Before the Great Recession, U.S. consumer debt had risen fairly steadily for more than a decade. With the downturn, it finally dropped…until December’s small rise. However, a longer look at the trend of ever-rising debt shows…
Government measures show that inflation, at 1.6% in January, is still below the Fed’s target of 2%. But commodity prices are soaring, and anyone who pays their household bills knows that food and energy prices are rising becaus…
January’s retail and food services sales rose a sharp 7.8% from January 2010 and 0.3% from December. For the most part, merchants and manufacturers worked to line up wares that consumers want at prices that attract those who ar…
It’s no surprise that consumer prices are rising — the prices of commodities from corn to cotton to copper are near record levels, thanks to shrinking supplies and rising demand worldwide. The question is whether the Fed will …
After a holiday season that marked a return to some form of normalcy, merchants are bracing for a year of mild sales growth and more stable operations. Whether that momentum holds is an open question, given the state of the hou…