Economic and jobs news thread

[caltrek]

With a deadlock now apparent in further fiscal actions, at least those requiring Congressional approval, all eyes turn to the Fed.

Why the Fed Might Want to Jolt the Markets
by Neil Irwin
January s4, 2022

https://www.axios.com/fed-markets-jolt- ... 55f58.html

Introduction:

(Axios) So far, financial markets are cooperating nicely with the Federal Reserve's efforts to restrain inflation. They're doing the Fed's work for it by creating tighter financial conditions, in a distinctly non-panicky way.

• But as the central bank's policymakers meet this week, an underlying question they face is whether the adjustment is happening too slowly.

Why it matters: The Fed likes to move gradually to avoid spooking markets. But if its leaders conclude they are as behind the curve on re-setting monetary policy as some believe, it could mean more abrupt moves with far-reaching consequences.

By the numbers: Since the Fed's hawkish pivot began in mid-November, market moves have been consistent with the central bank's goals of achieving tighter financial conditions in an orderly way.

• Bond yields have risen substantially, but not because investors expect higher inflation. Rather, inflation-adjusted rates are rising. The real yield on 10-year Treasuries has risen 58 basis points since November 9.

[caltrek]

One important sector to keep an eye on is small business.

Small Businesses See Hiring as No. 1 Worry
by Mike Allen
January 24, 2022

https://www.axios.com/small-businesses- ... ebb29.html

Introduction:

(Axios) Almost every small business owner in a Goldman Sachs survey is having trouble hiring — and two-thirds think the federal government has done too little to ease their hiring, supply-chain and inflation worries.

Why it matters: The Goldman Sachs research gives a vivid window into the continuing headwinds and hardship for entrepreneurs.

The survey included 1,466 participants in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, representing 47 states. 58% were women.

• By far, finding and retaining employees was seen as the biggest problem facing small business, with supply chain issues and inflation far behind.

• Nevertheless, 73% of small business owners said they’re optimistic about the financial trajectory of their businesses this year

caltreks comment: At least there is still a sense of optimism in that sector.

[Ken_J]

the problem as I see it is that too many Businesses of any size have gotten used to the idea that they start small, over extend rapidly to look good for investment, and move rapidly to the infinite growth model, that then relies on sweat shop labor over seas to get building their empire, and no benefits, cheap workers in the US.

But other countries have started moving away from the idea of being used for cheap off shore options for infinite growth predatory capitalists, and the US labor pool is unable to live with the end of the deal they've been given and so the offers these companies make are no longer viable.

But so much of the retail company industry depends on these processes and they are not agile enough to completely remodel to a new way of working and meeting public need.

These companies are going to fall apart and ones that were working to grow up and fill the gaps are going to die before they get there. And the ones that were working on the bottom side won't have a plan for another way of doing things that will work in the new markets.

TL;DR expect a lot of chapter elevens, stores to close, companies to fail, having to o farther to get the things you need while brands and supplies you are used to will either because worse and more expensive or just disappear, while small businesses will take longer to get started and might not ever be able to shift into anything profitable enough to grow like they used to. the Titans will be able to hold monopoly for a while, but the regular store chains and businesses are about to be culled, and we'll be left with the monopolies and a collection of small options that cannot grow in the way they were intending and thus will likely die or be bought out by monopolies.

[caltrek]

^^^ Yes, there is the old monopoly sector versus competitive sector theme, to which careful attention should continue to be paid. A part of that is the way that some jobs get exported.

Another aspect of this sector-by-sector way of analysis is one I would like to now comment upon. That is the lender versus borrower versus renter angle. Regarding inflation, lenders generally like to see low rates of inflation. Simply put, they like to be paid back in dollars that are close to equal in value as dollars that they loaned out. Borrowers, especially those that receive COLAs and other inflation related adjustments to their income, can actually benefit from inflation. Mortgage payments, for example, can become a smaller portion of one's expenditures, providing you have already made a down payment and are currently making payments on the mortgage to your home. Student loan debt can also shrink as a share of your expenditure package, again providing you are receiving some increase in your income through such things as higher wages.

Renters, in contrast, are often at the mercy of landlords who simply charge what the market will bear. If enough people are getting raises, then landlords can see this as an opportunity to jack up rents to capture something more than their fair share of the increases in income. Landlords can range from folks who have a single room, apartment, or house to rent to large corporations running sizable apartment complexes or even entire housing subdivisions.

