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Tag: Prices

  • UK inflation rises to 3.4% in December, above forecasts

    A shopper browses fruit and vegetables for sale at an indoor market in Sheffield, UK. The OECD recently predicted that the UK will experience the highest inflation among all advanced economies this year.

    Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    The U.K. inflation rate rose to 3.4% in December, above forecasts of 3.3% from economists polled by Reuters.

    The inflation rate had cooled sharply to 3.2% in the twelve months of November, with the data encouraging the Bank of England to cut interest rates at its final meeting of the year last month.

    Core inflation, excluding energy, food, alcohol, and tobacco, stood at 3.2% in December, unchanged from November, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.

    “Inflation ticked up a little in December, driven partly by higher tobacco prices, following recently-introduced excise duty increases,” the ONS’ Chief Economist Grant Fitzner commented on X Wednesday.

    “Airfares also contributed to the increase with prices rising more than a year ago, likely because of the timing of return flights over the Christmas and New Year period. Rising food costs, particularly for bread and cereals, were also an upward driver,” he added.

    These increases were partially offset by a fall in rents inflation and lower prices for a range of recreational and cultural purchases, the ONS noted.

    Pound sterling was largely flat against the dollar following the data, at $1.3231.

    Chancellor Rachel Reeves told CNBC Wednesday that the Bank of England had expected inflation to rise slightly before it’s expected to cool into spring and summer, toward the central bank’s 2% target.

    “That continues to be their expectation and that continues to be my expectation, and that’s going to happen because of the measures I took in my budget last year,” she told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

    The figures, coming after employment data on Monday which showed further cooling in the labor market, still raise doubts over whether the BOE will proceed with its expected February rate cut, or could hold off a little longer, however.

    “A small monthly rise in prices is unlikely to concern policymakers at the Bank of England in the short-term, especially as pay growth continues on a downwards trajectory,” Scott Gardner, investment strategist at J.P. Morgan Personal Investing, said in emailed comments Wednesday.

    “If pay growth continues to fall and this is reflected in inflation data, it could place pressure on the Bank of England to cut interest rates faster than expected. Markets are currently pricing in one to two cuts this year but this could change as inflation data for 2026 starts coming through,” he said.

    Matthew Ryan, head of Market Strategy at Ebury, said he expects the BOE to remain on hold for at least the next couple of meetings.

    “The hawks on the committee have long emphasised upside risks to U.K. inflation, but these arguments are losing steam amid the deteriorating employment picture and the moderation in wage pressures,” he noted Tuesday.

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  • What’s ‘algorithmic coercion,’ and why is it making things we buy more expensive? – WTOP News

    One company choosing to use a quick and reactive pricing algorithm could lead its competitors to increase prices, leading customers to face higher costs, according to a University of Virginia economist.

    One company choosing to use a quick and reactive pricing algorithm could lead its competitors to increase prices, leading to customers facing higher costs across the board, according to a recent study led by a University of Virginia economist.

    Alexander MacKay, an associate professor of economics at the University of Virginia, said the research published by the National Bureau of Economic Research reviewed a concept called algorithmic coercion.

    It’s what could happen when an algorithm leads an entire market to increase its prices for the same items, discouraging rival companies from trying to compete based on price and making mundane goods universally more expensive.

    Airlines and hotels have used some variation of pricing algorithms for years, MacKay said, but “one of the big changes is monitoring rivals’ prices and reacting to that in real time.”

    Online retailers are using software that monitors prices on competitors’ websites, and then they’ll change their prices in response, motivated to beat the prices they encounter.

    “The role of economic theory and the research that we do is to look at, ‘well, what’s the implication of this for the consumer?’” MacKay said. “And what we’re pointing out is that this could actually lead to higher prices.”

    Previously, traditional human pricing was used, allowing a person to set the price of an item. But pricing algorithms — formulas for setting prices based on inputted information — are becoming more common, MacKay said.

    MacKay said if one company uses software that can collect a rival company’s prices quickly, and the technology can react in a fast way, “then that piece of software might be capable of disciplining any company that tries to lower their price.”

    “And as a result, if the algorithm is powerful enough and the company is sort of large enough, it can really discourage any of its rivals from competing based on price,” MacKay said. “As a result, everyone’s going to set a much higher price.”

    In some cases, MacKay said, the use of advanced pricing algorithms could result in prices that would be “higher than what you might get in a competitive market.”

