AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Inflation is a regressive tax on the middle class and the poor. It destroys real income in order to reduce the real cost of debt service until creditors revolt, and demand an extra risk premium for lending to profligate governments. Below is my most recent column at Asia Times:
US inflation explodes in April with worse to come
US inflation is set to explode after massive fiscal stimulus measures. Image: iStock
NEW YORK – A 10% surge in used car prices pushed the “core” US Consumer Price Index (CPI) up by 0.9% in April – an annualized rate of increase of more than 11% – in the highest inflation print since the Great Financial Crisis of 2008. There’s worse to come, as higher housing costs feed into consumer prices.
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A record 44% of small businesses struggled to hire workers in April, and more than a third raised prices, study finds
A record 44% of small businesses struggled to hire workers in April, and more than a third raised prices, study finds
Ayelet SheffeyMay 12, 2021, 01:34 IST
A Help wanted sign is seen in the window of a bakery in Ottawa.Reuters
The National Federation of Independent Business found a record 44% of
small businesses have openings they can t fill.
Also, 36% of owners reported raising their selling prices - the highest reading since 1981.
Experts say some workers in service industries might never return to the pre-COVID
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced Tuesday the state will stop participating in added federal unemployment benefits in an effort to encourage Tennesseans on unemployment to start working again.
Provided by Dow Jones
By Gwynn Guilford Consumer prices surged in April by the most in any 12-month period since 2008 as the recovery picked up, reflecting both rising demand as the Covid-19 pandemic eases and supply bottlenecks. The Labor Department reported its consumer-price index jumped 4.2% in April from a year earlier, up from 2.6% for the year ended in March. Consumer prices increased a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in April from March. The index measures what consumers pay for goods and services, including clothes, groceries, restaurant meals, recreational activities and vehicles. Higher prices for used autos surged 10% in April compared with the prior month the largest monthly increase on record. That accounted for more than a third of the increase, the Labor Department said.
The nationwide worker shortage that held down U.S. job growth last month boils down to this: Many workers are seeing their wages and savings swell but they have fewer places to spend that extra cash.
Businesses that can’t find enough workers are pushing their existing staffers harder, converting part-time employees to full time and asking full-time workers to put in lots of overtime. That’s providing more income to Americans who have already socked way three rounds of government stimulus checks totaling $3,200 since the COVID-19 pandemic began more than a year ago.
In other words, workers who hunkered down at home the past year and built up savings, are itching to boost their spending as the economy reopens fully this spring and summer.