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.
Markets turned cautious again, erasing and early gain and ending lower as investors try to handicap how much the new coronavirus variant will impact the economy.
U.S. consumer confidence fell to a nine-month low in November, held back by rising worries about inflation and lingering concerns about the coronavirus.
Wall Street’s losses deepened on Tuesday after the head of the Federal Reserve said it will consider shutting off its support for financial markets sooner than expected.
The United Kingdom's antitrust watchdog has blocked Facebook's acquisition of Giphy and ordered the social network to sell off the GIF-sharing platform, saying the deal hurts social media users and advertisers by stifling competition for animated images.
A labor official is confirming a new union election for Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama based on objections to the first vote.
Now that COVID-19 vaccines are readily available, American Dream mall developer Paul Ghermezian and his team are hoping customers will look for that in-person holiday shopping experience that they missed throughout 2020.
Twitter says co-founder Jack Dorsey will step down as CEO of the social media platform.
The stock market steadied itself Monday following a slide last week brought on by the newest coronavirus variant.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
On this year’s Black Friday, things almost seem normal. Malls and stores report decent-sized crowds, if not the floods of people that used to fight over the latest toys and electronics.