    “We also show in our paper that the prices could actually be so high that it would be worse for consumers than if the market participants got together and colluded on price,” he said. “So the potential of algorithmic coercion to raise prices is actually pretty substantial.”

    MacKay said his research didn’t explore which companies are using the practice and what the impacts are, but it’s “quite possible that this is happening in a number of different industries.” He noted some online retailers and retail gasoline stations as specific examples.

    Scott Gelman

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  • Euro zone inflation hits 2% in December, in line with forecasts

    Downtown Amsterdam

    Jacobh | E+ | Getty Images

    Euro zone inflation stood at 2% in December, flash data from Eurostat showed on Wednesday.

    Economists polled by Reuters had expected the inflation rate to cool to 2%, in line with the European Central Bank’s (ECB) target. In November, the inflation rate stood at 2.1%.

    Core inflation, which excludes more volatile energy, food, alcohol and tobacco prices, stood at 2.3% in the year to December, down from 2.4% in November, while the annual rate of services inflation cooled to 3.4%, compared with 3.5% in November.

    The ECB held its key deposit facility rate at 2% for the fourth consecutive time in December, having last cut rates in June.

    The trim, which coincided with euro zone inflation hitting 2%, was part of a rate-cutting cycle that has brought rates down from 2024’s record high of 4%.

    Top ECB board members told CNBC late last year that the easing cycle is close to, or at its end, although the central bank has repeatedly said it will take a meeting-by-meeting and data dependent approach to rate setting.

    The euro and Stoxx 600 were unchanged on Wednesday following the data release, although the inflation rate returning to the ECB’s target could signal further rate cuts ahead.

    “The move should please equity markets, as it gives the ECB yet another reason to cut interest rates further in 2026. That said, inflation has been hovering either side of the 2% level for most of last year, so today’s move is minor, but a positive, nonetheless,” Michael Field, chief equity strategist at Morningstar, said in emailed comments Wednesday. 

    “Central bankers walk a tightrope, attempting to stimulate the economy without igniting inflation. But with inflation low and steady, they should be able to take their foot off the brake and lean towards more stimulus sooner rather than later.”

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  • CNBC Daily Open: Investors might not want to take U.S. inflation numbers in November at face value

    A food shopper browses for groceries ahead of the Thanksgiving Day holiday at an Albertsons supermarket in Redmond, Washington, U.S., November 24, 2025.

    David Ryder | Reuters

    The U.S. inflation numbers in November looked supremely encouraging, with the annual headline rate coming in 0.4 percentage points less than expected. But don’t get too happy about them yet.

    It’s the first consumer price report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics since the U.S. government shutdown ended: October’s figures vanished into the void because the agency was “unable to retroactively collect these data.”

    The BLS added that November’s CPI “did not include 1-month percent changes for November 2025 where the October 2025 data are missing.” It also said that certain survey data were “carried forward to October 2025 from September 2025.”

    Evercore ISI’s Krishna Guha said it appears the BLS “put in zero inflation in multiple categories” when calculating housing inflation in some cities.

    In other words, it’s a noisy report. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell once described setting interest rates as “navigating by the stars under cloudy skies.” With November’s CPI report, the stars aren’t just obscured by clouds — they could be mirages, unidentified flying objects, a seagull that picked up an LED light from the beach.

    Nonetheless, investors celebrated the numbers. The CPI report, along with a 10.2% surge in Micron shares on the back of an expectation-busting earnings report, lifted major indexes.

    Perhaps it’s the holidays suffusing the air with unbridled cheer. Or maybe it’s all rather like having a feast during Christmas — the calories only count in the new year.

    — CNBC’s Sean Conlon contributed to this report.

    What you need to know today

    And finally…

    The Bank of England (BOE) in the City of London, UK, on Monday, Dec. 15, 2025.

    Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

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  • NC Republican wrong about historically-low turkey prices

    A Republican North Carolina congressman says his party is responsible for sending turkey prices lower than they’ve been in 25 years. 

    “This Thanksgiving, turkey prices are at their lowest point since 2000, thanks to Republican policies,” said U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, R-NC, in a Nov. 24 newsletter.

    “I know grocery prices are a concern for so many (of) you,” he wrote, “which is why I’m working to keep prices moving in the right direction after the inflationary spike over the last four years.”

    The newsletter linked to a Nov. 19 report by the American Farm Bureau Federation that doesn’t support his claim. 

