A worrisome bout of inflation struck the economy in April, with U.S. consumer prices for goods and services surging 0.8%, the largest monthly jump in more than a decade, and the year-over-year increase reaching its fastest rate since 2008.
The acceleration in prices, which has been building for months, has unsettled financial markets and raised concerns that it could weaken the economic recovery from the pandemic recession.
Wednesday's report from the Labor Department showed sharply higher prices for everything from food and clothes to housing. A 10% surge in the prices of used cars and trucks — a record jump — accounted for roughly one-third of last month's increases. Prices for vehicles, both used and new, have been soaring as a result of a computer chip shortage that has slowed auto production and reduced dealer supplies.
Over the past 12 months, consumer prices have jumped 4.2% — the fastest rise since a 4.9% gain in the 12 months that ended in September 2008. Excluding volatile food and energy, core inflation rose 0.9% in April and 3% over the past 12 months.
After years of dormant inflation, with the Federal Reserve struggling to increase it, worries about rising prices have shot to the top of economic concerns. Shortages of goods and parts related to disrupted supply chains have been a key factor.
The Fed, led by Chair Jerome Powell, has repeatedly expressed its belief that inflation will prove temporary as supply bottlenecks are unclogged and parts and goods flow normally again. But some economists have expressed concern that as the economic recovery accelerates, fueled by rising demand from consumers spending freely again, so will inflation.
“It looks like inflation pressures are not only building but are likely to be here at least through the rest of the year,” said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors. “With growth robust, firms have a measure of pricing power tat they haven't had in decades, and they appear to be using it.”
Investors, too, have grown increasingly jittery. On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank more than 470 points — 1.4% — its worst day since Feb. 26.
Wednesday's inflation report showed that food prices rose 0.4%, the biggest such increase since a 0.5% rise last June. Energy costs, though, edged down 0.1%, with gasoline pump prices falling 1.4%, the biggest drop since May 2020.
Last month, Powell suggested at a news conference that Fed officials expect inflation to move above its 2% annual target over the next few months. The Fed has said it will allow prices to rise slightly above 2% for a period of time to make up for the past decade's shortfalls in inflation.
Powell has said that as long as the increase in inflation doesn't appear to be hurting consumer and business expectations about price increases, the central bank would be willing to let prices rise without acting to raise interest rates. That view has been supported by comments from other Fed officials including Lael Brainard, a board member who warned Tuesday against a premature Fed tightening that could harm the economy.
Humans are set to return to a place we have not been in nearly 50 years: the moon. NASA's Artemis program is expected to have astronauts back on the lunar surface by 2025. NASA says it will use what it learns on the moon to take the next giant leap - sending the first astronauts to Mars. The Artemis program also includes contributions from private companies like SpaceX, as well as academic research institutions like Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech professor of practice and former NASA astronaut Sandra Magnus joins Future of Space: Humankind's Leap Forward to discuss.
Stocks were under pressure Monday amid investor skittishness over the COVID-19 omicron variant, as cases rise in metropolitan areas like New York, shutting down businesses and seasonal events. This comes after last week's Federal Reserve announcement when Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank would begin speeding up its asset tapering timeline while planning to institute three interest rate hikes next year. Is that decision still in line with what could happen if omicron becomes a major concern? Phil Levy, Chief Economist at Flexport, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Dealmaking surged in 2021 as mergers and acquisitions activity topped $5 trillion. Paul Aversano, managing director and global practice Leader of Alvarez & Marsal's Global Transaction Advisory Group, joined Cheddar to look at how market factors came together to drive the flurry of transactions. "I like to say it's almost a perfect storm for M&A activity," he said. Aversano pointed to a backlog of activity following the slowdown in 2020, "dry powder" unallocated capital in private equity firms, and federal stimulus as some of the reasons behind the burst of changes.
Global delivery service FedEx just received the first five of an order of 500 light commercial electric vehicles from GM's BrightDrop brand. Mitch Jackson, chief sustainability officer for FedEx, joined Cheddar to discuss the deployment of the EV600 delivery vehicles, if the new fleet will get the company to carbon neutrality by 2040, and how cost-effective they might be. "We've been working with electric vehicles for 10 years, and what we've find over that time frame is that we save over half of our operational and maintenance costs with the use of EVs over internal combustion engines, "Jackson said. "So they're economically viable."
A group of shareholders is demanding Amazon run an independent audit to assess how the company treats its employees. Mary Beth Gallagher, the director of engagement at Domini Impact Investments, the group that filed the resolution, told Cheddar it wants to invest in companies that protect shareholders and specifically noted concerns about productivity quotas and employee surveillance. The company's worker safety initiatives have been questioned even before a tornado killed six people at an Amazon warehouse in Illinois this month. "What we want to see is Amazon centering workers' voices and having an independent review that hears directly from workers themselves who know the conditions that they're working under and the pressures they face," she said.
Trip.com is now adding Hopper's price freeze feature for its users. The feature will help travelers save money by protecting them from pricing volatility when booking their next trip. The company is the first online travel agency to partner with Hopper's B2B initiative, Hopper Cloud. Dakota Smith, chief strategy officer at Hopper, joins Cheddar News to walk us through the feature and how the company is addressing Omicorn concerns.
'Spider-Man: No Way Home' caught moviegoers in its web this weekend at the box office. The film premiered at $260 million in U.S. ticket sales, making it the second-best domestic debut of all time and the biggest opening since the pandemic began. Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at BoxofficePro.com, joins Cheddar News to discuss the film's success.
Ahead of the new year, award-winning journalist and TV anchor Soledad O'Brien and financial expert Jean Chatzky are teaming up to launch a brand-new podcast called "Everyday Wealth," aimed at helping listeners unlock their financial potential. O'Brien and Chatzky joined Cheddar's "Opening Bell" to discuss which topics to expect, as well as the importance of financial literacy. "I think what I'm good at is asking uncomfortable questions," said O'Brien, detailing how the podcast might stand out from others. "And sometimes when it comes to talking about money, a lot of those questions are uncomfortable."
Spider-Man is hoping to come to the rescue of movie theaters as they struggle to recover from the pandemic. "Spider-Man: No Way Home" starring Tom Holland is officially out in theaters and is expected to generate a whopping $150 million in its box office debut. Sean O'Connell, managing editor of CinemaBlend, joined Cheddar to discuss his expectations for the new Marvel movie, and what the entertainment industry is doing to prepare for a potential winter surge in COVID cases.
