A worker stocks beef filets in the meat section of a grocery store in Washington. Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images Inflation decelerated in January as price pressures eased across a range of consumer staples such as food and gasoline, though they remain elevated for certain categories, including electricity and home heating,…
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…
Signs of rising financial stress, particularly among middle-income Americans, are warning flags about the U.S. economy’s health in 2026, experts say. Spending growth for higher-income Americans remained relatively stable between January 2025 and January 2026, according to internal transaction data from Bank of America Institute released this week. However, spending growth slowed for lower- and…
DHL Autonomous Robot at work. Source: DHL Workers at DHL Group used to walk close to a half marathon each day just to classify, pick and move items across massive warehouses. Now, their distance and efforts are greatly reduced by autonomous mobile robots that can unload containers for the package delivery and supply chain management…
Hispanolistic | E+ | Getty Images The average tax refund is 22% higher so far this season, Treasury Secretary and acting IRS Commissioner Scott Bessent told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Friday. The 2026 tax season opened Jan. 26, and the IRS has not yet released official filing data. It’s unclear how many days of returns…
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…
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin talks to residents and small business owners impacted by the Palisades Fire on Feb. 4, 2026 in Pacific Palisades, California. Mario Tama | Getty Images News | Getty Images The Trump administration repealed a key defense in the U.S. fight against climate change — and it will likely have…
A Spirit Airlines plane is at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Dec. 29, 2025. Reginald Mathalone | Nurphoto | Getty Images Spirit Airlines, trying to emerge from its second bankruptcy in less than a year, has sold another 20 of its Airbus planes and is bringing flight attendants back from furlough. The sale of…
Sturti | E+ | Getty Images Even Americans who are covered by health insurance can emerge from medical emergencies with long-lasting financial scars. In a new study published this month in the journal Health Affairs, researchers found that 18 months after being hospitalized for a traumatic injury — such as a car accident or fall…
High home prices, faltering supply and weaker consumer confidence in the economy all continue to weigh on the U.S. housing market. The chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, Lawrence Yun, is calling it “a new housing crisis.” Sales of previously owned homes in January dropped a much wider-than-expected 8.4% from December to a…