[Ken_J]

It's more than just a Monopoly vs the smaller guy issue. What I was trying clumsily to say is that the foundations of the entire economic system is built on the idea that any business that is more that a one or two person business gets there by having workers, and those workers are paid as little as possible in order to pump money into growing the business which in turn means hiring more [strike]peons, drones[/strike], workers which are continually paid with as little as possible. It's frequently expressed as the surplus value of the workers labor, that it is being used by the business to increase it's size while skimming money off to fill the pockets of the shareholders and owners.

There is a saying that Mcdonalds isn't in the burger business, it's in the franchise/realestate business. The real money being made by Mcdonalds is off of having more buildings paying to be part of the company, and more workers paying excess labor value to work for the company.

and the whole economy has been built up in such a way that the barriers to entry are steep for you or me to make a company that can meet a community need, supply service or product of value, and result in pay for the owners and workers that meets the needs. Any that can meet that threshold cannot generate enough to grow at any real rate. Some that do often get crushed by the monopolies that have enough surplus money around to rewrite laws ordinances and otherwise strongarm the company out of existence or buy them out. Others abandon the structure they started with to become mean and lean like the competition and ultimately you end up with another company lining shareholder and owners pockets and in the business of growing a money machine for those interests and no longer about meeting a need and filling a role in the communities they are located in.

That is what businesses are in our economies. But the workers are starting to refuse to be condemned to those positions, and the infinite growth and reassessment of values are clashing now. The businesses can't simply stop being the way they are and have been for decades. You can't suddenly make a money machine change it's supply chain, property managment and franchising structures to a completely different way to do things. This is not just turning a sword into a plowshare, this is asking that the swordsmith gather all their swords ever made and turn them into plowsahres and then give them all back to the soldiers weilding them and make them all farm with them.

So more than likely we'll get companies making more cuts to labor, automating, and brutally tightening things to keep working the money machine angle. companies will fail for not adapting, but the small alternatives still will have the same hurdles to filling that niche. It'll be almost like we see with voting locations disappearing from poor and minority communities and those people having to travel more than an hour to access those things. And scarcity will drive price up. The small alternatives won't be able to gain the economics of scale, supply chains and influence to grease the wheel and they will not be able to pay the needed rates to staff and create jobs fast enough to meet the needs for either worker or products they produce (they sure as heck won't be able to automate like the big companies. And the system will just get in the way because the system is built for the old way of doing things.

There has to be a massive fundamental shift in the what and how of business. But we've had a similar need for addressing climate change for a long time and the system keeps finding ways to avoid that... just like they will avoid the changes needed in the labour and economics reform needed to address these problems.

[caltrek]

Two Sides of the Same Coin: Suppress the Vote, Cut Rich People’s Taxes
by Sam Pizzigati
January 22, 2022

https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/01/25 ... les-taxes/

Introduction:

(Counterpunch) America’s national media typically pay little attention to the moves the nation’s state lawmakers make. Not this year. State legislative battles have emerged over recent months as a top-tier national story. And deservedly so. The battling at the state level — on a tidal wave of proposed new voter-suppression laws — could well determine the course of American democracy.

But state lawmakers are threatening democracy with more than schemes for voter suppression. In one state after another, legislators have been advancing and enacting tax cuts that pump more dollars into rich people’s pockets — and fix in place more plutocratic power over the political process.

In Arizona, for instance, the tax cuts enacted last year figure to deliver 55.5 percent of their benefits to the state’s top 1 percent. Arizonans making over half a million dollars will save an average $30,000 off their tax bills. Taxpayers making between $21,000 and $40,000 will average $13 in savings.

In Arkansas, among other tax changes, lawmakers chopped the highest state income rate — on income over $37,200 — from 5.9 to 4.9 percent. The state’s overall tax changes will save the poorest 20 percent of Arkansas taxpayers an average $17 each. Households in the state’s top 1 percent will average $10,400 in tax savings.

In Kansas, a state that should know better, a similar story. A decade ago, the state’s right-wing governor gave taxpayers of means a massive tax break that cratered state revenues and, relates Wesley Sharpe of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “forced schools to shift more costs on to parents and teachers” and “left millions of people without health insurance.” The Kansas economy, meanwhile, would see no sign of the “shot of adrenaline” the governor had promised the tax cut would deliver.

