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Powell signals higher interest rates. Here’s why Friday’s jobs report will affect Fed’s decision.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said this week that interest rate increases could be higher and come faster if Friday’s unemployment data shows the nation’s labor market isn’t cooling off. Stock indexes fell after his comments. That’s been a familiar pattern over the past year as the federal bank has tried to combat inflation. A […]
Child poverty dropped to a record low last year. A new report shows how to keep it that way.
The expanded child tax credit that families received in 2021 helped reduce child poverty across the country, but particularly in the South where families lack a sufficient safety net, according to a paper released on Wednesday. The report by the Hamilton Project, the Brookings Institution’s economic policy initiative, comes as some Democrats appear ready to […]
Families are taking a hit as pandemic aid ends, inflation continues
Forty million people in the U.S. are having difficulty affording household expenses, and a little more than 25 million people say they sometimes or often do not have enough to eat, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent Household Pulse survey data. The survey is designed to collect data on household experiences during the […]
Rural hospitals gird for unwinding of pandemic Medicaid coverage
Donald Lloyd, CEO and president of St. Claire HealthCare in Morehead, Kentucky, has spent more than a year dealing with higher costs for food and medical supplies for his regional hospital. Now he’s trying to prepare for another financial hit – the loss of Medicaid reimbursements for treating people in rural Appalachia. “We are all […]
Advocacy groups ask FTC to expand Biden administration efforts to rein in junk fees
President Joe Biden devoted 19 sentences of his State of the Union speech to “junk fees,” which includes credit card late fees and service fees for concert tickets and airplane seating preferences that he said strain families’ budgets. Biden did not mention the numerous and opaque fees faced by prisoners and their families every day. […]
Proposed federal rule would lower credit card late fees
As Americans continue to struggle with high credit card rates, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed a rule to help lessen some of their financial burden – in the form of lower late fees. The new rule would limit late fees to $8. Currently credit card companies can charge as high as $41 – […]
States criticized for spending federal relief funds on tax cuts, prisons
As states plan how they’ll spend the $25 billion remaining in federal COVID relief funds, some also are facing criticism and renewed scrutiny over how they allocated money already received from the American Rescue Plan Act. Of the $198 billion authorized by Congress in 2021, $173 billion already has been appropriated by states, the District […]
States that limit business with banks that boycott fossil fuels could pay high cost, study says
Republican state policymakers’ efforts to boost fossil fuels by prohibiting their governments from doing business with companies that take sustainability into consideration has the potential to cost states millions, according to a study released Thursday. Researchers looked specifically at the possible effects on Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and West Virginia if they passed Texas-like […]
Here’s what you need to know about new workplace protections for pregnant, nursing workers
This story was updated on Jan. 9 at 5:15 p.m. An earlier version incorrectly stated which businesses must comply with the PUMP Act. The new law applies to all businesses, but those with fewer than 50 employees can avoid the requirement if doing so creates an undue hardship. The $1.7 trillion federal spending bill President […]
Voters embraced affordable housing initiatives. Advocates say Congress should do the same.
Voters in Colorado approved a statewide affordable housing initiative in November, while voters in nine cities across the country OK’d measures to finance the construction of affordable housing, preserve existing rental properties, and support renters. But as housing costs soar, analysts and advocates say more needs to be done and argue that federal action is […]
Here’s why food prices remain stubbornly high even as inflation cools
Shoppers hoping for a little relief at the grocery store for their holiday meals will be disappointed by the Consumer Price Index released Tuesday. The CPI shows inflation cooling but food prices – particularly for some holiday staples – remain high. The CPI increased 0.1 percent in November, which was lower than some economists expected. […]
Here’s when drug prices will start to decrease for Medicare recipients
A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the monthly cap for insulin went toward insulin pumps. Starting next month, a $35 cap on insulin prices will go into effect for millions of Medicare recipients. The lower pricing is one of the first of several policy measures Americans will see in the coming months […]