By Nathalie Voit New home building projects have taken a hit as builders grapple with higher costs and material shortages. According to data released by the Commerce Department on Nov. 17, privately-owned housing starts decreased 0.7% in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.52 million. Higher costs associated with supply chain [...]
By Nathalie Voit Shortages across a broad range of industries are making it harder for shoppers to get their hands on popular products this holiday season. Global supply-chain problems are dampening product availability for everything from Christmas trees to popular tech gadgets to essential items like baby formula. Longer wait times or out-of-stock notices on [...]
By Nathalie Voit New data released by the Commerce Department on Nov. 16 revealed greater spending by American consumers last month across a broad range of retail and food services. The news comes amid a 30-year high inflation rate that sent the value of the U.S. dollar tumbling. According to the October 2021 Monthly Retail Trade [...]
By Nathalie Voit Gold futures reached a five-month record high of $1,868.50 on Nov. 12 after data released by the Labor Department revealed the highest rate of consumer inflation in over 30 years. Last week's economic news release prompted many investors to buy precious metals as a possible hedge against rising prices. The stable asset, which is [...]
By Nathalie Voit As of Sept. 30, there were 10.4 million open jobs in the U.S. economy as the "quits rate," or the measure of workers leaving their jobs as a share of overall employment, rose to a record high 3%, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report (BLS) from Nov. 12. According to [...]
By Nathalie Voit According to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), energy prices are expected to remain volatile this winter due to supply uncertainty and changing consumer demand. U.S. natural gas futures on Nov. 12 declined over 6.5% to $4.795 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), nearing the [...]
By Nathalie Voit The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in October rose 6.2% from a year before, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. October’s increase marks the fastest annual change in the rate of inflation since November 1990. On a monthly basis, the CPI increased 0.9% from September to October. The CPI in September, [...]
By Nathalie Voit Grocers looking to shop for Thanksgiving dinner staples this holiday season will be hit with an unwelcome surprise: a shortage of essential ingredients on their list. What were once easy-to-find Thanksgiving items may now be increasingly difficult to obtain thanks to supply-chain and labor shortages that have reduced the amount of available [...]
By Nathalie Voit The Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures price changes from the standpoint of U.S. producers (before goods and services are sold to consumers), rose 8.6% in October from a year earlier, matching last month's record annual gain, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor. According to the report, producer prices increased [...]
By Nathalie Voit Bitcoin and Ethereum hit new all-time highs on Nov. 9, surging past their previous records to reach $68,530.34 and $4,837.59, respectively. The news comes amid an ongoing regulatory crackdown on DeFi, or decentralized finance, that has investors excited about the increasing acceptance of cryptocurrencies by the public and government officials writ large. The just-passed [...]
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