Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell announced Wednesday afternoon the Fed will begin to taper down its pandemic-era aid as soon as later this month. The move has been expected, with Powell hinting at the November timeline back in September. “I think if the economy continues to progress broadly in line with expectations,” Powell said after…

When it comes to presidential approval, voters have a short memory, which is why approval ratings for the Commander-in-Chief frequently start to decline after they take office. After starting with an approval rating in the mid-50s that held for the first few months of his presidency, President Joe Biden’s numbers began to decline in the…

In an impromptu news conference Monday, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin called for a House vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill. The bill passed in the Senate, but has been held up the House amid negotiations over President Joe Biden’s $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act. The video above shows clips from the news conference…

The Commerce Department released a report Friday saying American consumers slowed their spending to a gain of just 0.6% in September. For the July-September quarter as a whole, consumer spending weakened to an annual growth rate of just 1.6%. That was down significantly from the previous quarter. The slowdown comes as a historic rise in…

The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly hit a record high Wednesday, finishing the day up 152.03 points, or .4 percent. It has since fallen 96 points, or .3 percent, to 35,514 as of 10:19 a.m. EST Thursday. That is just below the previous record set Aug. 16. The S&P 500 index was also poised to…

Rising prices make it hard to get by when you live on a fixed budget. Even if you manage to raise your wages, inflation that increases at a faster pace than your salary means that you end up with less purchasing power. The negative aspects of inflation go even deeper than just squeezing the margin…

As we approach the end of the year, from oil to natural gas, it appears a perfect storm is brewing for many Americans to experience an expensive winter. The U.S. Energy Information Administration released its short-term energy outlook Wednesday. “We forecast that average U.S. household expenditures for all major home heating fuels will increase significantly…

The Labor Department released new numbers on unemployment and inflation Thursday. In its weekly report on unemployment claims, the department reported new claims dropped 36,000 to 293,000 last week. In addition to being the second straight week of falling initial claims, “this is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020,” the department said. The…

Shannon’s picks for Wednesday, October 13 include: Blue Origin’s second manned spaceflight blasted off with Star Trek actor William Shatner on board. The 90-year-old passenger is now the oldest person to ever visit space. The U.S. Department of Labor reported a record number of Americans–4.3 million–quit their jobs in August. Social security payments will increase…

According to a report from the Labor Department released Wednesday, consumer prices rose .4 percent from August to September, and have risen 5.4 percent over the last year. The increase is the largest year-over-year rise in inflation since 2008. The burst of inflation seen since last fall reflects what many people have been noticing: sharply…