not still enough to sound an all-clear on what…
A cargo ship is loading and unloading foreign trade containers at Qingdao Port in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China, Jan. 13, 2026. Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty Images The U.S. government in January ran up a smaller deficit than a year ago, while tariff collections surged and provided a reminder of how pivotal a long-awaited…
Job growth was stronger than expected to start 2026, providing some relief to concerns about the state of the U.S. labor market. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 130,000 for January, above the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 55,000, according to seasonally adjusted figures the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Wednesday. The total also was an improvement…
A ‘now hiring’ sign is displayed in a business’s window in Manhattan on Jan. 9, 2026, in New York City. Spencer Platt | Getty Images The jobs report Wednesday could resemble a big nothing, in more ways than one. Economists expect that January’s nonfarm payrolls report will show growth that was nil or not much…
Consumer activity slowed sharply for the December holiday shopping season amid a spate of rough weather, tariff impact and persistently higher inflation, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Retail sales were flat on the month following a 0.6% increase in November, according to numbers adjusted for seasonality but not inflation. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had…
An Amazon Go store in New York, US, on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images Layoff plans hit their highest January total since the global financial crisis while hiring intentions reached their lowest since the same period, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported Thursday. U.S. employers announced 108,435 layoffs…