Scott Horsley
Inflation is surging and people are hopping mad
By Scott Horsley • Nov 13, 2021
Bernice Rink didn't need to see this week's eye-popping inflation report to know that prices are getting painfully high. She can see it every time she goes to the supermarket.
"Oh my God," says Rink, "you can hardly buy groceries."
Prices of everyday items have surged during the pandemic, thanks to a toxic combination of staffing shortages and supply chain woes. The rising prices are souring the national mood and taking a political toll on President Biden.
The race is on to save Christmas as retailers fight the supply chain crunch
The busy Christmas shopping season is almost here. Unfortunately, a lot of holiday merchandise is tied up in traffic, and Bonnie Ross is starting to sweat.
"We're at the point where if you don't ship now, it's not going," says Ross, sales manager for the California-based clothing company Nothin' But Net. "The buyers are saying, 'If it's not here, I can't take it.'"
For months now, Ross has been anxiously tracking the progress of her company's Christmas clothing orders from factories in Asia to cargo terminals on the West Coast.
Inflation surges to its highest since 1990
Updated November 10, 2021 at 9:48 AM ET
Surging prices are steadily chipping away at Americans' buying power – as well as President Biden's approval rating.
The Labor Department reported Wednesday that consumer prices were 6.2% higher in October than a year ago. That's the sharpest increase since November of 1990.
The holidays are nearing, and merchandise meant to be on shelves is still on ships
By Scott Horsley • Nov 9, 2021
The labor market is back on track after 531,000 jobs were added in October
Updated November 5, 2021 at 11:46 AM ET
A strong rebound in job growth in October is raising hopes for a long-awaited recovery in the labor market. But millions of workers remain on the sidelines — and the economy needs them back.
The Labor Department reported Friday that U.S. employers added 531,000 jobs last month. Job gains for August and September were also revised upward. The unemployment rate fell to 4.6% from 4.8% in September.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says she's confident inflation will ease next year
By Scott Horsley & Noel King • Nov 3, 2021
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Wednesday she expects inflation to come down from its three-decade highs in the second half of next year as pandemic pressures on the economy ease.
The Commerce Department reported Friday that consumer prices in September, as measured by the Federal Reserve's preferred yardstick, were 4.4% higher than a year ago. That was the steepest increase since 1991.
Inflation is at a 30-year high. Here's how the Federal Reserve plans to deal with it
Updated November 3, 2021 at 5:23 PM ET
The Federal Reserve is caught in a delicate balancing act as it tries to steer the country out of an unprecedented pandemic.
On one side, the Fed feels the economy still needs help given that the U.S. has yet to recover nearly 5 million jobs that were lost during the pandemic.
But the Fed is also facing another opposing problem: Inflation has climbed to its highest level in three decades as Americans have gone on a spending spree that has sparked widespread shortages.
How the economy went from sizzle to fizzle, and why there's hope for a way back
By Scott Horsley • Oct 28, 2021
Updated October 28, 2021 at 8:39 AM ET
On the Fourth of July, the U.S. economy looked ready to skyrocket.
"We're seeing record job creation and record economic growth," President Biden said then as he encouraged Americans to celebrate their newfound independence from the coronavirus pandemic.
By Labor Day, however, the economy looked more like a dud, its midsummer sparkle smothered by a wave of delta variant infections and persistent supply chain problems.
Does the IRS really want to spy on your bank account? The latest tax fight, explained
A new fight is brewing over taxes.
The Biden administration wants to require banks to provide the Internal Revenue Service with information about how much money flows in and out of individual accounts each year.
It's part of a plan to catch people who might be cheating on their taxes and to raise badly needed revenue to help finance the Biden agenda. But Republicans are fighting back hard, calling the move an invasion of privacy, while banks object to the increased monitoring.
The Federal Reserve imposes new restrictions on investments after trading controversy
The Federal Reserve is imposing new restrictions on investments by its senior officials as it seeks to address a controversy involving trades made by two regional Fed bank presidents last year.
The new rules prohibit policymakers and senior staff at the Fed from buying individual stocks. They're also barred from holding individual bonds as well as other market products including derivatives or any investments involving government-backed securities.
What's at stake as Biden decides whether to stick with Jerome Powell as Fed chief
The chair of the Federal Reserve has one of the most powerful economic jobs in the world, with the ability to move markets with a single phrase.
Under Jerome Powell's leadership, the Federal Reserve has been instrumental in steering the economy from the depths of the pandemic in a quest to claw back the 22 million jobs that were lost.
Gas, food and transportation network shortages all helped drive up consumer prices
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As prices increase because of inflation, consumers are forced to pay more
By Rachel Martin & Scott Horsley • Oct 13, 2021
Oil prices keep climbing, supply chains still tangled - and that's keeping inflation at its highest level in more than a dozen years. The Labor Department said this morning that consumer prices rose 5.4% during the 12 months ending in September. Price hikes accelerated in just the last month. NPR's Scott Horsley joins us. Scott, that is a long list of bummer items. Let's start with energy. Crude oil prices have risen sharply, and that's causing gas to rise. What's going on?
Cargo traffic jams affect glass bottles too. Your pantry staples could cost more
Here's another unexpected example of how supply chains have been upended by the pandemic: Glass bottles used for everything from vinegar to pasta sauces are getting tied up in their own bottlenecks. That's driving prices higher, when you can get the bottles at all.
Pandemic supply-chain issues now mean a shortage of glass jars and bottles