#inflation

#inflation

UK GDP declined marginally by 0.1% in October, reflecting an economy that is stable but still unable to build meaningful forwards momentum. The UK is neither sliding into a clear downturn nor generating the lift needed to move into a firmer, sustainable expansion phase. Across the main sectors, October's picture is uneven. Manufacturing and construction continue to feel the weight of higher borrowing costs and muted global demand, while improvements in consumer-facing services remain hesitant despite easing inflation.

In a tense and unusually divided meeting, the U.S. Federal Reserve decided to cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage points to a range of 3.5% to 3.75%. This is the third consecutive rate cut since September, as concerns about a deteriorating labor market outweigh fears of rising inflation. The final meeting of the year also yielded new economic forecasts and offered some clues about the Fed's roadmap for 2026.

KAITLAN COLLINS: Tonight, President Trump is on the road, in Pennsylvania, trying to alleviate anxious Americans' concerns that the economic state of what's happening here in the United States that they feel is overblown, and that because of his policies, as the President put it tonight, the economy is roaring. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We're bringing those prices down rapidly. Lower prices, bigger paychecks. You're getting lower prices, bigger paychecks.

The Trump administration is one of the most anti-labor administrations in modern U.S. history - it has attempted to decertify the union representation of more than 1 million federal employees. Trump has also fired key members of the National Labor Relations Board, thus rendering it largely non-functional. Moreover his administration has come out against rules requiring disabled workers all be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, and it has blocked a Biden-era rule increasing the minimum wage for federal contractors.

In the Politico interview, Trump said: I inherited a mess. I inherited a total mess. Prices were at an all-time high when I came in. He also told Politico: If you think of gasoline a gallon, they had it at $4.50, almost $5.00. You go to some of the states, you had it at $6.00. We hit, uh, three states two days ago, $1.99 a gallon.

The cost of home insurance in the United States rose by ~89% between 2014 and 2025, as rapidly climbing home prices, more frequent extreme weather events and inflation impacted insurers and homeowners. ICE analysts share key insights from their recent 10-year study into the forces propelling rising insurance costs across the nation. Over the past decade, home insurance costs have risen rapidly in many parts of the United States.

Catch up quick: Trump issued an executive order Saturday directing the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission to establish task forces on anti-competitive behavior in the food supply chain. The order specifically directs them to look at "whether control of food-related industries by foreign entities is increasing the cost of food products in the United States or creating a national or economic security threat to Americans." The task forces are expected to brief congressional leaders within six months.

Something unusual is happening at Dollar Tree: The discount retailer said this week that of the 3 million new households that shopped its stores in the third quarter, approximately 60% of those new customers came from households earning more than $100,000 a year.​​ The trend underscores a deepening split in the American economy. While cumulative inflation has pushed prices up roughly 25% since 2020, wage growth has not kept pace for most households, leaving consumers across the income spectrum hunting for deals.

By confronting the damage left by the previous administration, the interim government has set the economy on a path of stabilisation, not collapse. The recent wave of pessimism surrounding Bangladesh's economy under its interim administration, much of it amplified by selectively framed local commentary, offers an incomplete and often misleading portrait of the country's actual economic trajectory. Much of this concern is overstated, as the headline indicators reflect a necessary structural correction rather than an economic collapse.

Grocers have rebranded and grown their portfolio of private label brands over the past several years to cater to consumers pressed by inflation, and it's paid off as the highest-earning shoppers make up an increasingly large share of the economy. Nowhere is this more true than Walmart, the leading grocer since 2019, which launched a new private label called Bettergoods in 2024 that includes products that are plant-based, organic, or gluten-free.

One of the reasons we expect mortgage rates to kind of hover in the 6.3% range and not move lower is because we do think inflation is going to tick up a little bit as tariff prices pass through to the overall price level, she said. So we think that's going to keep mortgage rates from falling too much in 2026. If that pass-through were even greater than we expected, we could potentially see mortgage rates rise even higher.

Between the COVID-19 pandemic and all the subsequent supply-chain headaches that caused prices to skyrocket, followed by tariffs on foreign goods nowadays, people are starting to really wonder when they're going to catch a financial break. What's worse is that even saving money at Costco - a haven to which many families have flocked for years in search of cheap, good-quality food - has become challenging as of late.

Sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands. The government shutdown ended a while ago, but there's been at least one lingering effect: a lack of inflation data. The last CPI report was for September and released way back on October 24. November's inflation report - sorry October, we'll catch you next year - was scheduled to drop December 10, but got bumped to December 18. But who wants to wait another two-plus weeks?

I never thought it would become an object of both desire and hatred for the entire Cuban propaganda apparatus, Nieves told EL PAIS. Nor that they would disrespect the intelligence of the Cuban people so much by suggesting that a website is capable of influencing the entire economy of a country. If that were the case, we would be looking at the weakest government that has ever existed.