Surging inflation has eased in recent months, but more evidence is needed to show that price increases are coming down in the long term, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday. (Photo by Yuki IWAMURA / AFP) (Photo by YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images)
Prices rose half a percent in January, according to the latest consumer price index. That is up from a 0.1 percent decline in December, and five times the 0.1 percent increase in November.
The monthly uptick was in line with expectation, though the year-over-year rate came in higher than expected 6.4 percent, a marginal drop from a 6.5 percent rate in December.
Shelter (i.e. housing) contributed the largest share to the monthly increase, rising 0.7 percent.
Energy costs were also up across the board. The price of piped gas shot up 6.7 percent, while energy overall was up 2 percent after two straight months of declines.
Food prices, meanwhile, were up 0.5 percent. That is up from 0.4 percent in December, but still low relative to the last six months.
Used car prices also continued their steady decline, dropping 1.7 percent month-over-month and 11.6 percent year-over-year.
Despite the month-over-month drop, the annual rate has slowed for seven straight months.
Many people are quitting their jobs just to have the flexibility of working from anywhere. A new survey conducted by The Conference Board reveals of those who have quit during the pandemic, 1 in 4 did so for the ability to work remotely. Rebecca Ray, executive vice president of Human Capital at The Conference Board, joined Cheddar to discuss why workplace flexibility is so important to employees, and how companies can better support the desires of their workers.
Chris Willman, Features Editor for Variety, discusses changes within the music industry and how venues can provide a safer environment for concert-goers.
As the U.S. continues to face supply chain shortages, President Joe Biden is reassuring U.S. consumers that the supply chain is in "very strong shape" ahead of the all-important holiday season. As supply bottlenecks start to show signs of improvement, the industry may be faced with yet another challenge: the Omicron variant. Rob Caucci, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Fillogic joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Local Bounti rang the opening bell December 3 in honor of its recent trading debut on the NYSE after closing a $1.1 billion SPAC deal. The company operates an indoor growing facility in Montana and aims to transform the production and delivery of local, fresh and sustainably-grown leafy greens. Craig Hurlbert, co-founder and co-CEO of Local Bounti, joined Cheddar to discuss the company's goals as a newly publicly-traded company.
Markets rebounded Monday morning after Friday's deep sell-off that saw the Dow suffer its worse day since 2020. It comes as investors continue to react to the impact of the omicron variant on the broader reopening. Eddie Ghabour, Co-Owner at the Key Advisors Group joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Markets bounced back this morning with travel leading the gains after plunging on Monday as the first case of Omicron was detected in the U.S. Jimmy Lee, CEO, Wealth Consulting Group joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Stephan Winkelmann, president of Bugatti Automobiles and CEO of Lamborghini, stopped by Cheddar to talk about Lamborghini's 2021 success after the luxury automaker set a company sales record on more than 6,9000 vehicles delivered. With climate change top of mind for the auto industry, Winkelmann also talked about Lamborghini's commitment to hybridizing its entire fleet. Still, when it comes to supercars, the legacy brand isn't quite ready to give up gasoline power, and according to the CEO, three new combustion engine vehicles will be available in 2022.
The market saw investors react to comments by the World Health Organization's chief scientist, who suggested existing vaccines are likely to offer protection against the new variant. According to Thomas Hayes, chairman of Great Hill Capital, the next two weeks will be crucial as the markets watch for not only the effects of the Omicron variant, but also the Fed's decision on a taper.
Jason Moser, Senior Analyst at The Motley Fool, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss the latest with Salesforce, as the company suffered its worst day on the market since the beginning of the pandemic.
The U.S. jobs report fell way short of economist projections after adding just 210,000 in November compared to the expected 550,000. William M. Rodgers III, the VP and director of the Institute for Economic Equity at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, joined Cheddar to break down the jobs report and explained that while added payrolls didn't meet expectations, the economy is still progressing as the unemployment rate also fell 4.2 percent. "One month doesn't make a trend," Rodgers added. He did note that from an equity standpoint inflation is a cause for concern for middle and low-income families, as holiday season price hikes are expected to hit them hard.
