Economy

A worker assembles footballs at the Wilson Sporting Goods facility in Ada, Ohio, on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2020. Maddie McGarvey | Bloomberg | Getty Images U.S. producer prices rose a bit more than expected in August as the cost of services increased solidly, while underlying producer inflation continued to firm. The producer price index for

People wait in their cars as they line up to collect unemployment forms in Hialeah, Florida. CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images The official unemployment rate fell to 8.4% in August as businesses continued emerging from broad shutdowns imposed early in the coronavirus pandemic, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. That’s the lowest rate since

Job openings rose 10% in July to a pandemic high even though the rate of hiring saw a sharp slump, according to a Labor Department report Wednesday. The total for available positions hit 6.6 million for the month, above the 6 million expected from economists surveyed by FactSet. The estimate effectively would have been no

People walk by a store going out of business along 125th street in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, August 7, 2020. Shannon Stapleton | Reuters The story for much of the past generation has been a familiar one for the U.S. economy, where the benefits of expansion flow mostly to the top and

Philadelphian’s rallied at City Hall to demand Congress return and come to a deal on unemployment in Philadelphia, PA, on August 20, 2020. NurPhoto | NurPhoto | Getty Images Private data sources that have tracked the unemployment recovery showed that job growth was tepid in August after political leaders in Washington failed to reach an

The federal budget deficit is projected to hit a record $3.3 trillion as huge government expenditures to fight the coronavirus and to prop up the economy have added more than $2 trillion to the federal ledger, the Congressional Budget Office said. The spike in the deficit means that federal debt will exceed annual gross domestic

A woman takes photos of the container ship Ever Legacy being offloaded after arriving from Taipei at the Port of Los Angeles, which is the nation’s busiest container port, on March 6, 2020 in Terminal Island, California. Mario Tama | Getty Images The U.S. trade deficit surged to its highest level since 2008 in July

U.S. productivity rose at a 10.1% rate in the second quarter as the number of hours worked declined by the largest amount since the government started compiling the data more than 70 years ago. The Labor Department said Thursday that hours worked fell by 42.9%, contributing to a 37.1% decline in output as the coronavirus

New filings for jobless claims totaled 881,000 last week, better than estimates as the employment market continued its gradual progress during the coronavirus pandemic recovery. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for a total of 950,000. The number reflects an improving labor market as well as a change in methodology from the Labor

With seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims totaling 881,000 last week, millions of Americans are still in need of financial assistance from the federal government. Congressional Democrats and the Trump administration are deadlocked, leaving Americans unsure if more help will arrive soon. Less than a month ago, President Donald Trump tried to do it on his own

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 1.37 million in August and the unemployment rate tumbled to 8.4% as the U.S. economy continued to climb its way out of the pandemic downturn. The unemployment rate was by far the lowest since the coronavirus shutdown in March, according to Labor Department figures released Friday. An alternative measure that includes

The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve building stands in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. Erin Scott | Bloomberg via Getty Images Certain often-overlooked markets may be telling us that the Fed’s new policy framework is going to have some immediate unintended consequences. While that may be a bold claim, there is hard

The U.S. economic recovery has been held back because Americans lack trust with one another over the coronavirus, Mohamed El-Erian told CNBC on Thursday.  “It is very difficult for any individual to be certain whether the other person is healthy or not, and that other person is not certain whether you’re healthy or not,” El-Erian said in

Private payroll growth came in well below expectations for August, according to a report Wednesday from ADP, whose job tallies have differed widely from the government’s during the coronavirus pandemic. Companies added 428,000 jobs during the month, well below the 1.17 million estimate from economists surveyed by Dow Jones though a leap above the lackluster

The co-CIO of the world’s largest hedge fund told CNBC on Tuesday that the U.S. economy continues to need significant fiscal support in order to sustain its recovery from the coronavirus-induced devastation.  Greg Jensen of Bridgewater Associates said the firm estimates that the price tag for another coronavirus relief bill is between $1.3 trillion and

Getty Images The pace of job gains over the next decade will slow considerably amid a sharp decline in the active labor force and an aging population, according to Labor Department projections released Tuesday. From the period of 2020-29, the economy is expected to add a net 6 million new jobs, an annual growth rate

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said Friday that he believes the recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic is over but that the central bank will continue its accommodative stance toward the U.S. economy.  Bullard said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell” that he expected the third quarter to be “one of the best quarters ever for

The Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates just because the unemployment rate is falling, the central bank’s vice chairman, Richard Clarida, said Monday. In a wide-ranging speech that addressed a major policy shift in Fed thinking, Clarida also said he and his fellow officials do not see negative interest rates as a viable option