US wholesale prices up slight 0.1% in December

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. wholesale prices rose a slight 0.1% in December as a jump in the cost of energy was offset by falling food prices. The Labor Department said Wednesday the December increase in its producer price index, which measures inflation pressures before they reach the consumer, followed no...

US wholesale prices up slight 0.1% in December as energy increase offset by food drop

UK inflation at lowest since late 2016, stokes rate cut talk

LONDON (AP) — Inflation in Britain has fallen to its lowest level since November 2016, official figures showed Wednesday, heightening expectations that the Bank of England will cut interest rates this month. The Office for National Statistics said consumer prices rose by 1.3% in the year to December, down...

Rising energy costs lift US consumer prices 0.2% in December

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rising energy costs drove U.S. consumer prices higher in December, and American workers’ earnings couldn’t keep up. The Labor Department said Tuesday that its consumer price index rose 0.2% last month, lifted by a 2.8% increase in gasoline prices. Over the past year,...

Recent Missouri editorials

The Jefferson City News-Tribune, Jan. 12 Missouri —and more specifically, Jefferson City — has had a love-hate relationship with gambling. In 1984, state voters authorized the Missouri Lottery, making it the 23rd statewide lottery. A decade later, both city and state voters approved riverboat...

Global shares slip ahead of US-China 'Phase 1' trade deal

TOKYO (AP) — Global stocks mostly edged lower on Tuesday as investors looked to the signing of a trade deal between the U.S. and China as well as upcoming corporate earnings reports. France's CAC 40 was down 0.3% at 6,015, while Germany's DAX shed 0.2% to 13,429. while. Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 0.2% as...

US stocks pull back from records following jobs report

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks fell from their record heights on Friday after a report showed hiring was a touch weaker than expected last month. Employers added 145,000 jobs across the country in December, short of the 160,000 that economists forecast. But the growth was solid enough to bolster Wall...

2014 Fed conundrum: How to alert markets rates were going up

WASHINGTON (AP) — In her first year as Federal Reserve chair, Janet Yellen presided over a policy panel divided over the issue of how much longer the central bank could afford to keep its benchmark interest rate at a record low, and how to prepare financial markets for the start of rate hikes. According to...

Asian shares rise after US stocks set records as fears fade

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares rose Friday as worries receded the United States and Iran might be stepping closer to the edge of war, and U.S. indexes hit records. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 edged up 0.2% in morning trading to 23,776.09. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7% to 6,923.50. South Korea's Kospi...

Fed should focus on fighting low inflation, official says

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Federal Reserve official believes that the U.S. central bank needs to re-orient its thinking and policies toward fighting inflation that is too low, rather than its historic focus on keeping inflation from getting too high. John Williams, president of the New York Federal Reserve...