By Nathalie Voit After nine years of no fee hikes, Walmart-owned Sam’s Club is raising its annual membership fee to $50, the company said in a note to clients on Aug. 31, according to CNBC. Starting Oct. 17, the price of a standard one-year membership will increase to $50 from $45 for club members. The higher-tier [...]
By Nathalie Voit U.S. employers continued to hire briskly in August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said in its latest jobs report. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 315,000 over the month, slightly below economists' expectations for 318,000. This was the lowest monthly gain since last spring and far from the 526,000 jobs added in July. The [...]
By Nathalie Voit Some 44% of U.S. adults think they can achieve billionaire status one day. That number is even higher for crypto investors. That’s according to The Harris Poll’s Americans & Billionaires survey, which found that more than 4 in 10 Americans think they have the tools at hand to become a billionaire in the [...]
By Nathalie Voit Job creation in the private sector softened in August, with private employers adding just 132,000 jobs last month, according to an ADP National Employment report published on Aug. 31. This was the second consecutive month of decline in the pace of hiring. The U.S. economy added 268,000 and 480,000 jobs in July and June, [...]
By Nathalie Voit Consumer confidence improved in August after three consecutive months of decline, The Conference Board said in its monthly Consumer Confidence Survey. The Index now stands at 103.2, up from 95.3 in July. The Present Situation Index, which tracks consumers’ assessment of current business and job market conditions, improved to 145.4 in August from [...]
By Nathalie Voit Donald Trump’s Truth Social has yet to make it to the Google Play Store. According to a Google statement first reported by Axios, the app will remain unavailable on the Play Store until effective systems for moderating user-generated content are implemented. “On Aug. 19, we notified Truth Social of several violations of standard policies [...]
By Nathalie Voit The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing data broker Kochava Inc. for putting consumers’ personal whereabouts at risk. According to a press release filed by the agency on Aug. 29, Kochava allegedly sold consumers’ sensitive geolocation information to bidders. The sold data revealed consumers’ precise whereabouts, including visits to reproductive health clinics, places of [...]
By Nathalie Voit The Department of State may soon roll out online passport renewals. The agency launched a special pilot program earlier this month to test the proposed offering. According to an Aug. 12 update, the agency was looking for 25,000 volunteers for the first phase of the pilot program. While the online renewal service is currently [...]
By Nathalie Voit After nearly a year of hunkering down due to concerns over the coronavirus, the way Americans shop and eat is starting to resemble normal pre-pandemic trends. According to a poll published Aug. 24 by Gallup, everyday activities like in-person grocery shopping and dining out are making a comeback following a pandemic-induced drop in demand. [...]
By Nathalie Voit Another less obvious side effect of the supply-chain crisis has consumers on edge: “shrinkflation,” or when companies reduce the size of consumer goods yet charge the same price. According to a Morning Consult poll, roughly two-thirds of U.S. adults (64%) are worried about shrinkflation. In comparison, 54% of Americans have seen, heard, or [...]
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