Section

Economy

Inflation, jobs, growth and the Federal Reserve

Power Bills Are Setting Records, and Data Centers Are Now Part of the Explanation

Average retail electricity rates reached an all-time high early this year as demand from AI computing collided with a grid built for an era of flat consumption.

The Fastest Oil Spike in Four Decades Is Rewriting the Inflation Math

Crude surged roughly 66% in little more than a week after conflict disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, sending the national average for gasoline from under $3 to nearly $4 a gallon in a month.

White House Answers the Tariff Ruling With a 15% Global Surcharge

Days after the Supreme Court invalidated the emergency-powers levies, the administration invoked a rarely used balance-of-payments statute to reimpose a worldwide tariff — this time with a 150-day fuse.

Supreme Court Strikes Down the Emergency-Powers Tariffs, 6-3

The justices ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not give a president authority to impose tariffs, voiding the levies that had raised roughly $160 billion and sending the question of refunds back to the trade court.

Powell's Last January: The Fed Holds and Warns Against Assuming More Cuts

In one of his final meetings as chair, Jerome Powell said it was hard to look at the data and conclude that policy was significantly restrictive, effectively closing the door on a near-term reduction.

A 2.8% Raise Meets a 3.4% Inflation Rate for Retirees

January's cost-of-living adjustment lifted benefits for about 71 million Americans by roughly $56 a month on average — an increase set before an energy shock reshaped the price of everything retirees buy.

Fed Cuts a Third Time, to 3.50%-3.75%, Over Three Dissents

Policymakers lowered the benchmark rate again in December despite an incomplete data picture, while their projections pointed to only one more cut in all of 2026.

The Statistics Blackout: What Six Missing Weeks Did to the Data

Federal statistical agencies restarted after the shutdown with gaps that cannot be filled retroactively, leaving policymakers and investors to make decisions on a patchwork of private data.