U.S. military aid to Israel and Ukraine is helping to push this fiscal year’s budget deficit from the $1.4 trillion estimated in February to $1.9 trillion, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has projected.
Tag: inflation
FED HOLDING BACK ON INTEREST RATE CUTS
The central banks of Canada and the European Union cut their interest rates this month for the first time in the current cycle, but the U.S. Federal Reserve is in no hurry to follow suit.
U.S. SMALL BUSINESS SENTIMENT INCHES UP
Owners of small businesses felt slightly more confident in May about their current and future prospects than they did in April, according to the National Federation of Independent Business’s (NFIB) Small Business Optimism Index.
CONSUMER BLUES
U.S. consumers’ gloom deepened again in June, according to the University of Michigan’s monthly survey of consumer sentiment, after also slipping in April and May.
CANADA’S CENTRAL BANK CUTS INTEREST RATE
On 5 June, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) became the first central bank among G7 countries to cut its key interest rate during the current inflationary cycle.
EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK CUTS INTEREST RATE BY QUARTER POINT
As expected, the European Central Bank (ECB) cut its key interest rate on loans from 4.25 percent to 4 percent last week.
FAST FOOD, FASTER PRICE INCREASES
From 2014 through 2023, prices at a dozen fast-food chains increased between 39 and 100 percent, while inflation over the same 10 years added just 31 percent to costs, according to a new study by financial website FinanceBuzz.
SALES SLOW DOWN AT CAMPBELL, BATH & BODY WORKS
People ate fewer Goldfish crackers and Pepperidge Farm cookies in this year’s first quarter, dropping revenue 2 percent in Campbell Soup’s snacks division, the company reported.
U.S. ECONOMY TACKS ON ANOTHER 272,000 JOBS IN MAY
Employers took on another 272,000 workers last month, the U.S. Labor Department reported, well above the average of 232,000 over the preceding 12 months and the 190,000 that economists had expected.
LUXURY STOCKS SLUMP ON CHANEL’S WARNING; LAUREN DISAPPOINTS
On 22 May, Chanel Ltd. reported double-digit gains in sales and profits in its most recent quarter.