[caltrek]

If Congress Fails to Act, Monthly Child Tax Credit Payments Will Stop, Child Poverty Reductions Will Be Lost

More on that in this January 26, 2022 article by Clara Moore:

https://otherwords.org/why-are-we-torch ... d-poverty/

Extract:

(Other Words) …the COVID-19 relief programs Congress passed — like the stimulus checks and those monthly Child Tax Credit payments — helped me keep our apartment.

With this help, I could look for work while homeschooling my daughter. I was even able to put a few dollars into a savings account for the first time in my life, which was a huge relief. My family wasn’t just surviving — we were on our way to thriving.

That’s exactly what a safety net is for. But now what’s going to happen?

The credit expired last December because Republicans, plus Democrat Joe Manchin, have stalled efforts to extend this tax relief to working families. Millions of families like mine missed our check in January — and we won’t get another unless they’re renewed.

…A Columbia study found that the December payments alone kept 3.7 million children out of poverty, reducing the monthly child poverty rate by about 30 percent.

But in the first month without payments, Columbia experts project that the monthly child poverty rate may rise from the current 12 percent to over 17 percent — the highest it’s been in over a year.

[caltrek]

Federal Reserve Plans to Raise Interest Rates ‘Soon’ to Fight Inflation: What that Means for Consumers and the Economy
by Alexander Kurow and Marketa Wolf
January 26, 2022

https://theconversation.com/federal-res ... omy-175791

Introduction:

(The Conversation) The Federal Reserve signaled plans to begin raising interest rates “soon” in a bid to tamp down inflation before it poses a serious risk to the U.S. economy. A hike would be the first time the central bank has increased its benchmark lending rate in over three years.

Lifting the borrowing costs consumers and businesses pay for loans has the effect of slowing economic activity, which in turn could curb inflation. But there are also concerns that it could put on the brakes too quickly. We asked Alexander Kurov, a finance professor at West Virginia University, and Marketa Wolfe, an economist at Skidmore College, to explain what the Fed is doing and what it means for you.

1. Why is the Fed raising interest rates?

Short-term interest rates in the U.S. are now essentially zero.

The Fed quickly cut rates to zero at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis in March 2020 in an attempt to soften the blow of the sharp recession that began that month as the U.S. went into lockdown. As a reminder of how bad things were back then, over 40 million workers – a quarter of the American workforce – filed for unemployment in the first few months of the pandemic, a staggering number with no precedent in the job market.
.

The rest of the article does a fairly good job of explaining how the prospective Fed action may impact upon certain identified sectors of the economy.

[caltrek]

The One Percent Move Report for January 25, 2022

https://www.morganstanley.com/content/m ... e-20220125

Introduction:

(Morgan Stanley) What Happened in the Markets?

US stocks had another rollercoaster trading day Tuesday. A morning sell-off sent the S&P 500 down nearly 3% at its lowest point intraday, before a mid-session rally saw the index gain back all of its losses only to give way to a late session slide that left the index to close down 1.2%. In the first 16 trading days of the year the S&P 500 has posted 11 declines. The index is now down 8.6% year to date.

The S&P 500 Energy (+4.0%) and Financials (+0.5%) sectors posted gains vs the prior trading day. Out of the remaining nine S&P 500 sectors that declined on Tuesday, the worst performers were Communication Services (-2.2%) and Information Technology (-2.3%).

Underscoring the extent of recent weakness in markets, as of Tuesday's close, 30% of the S&P 500 constituents have posted declines greater than 20% versus their 52-week intraday highs. Of particular note, just over half of the constituents within each of the Communication Services, Consumer Discretionary and Information Technology sectors are down more than 20% vs their 52-week intraday highs.

The Russell 1000 Value (-4.0% year-to-date) continued to outperform the Russell 1000 Growth (-13.6% year-to-date) on Tuesday. The Nasdaq 100 closed down 2.5% Tuesday (-15.6% since its November 22nd intraday high). The CBOE Volatility Index closed above 30 for the first time since the beginning of December.