    Turkey price data collected by federal agencies — such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis — is limited. We struggled to find inflation-adjusted data showing the price of a conventional frozen turkey each November dating back to 2000. However, we found no credible reports showing retail turkey prices hitting a 25-year low in 2025.

    Cost as a percentage of the meal

    The farm bureau’s report, which was based on its annual survey of volunteer shoppers, focused on the cost of a 16-pound turkey as a percentage of the total price of a Thanksgiving meal serving 10 people. The meal it priced also consisted of cranberries, sweet potatoes, stuffing and more.

    A 16-pound turkey costs less this year but didn’t hit a 25-year low for the bureau’s survey, bureau spokesperson Bailey Corwine said. The national average price for a turkey of that size was lower in 2019 and 2020, when prices hit $20.80 and $19.39, respectively.

    Historically, turkey has accounted for about 40% to 45% of the meal’s total cost, the group’s analysis found. This year, the bureau reported that a turkey of that size costs an average of $21.50, or 39% of the total meal cost. That’s the lowest percentage since 2000, when a turkey accounted for 38.7% of the meal. But the bureau found that’s partly because the prices of other items have risen. 

    Produce prices are up because farmers are facing higher costs for fertilizer, fuel, machinery and labor, the bureau found. The price of sweet potatoes is up 37% from 2024 because Hurricane Helene damaged North Carolina fields, which produce more than half of the nation’s sweet potatoes. 

    Asked about turkey costs, a USDA spokesperson referred us to the department’s weekly report on retail turkey prices. The Nov. 21 report shows mixed results, with fresh turkey prices down and other turkey prices up since last year. 

    Prices for the most common kind of turkeys in the USDA survey — frozen conventional whole turkeys — were up nationally over last year. The price of a frozen conventional whole turkey weighing less than 16 pounds averaged 96 cents per pound during the week ending Nov. 21, up a penny from a year earlier. Frozen conventional whole turkeys weighing more than 16 pounds cost an average of 99 cents per pound, up from 96 cents a year ago. Other years show lower prices. In November 2008 and 2009, one pound of turkey cost less than 90 cents, a 2010 USDA report showed. 

    Retail versus wholesale turkey prices

    Here’s another wrinkle.

    Turkey prices are tracked in a number of ways and this year Americans may come across seemingly contradictory headlines: Wholesale prices are up, but retail prices are down in many places.

    A rise in bird flu cases is diminishing the nation’s turkey stock, raising turkey wholesale prices. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Weekly National Turkey Report from Nov. 14 lists the cost of a whole frozen turkey as $1.77 per pound for an 8- to 16-pound bird — up from 97 cents per pound during the same week last year, as PolitiFact reported. Some researchers and economists expect retailers to pass that increase along to customers. 

    However, many consumers are paying lower prices for turkey than they were last year. One reason: Retailers typically secure their turkey supply months in advance of Thanksgiving, meaning they may have avoided the recent jump in wholesale prices, a USDA spokesperson told PolitiFact in an email. Shoppers can also find lower prices on turkey because retailers offer deals on Thanksgiving bundles, as PolitiFact recently reported.

    Grocers are sometimes willing to sell turkeys at a discount if they think they can make up for revenue losses through sales on other products. Shoppers may see turkey prices that are about 16% lower than they were last year, the bureau reported.

    Datasembly, a market research company that surveys weekly prices at 150,000 U.S. stores, found a 2% decline in the retail price of a 10-pound turkey as of Nov. 17, the Associated Press reported. The Nov. 21 USDA report on retail activity found mixed results, with frozen turkeys priced slightly higher than last year and fresh turkeys priced slightly lower. 

    Asked about the claim, a spokesperson for Hudson sent PolitiFact a list of media articles about turkey costs declining this year compared to last year, as well as a White House press release. However, Hudson’s email response didn’t include proof that turkey prices are at a 25-year-low. 

    Our ruling

    Hudson said “turkey prices are at their lowest point since 2000,” and cited a report by the American Farm Bureau Federation. The report doesn’t back up his claim. It says the price of a turkey accounts for about 39% of a typical Thanksgiving meal, which is the lowest percentage in 25 years partly because the other items are more expensive.

    The bureau found the price of a turkey to be lower in other years, such as 2019 and 2020. And the USDA’s most recent report on retail turkey prices found frozen birds to cost slightly more this year than last year.  We rate Hudson’s claim False.

