The U.S. Labor Economy may sit at the lower end of the wage scale, but it punches far above its weight in economic impact. Roughly 60 million workers earning less than $25 an hour account for about 15% of total U.S. consumer spending, making their...
The specter of a global trade war once again raised its head over the weekend. The immediate takeaway of the tariff news was familiar: uncertainty is back, and companies must prepare to weather it. But a more consequential issue lurks. The central question of the...
The European Union could implement tariffs on U.S. goods as soon as Feb. 7, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday (Jan. 19), citing a European Commission spokesman. The EU approved the tariffs in July 2025 but paused their implementation for six months as the EU...
The Federal Reserve’s latest Beige Book strikes a cautiously upbeat tone, pointing to modest economic gains across much of the country even as businesses and consumers navigate higher costs, tighter credit conditions and shifting labor dynamics. Covering economic conditions across the 12 Federal Reserve districts,...
The volatility wrought by tariffs is no longer a background risk but a daily operational reality, forcing companies to make strategic decisions with incomplete data and shifting economic signals. As tariffs collided with delayed government statistics and cooling consumer demand, firms have had to confront...
The latest inflation data released Tuesday (Jan. 13) suggests a steady pace of inflation overall, but groceries and other essentials continue to rise faster than the headline number and influence how consumers plan and pay for everyday life. In December, the Consumer Price Index rose...
Liquidity stress in the U.S. economy is no longer a background condition. Instead, it is the mechanism reshaping how different segments experience work, confidence and financial progress. That was the core insight of “Wage to Wallet™ Index: Liquidity Stress Splits Higher Earners and the Labor...
Americans are less confident about finding a job than they’ve been in the 12 years the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has been producing the Survey of Consumer Expectations. Respondents’ mean perceived probability of finding a new job if they lost their current one...
A growing share of Americans are losing confidence in their financial footing, as paycheck-to-paycheck stress becomes a defining feature of the economy rather than a temporary condition. The latest PYMNTS Intelligence installment of “New Reality Check: The Paycheck-to-Paycheck Report” finds that nearly 7 in 10...