Further Extract:

Markets have sold off in recent weeks as investors have grappled with a surge in bond yields, geopolitical tensions, and continued COVID related pressures on economic data and the recovery. With the Federal Reserve's recent hawkish pivot, investors will be closely watching tomorrow's FOMC meeting for signals from the central bank with regards to its approach for monetary policy tightening in the months ahead. Fundamentals will also be in focus as 4Q21 earnings season continues; just over 100 companies release 4Q21 earnings this week (approximately 34% of the S&P 500 market cap). Wednesday and Thursday will be the heaviest days of earnings reports this week, with more than 35 S&P 500 companies reporting each day. Thus far this earnings season, five sectors have seen estimate revisions trend to the downside.

From J.P Morgan:

Extract:
https://www.chase.com/personal/investme ... twenty-two

(J.P. Morgan) The types of companies that have suffered the most during this bout of weakness are ones that don’t have any profits now but could have rapid growth and huge profits in the future. A basket of unprofitable tech/tech adjacent companies is down over 17% so far this year, much worse than the market as a whole.

[weatheriscool]

Q4 GDP: US economy expanded at 6.9% annualized rate, topping expectations

Emily McCormick · Reporter
Thu, January 27, 2022, 8:31 AM · 3 min read

U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) ramped up in the final months of 2021, with still-solid consumer spending helping stoke growth and offset early negative impacts from the Omicron variant's spread. ... The Bureau of Economic Analysis released its first estimate of fourth-quarter GDP on Thursday. Here were the main metrics from the print, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:

-- GDP quarter-over-quarter, annualized: 6.9% vs. 5.5% expected, 2.3% in Q3

-- Personal consumption: 3.3% vs. 3.4% expected, 2.0% in Q3

-- Core personal consumption expenditures, quarter-over-quarter: 4.9% vs. 4.9% expected, 4.6% in Q3

Growth in the fourth quarter rebounded more than expected from the third quarter's disappointing rate of expansion, when GDP rose at a 2.3% annualized rate -- its slowest since mid-2020.

A jump in consumer spending during this year's record holiday shopping season was expected to contribute heavily to the headline gain. As consumers attempted to get ahead of supply chain delays and out-of-stocks, spending was pulled forward from the typical holiday period of November and December to October. This helped to lift overall fourth-quarter consumption for the final three months of the year, even as retail sales in December pulled back on a month-over-month basis.

{snip}

"The pace of business investment growth should remain steady, with intellectual property offsetting softness in equipment and structures investment, both of which have been hampered by supply shortages, rising costs and work-related shifts away from the office," he added. "Following two quarters of decline, residential investment should turn positive as sales and home improvement spending have recovered in recent months."

{snip}

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/q4-gdp-u ... 45002.html

[wjfox]

[caltrek]

billionaires get richer by 3.9 trillion

I still can't see how some can write about a "declining rate of profit" when you have data like that coming in.

What I came here to post:

Markets Cap Off Week with a Win but are Down Overall for January

https://www.courthousenews.com/markets- ... r-january/

Introduction:

MANHATTAN (Courthouse News) — A turbulent week on Wall Street settled down on Friday, with investors able to notch a win. However, markets are still down hundreds of points for the year.

Putting the massive swings from earlier in the week behind them, the three major U.S. indices calmed on Friday. By the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 565 points for the day, though it still lost 461 points for the week. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each made substantial gains on Friday — by 105 points and 417 points, respectively — but similarly lost for the week.

Since the beginning of the year, however, all three markets are down substantially, with the Dow having declined 1,596 points, the S&P 500 347 points, and the Nasdaq a whopping 1,962 points since trading resumed on January 3.

The lift on Friday was due mostly to good news from corporate earnings, most notably from Apple, Microsoft and Caterpillar. For Apple, revenue increased significantly, to the tune of 11%, or almost $124 billion, during its first 2022 quarter, the highest in company history. Microsoft also beat forecasts with its revenue increase, which topped $51 billion and was 20% better than a year ago. For Caterpillar, sales and revenue jumped 23% last quarter, hinting that supply-chain issues may be starting to loosen up.

Markets are also still chewing through the statements on Wednesday by the Federal Reserve, which on Wednesday began to lay the groundwork for finally raising the federal funds interest rate after its March meeting.

