Inflation closed out 2024 on a strong note, as a price gauge the Federal Reserve focuses on came in well above the central bank’s target, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

US labor cost growth cooled in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, reassuring Federal Reserve policymakers wage pressures are gradually diminishing and no longer a key driver of inflation.

No economic story has been as constant in recent years as the dramatic increase in inflation from 2021 to early 2023 and its lingering

How much has rising inflation since 2020 cost you? While Iowans need to spend more to maintain their standard of living, wages have also increased.

Federal Reserve policymakers voted Wednesday to hold interest rates steady in its first rate decision of the year.

Rising food and housing costs have hit the lowest-income Americans the hardest in recent years.

Recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the cost of living continues to outpace earnings, leaving many Americans struggling to make ends meet.

Measuring key aspects of a nation’s economy is important, but the metrics used are often misunderstood by many. Quantifying output of goods and services, price levels, and labor use provides

And all this productivity is why wage growth keeps beating inflation, said Betsey Stevenson, a professor of economics at the University of Michigan. “Real wage growth has to come from productivity growth. Because we’re doing more with less, we get more in the end,” she said.

After a two-day meeting of its monetary policy committee in Washington, the Fed announced it would hold its rate target at 4.25% to 4.50%.

Economists like me rely on data from federal data collection agencies like the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). They provide critical data on