Latest Inflation News

Average long-term US mortgage rate falls slightly, easing borrowing costs for home shoppers

Mar. 28, 2024 12:26 PM EDT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate fell slightly this week, welcome news for home shoppers facing rising prices and a stubbornly low inventory of properties on the market this spring homebuying season. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage slipped to...

MillerKnoll, Chemours fall; Verint Systems, RH rise, Thursday, 3/28/2024

Mar. 28, 2024 12:26 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that are trading heavily or have substantial price changes on Thursday: Verint Systems Inc. (VRNT), up $1.04 to $32.14 The maker of software for analyzing intercepted communications reported strong fourth-quarter financial results. ...

It's a bittersweet Easter for chocolate lovers and African cocoa farmers but big brands see profits

Mar. 28, 2024 12:25 PM EDT

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Shoppers may get a bitter surprise in their Easter baskets this year. Chocolate eggs and bunnies are more expensive than ever as changing climate patterns eat into global cocoa supplies and the earnings of farmers in West Africa. About three-quarters of the...

What's keeping egg prices high for Easter? It's not just inflation

Mar. 28, 2024 11:55 AM EDT

Egg prices are at near-historic highs in many parts of the world as the spring holidays approach, reflecting a market scrambled by disease, high demand and growing costs for farmers. It’s the second year in a row consumers have faced sticker shock ahead of Easter and Passover, both...

US economic growth for last quarter is revised up slightly to a healthy 3.4% annual rate

Mar. 28, 2024 09:08 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at a solid 3.4% annual pace from October through December, the government said Thursday in an upgrade from its previous estimate. The government had previously estimated that the economy expanded at a 3.2% rate last quarter. The Commerce...

Stock market today: Asian shares meander after S&P 500 sets another record

Mar. 28, 2024 00:46 AM EDT

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were mixed on Thursday after U.S. stocks broke out of a three-day lull to close at a record. Oil prices advanced, while U.S. futures edged lower. The dollar remained strong against the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, a trend that has...

Trader Joe's upped the price of its bananas for the first time in decades. Here's why

Mar. 27, 2024 15:48 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — It may not be too “appeeling,” but the price of some bananas are rising by a few cents. Trader Joe's recently upped the price for a single banana to 23 cents, a 4-cent — or 21% — increase from the grocer's previous going rate for the fruit that had remained...

US consumers remain confident, but their feelings about the near future are a bit more cloudy

Mar. 26, 2024 11:14 AM EDT

U.S. consumer confidence held steady this month even as Americans wrestle with higher prices and feel less optimistic about the short-term future. The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index ticked down to 104.7 in March from a...

Wind and sun are free, but it's harder to get renewable energy projects built these days. Here's why

Mar. 26, 2024 02:19 AM EDT

SPRAKEBUELL, Germany (AP) — The wind gusting across north German farm country brings much to the village of Sprakebuell: fog and rain from the sea, the occasional migrating stork, the faint smell of manure in the newly fertilized fields. And perhaps best of all, money — from...

Stock market today: Asian shares trading mixed after Wall Street’s momentum cools

Mar. 25, 2024 23:00 PM EDT

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mixed in muted trading Tuesday, as buying in some markets was soon erased by profit-taking. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225, where computer chip-related issues had interested investors early, reversed course to slip nearly 0.2% in morning trading to...