The "One Percent Move Report" from Morgan Stanley goes over some of the same ground, with additional data included: https://www.morganstanley.com/content/m ... e-20220128

[weatheriscool]

Job openings rose to 10.925 million in December

Emily McCormick · Reporter
Tue, February 1, 2022, 10:01 AM

The number of job openings and quits each held at historically elevated levels in December, with worker leverage remaining high as labor demand persisted.

Vacancies across the U.S. totaled 10.925 million at the end of 2021, the Labor Department said in its latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS). (1) This compared to 10.775 million openings in November, according to the revised monthly print. Consensus economists had anticipated December vacancies would come in at 10.3 million, according to Bloomberg data.

The latest report represented a seventh straight month that job openings held above the 10 million level, underscoring the ongoing tightness in the labor market as employers struggle to find enough workers to fill positions. Vacancies had set an all-time high of nearly 11.1 million in July, and trended only slightly lower since then. Before the pandemic, job openings had averaged around 7 million per month throughout 2019.

And beneath the surface, churn within the labor market has also increased over the course of 2021. Another 4.3 million individuals quit their jobs in December, coming down only slightly from a record high of 4.5 million in November. And the quits rate was little changed at 2.9%, or just a tick below November's record rate of 3.0%. A higher quits rate typically indicates workers are more confident that they will be able to find new jobs after voluntarily leaving their current ones.

{snip}

(1) https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jolts-jo ... 37642.html

[weatheriscool]

U.S. construction spending misses expectations in December

Tue, February 1, 2022, 10:27 AM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. construction spending increased less than expected in December as a solid rise in private projects was partially offset by a sharp decline in outlays on public projects. ... The Commerce Department said on Tuesday that construction spending rose 0.2% after advancing 0.6% in November.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast construction spending gaining 0.6%. Construction spending increased 9.0% on a year-on-year basis in December. It rose 8.2% in 2021.

Spending on private construction projects rose 0.7% in December. Outlays on residential construction surged 1.1%. ... Single-family homebuilding spending accelerated 2.1%, while outlays on multi-family housing projects rose 0.4%.

Homebuilding remains constrained by higher prices for building materials, especially framing lumber. The United States last November nearly doubled the duties on imported Canadian softwood lumber to 17.9% from 9% after a review of its anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders. Residential investment contracted for a third straight quarter in the fourth quarter.

{snip}

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-constr ... 28566.html

[weatheriscool]

U.S. manufacturing sector slows in January; employment rises - ISM

Tue, February 1, 2022, 10:05 AM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A measure of U.S. manufacturing activity fell to a 14-month low in January amid an outbreak of COVID-19 infections, supporting views that economic growth lost steam at the start of the year.

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said on Tuesday that its index of national factory activity dropped to a reading of 57.6 last month. That was the lowest reading since November 2020 and followed 58.8 in December.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion in manufacturing, which accounts for 11.9% of the U.S. economy. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index dropping to 57.5.

The economy hit a soft patch in December, which appeared to have persisted into early 2022 as coronavirus infections, driven by the Omicron variant, raged across the country. The ensuing disruptions at businesses and schools have led economists to anticipate a sharp slowdown in job growth in January.

{snip}

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-manufa ... 03841.html

[weatheriscool]

January jobs report: Payrolls jump by 467,000 as unemployment rate rises to 4.0%

Emily McCormick · Reporter
Fri, February 4, 2022, 8:31 AM · 4 min read

U.S. job growth unexpectedly accelerated in January even as Omicron cases surged at the beginning of the new year. ... The Labor Department released its January jobs report Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Here were the main metrics from the print, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:

-- Non-farm payrolls: +467,000 vs. +125,000 expected, +199,000 in December

-- Unemployment rate: 4.0% vs. 3.9% expected, 3.9% in December

-- Average hourly earnings, month-over-month: 0.7% vs. 0.5% expected, 0.6% in December

-- Average hourly earnings, year-over-year: 5.7% vs. 5.2% expected, 4.7% in December

The January jobs report marks the first to reflect a fuller impact from the Omicron variant. The highly contagious variant first discovered in the U.S. in late November had only just begun to spread by the time of the December jobs report survey period. Around the time of the January survey period in the middle of the month, new daily COVID-19 cases in the U.S. had soared to a record.

The renewed jump in COVID-19 cases was expected to weigh especially heavily on the high-contact services sector, which has remained exceptionally vulnerable to rising infections levels.

Heading into Friday's report, estimates for the headline January print on non-farm payrolls ran the gamut as top Wall Street economists attempted to predict the latest virus-related speed bump to the labor market's recovery. At the high end, several economists polled by Bloomberg expected 250,000 jobs to return in January. However, a number of pundits also saw job growth turning negative for the first time since December 2020, with at least one economist forecasting a drop of 400,000 payrolls for January.

{snip}

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/january- ... 48590.html

[weatheriscool]

Inflation reaches 40-year high: January CPI posts 7.5% annual gain
Source: Yahoo! Finance

Emily McCormick · Reporter
Thu, February 10, 2022, 8:31 AM

U.S. inflation accelerated in January, with prices across a wide range of goods and services soaring further amid lingering shortages and supply chain disruptions.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Thursday morning registered a 7.5% annual gain in January. Consensus economists were looking for a 7.3% rise, according to Bloomberg data. This represented the fastest rise since 1982, as well as an acceleration from the 7.0% year-over-year increase seen in December. ... On a month-over-month basis, consumer price increased by 0.6%, matching the rate seen at the end of 2021.

Heading into Thursday's report, contributions to the headline jump in inflation were expected to be broad-based, reflecting widespread price pressures still reverberating across the recovering economy.

Energy prices have been a key contributor to the overall CPI and were up by more than 29% on a year-over-year basis in December, even as prices pulled back slightly compared to November. Natural gas prices jumped by a record in January and crude oil prices topped $90 per barrel for the first time since 2014, suggesting further contributions from the energy index to the January CPI. ... And even excluding more volatile food and energy prices, the so-called core CPI rose by 6.0% in January over last year, also marking the biggest jump since 1982. The core CPI had risen by 5.5% in December.

{snip}

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/consumer ... 44769.html



January CPI preview: Inflation likely to reach fresh 39-year high

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/consumer ... 44769.html

[caltrek]

How Raising Interest Rates Curbs Inflation – and What Could Possibly Go Wrong
by Rodney Ramcharan

https://theconversation.com/how-raising ... ong-176426

Extract:

(The Conversation) It’s part of the mandated job of the U.S. Federal Reserve to prevent inflation from getting out of hand – and lowering it back to its preferred pace of about 2%.

To do that, the Fed has signaled it plans to raise interest rates several times this year – perhaps as many as five – beginning in March. And January’s faster-than-expected inflation figures suggest it may have to accelerate its overall timetable.

Will this work?
…
In keeping with our car example, if the price of computer chips – a critical input in cars these days – is increasing sharply primarily because of new pandemic-related lockdowns in Asia, then carmakers will have to pass on these higher prices to consumers in the form of higher car prices, regardless of interest rates.

In this case, the Fed might then have to dramatically raise interest rates and reduce demand substantially to slow the pace of inflation. At this point, no one really knows how high interest rates might need to climb in order to get inflation back down to around 2%.

[caltrek]

Investors Buy the Dip, but Can’t Say Bye-bye to Inflation
by Nick Rummel
February 11, 2022

https://www.courthousenews.com/investor ... inflation/

Introduction:

MANHATTAN (Courthouse News) — Many Wall Street experts had hoped this would be the week that inflation finally began to drop, but data showing persistent price increases caused investors to pull away from early-week gains.

Investors also were kept on edge late Friday by worsening Russia-Ukraine tensions, which has caused oil prices to skyrocket over the last few weeks to about $94 a barrel, the highest price in years. Some analysts fear that if any military action actually occurs, that price could shoot up to higher than $150 a barrel.

By the week’s end the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed the gains made from Monday and Tuesday, losing 352 points. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq similarly gave up their own increases to fall 82 points and 307 points, respectively.

The biggest news of the week, yet again, was headline-grabbing inflation numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which reported that a 0.6% month-over-month rise in consumer prices last month. All told, inflation has risen to 7.5%, the highest yearly increase since 1982.

The price increases were mostly across the board, but some items stuck out like sore thumbs. Gasoline prices, for example, actually dropped 0.8% in January but are up a whopping 40% since early 2021. Used cars and trucks, a persistent culprit in inflation reports, gained 1.5% last month and now cost 40% more than they did in January 2021.

[wjfox]