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  • Fed won’t get key inflation data before next rate decision as BLS cancels October CPI release

    The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is the principal Federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy.

    Bill Clark | Getty Images

    The Bureau of Labor Statistics said it was canceling the release of the October consumer price index, leaving the Federal Reserve without a key piece of inflation data to ponder when it next decides on interest rates on Dec. 10.

    The CPI data, previously scheduled to be released on Nov. 7, was canceled because the government shutdown made it impossible for the BLS to “retroactively collect” certain parts of survey data, the agency said on its website.

    November’s CPI data, previously scheduled to be released on Dec. 10, will now be released on Dec. 18 after the Fed decision, the BLS said.

    Bureau data collectors compile the index through several methods, including personal visits and phone calls that were not possible during the shutdown. The BLS also uses online data and household surveys that also would make it difficult to retroactively collect information.

    In addition to the Fed announcement, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said another key inflation measure, the personal consumption expenditures price index, “is to be rescheduled” though no firm date has been announced. The Fed uses the PCE price index as its main inflation forecasting tool. The gauge had been set for release Nov. 26.

    Fed officials have voiced concerns about being in a data fog as they try to formulate monetary policy. The central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee approved a quarter percentage point rate cut in late October, but minutes from the meeting reflected worries over getting an incomplete picture.

    “This is a temporary state of affairs. And we’re going to do our jobs, we’re going to collect every scrap of data we can find, evaluate it, and think carefully about it,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said after the October meeting. “What do you do if you’re driving in the fog? You slow down. … There’s a possibility that it would make sense to be more cautious about moving.”

    However, New York Fed President John Williams said Friday he thinks the Fed probably has “room for a further adjustment in the near term,” implying the likelihood of a cut sometime soon.

    Other Fed officials, such as Governor Christopher Waller, have said policymakers still have enough information to make informed decisions, even with the data drought from the shutdown.

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  • Trade War Announcements Triggered Price Hikes From Retailers Months Before US Tariffs Took Effect

    New research reveals retailers raised prices five times faster during the 2025 trade war period than under regular market conditions


    VILNIUS, LT, November 20, 2025 (Newswire.com)
    –
    A new research report from IPRoyal has revealed that reciprocal tariffs during the 2025 US-China trade war triggered price rises. This included a 1.8% rise on average, with some categories reaching 2.04% (compared to a 0.39% baseline), weeks before any tariffed goods could reach store shelves.

    The research conducted a comprehensive analysis of 1,900 consumer products and tracked prices across 19 product categories (100 products per category) from September 2024 to August 2025. The findings challenge conventional assumptions about how tariffs affect consumer prices.

    The key findings from the research included:

    • During Liberation Day (April 2nd, 2025) and the subsequent trade war period (until May 12th, 2025), prices increased at a rate of up to 2.04% per two-week period, more than five times the baseline rate of 0.39%.

    • Nearly 43% of all tracked products showed price increases during the trade war period.

    • Unilateral tariffs had a minimal impact, with an average increase of only 0.44%.

    • Actual supply chain disruptions from Red Sea shipping attacks produced no measurable price effects.

    • 21% of product categories that experienced the April price spikes later reverted to below-baseline prices.

    “It is clear from the research conducted that trade war policy announcements may have a previously underappreciated effect on prices,” said Justas Vitaitis, the project’s Lead Researcher. “While a corporate greed narrative may seem enticing, our findings are just as important to policymakers.

    “Over the six weeks of the 2025 trade war, U.S. consumers paid elevated prices on goods already purchased at pre-tariff costs. Yet, putting the entire blame on retailers would be akin to blaming investors for selling stocks during periods of financial uncertainty. There were other market forces at play, and policymakers should adapt accordingly.”

    The research also found that the manner of tariff announcement, such as the unprecedented scope, high visibility, and explicit “trade war” framing of Liberation Day, created conditions where widespread price increases faced minimal competitive pressure.

    “For consumers, the implications were significant: during the six-week trade war period, shoppers paid elevated prices on pre-tariff inventory, transferring wealth to retailers as windfall profits rather than to governments as intended tax revenue.

    “Overall, it is clear that high-profile, politically charged tariff announcements produce bigger and faster price hikes than quietly implemented policies. The way trade policies are announced may harm consumer welfare more than tariffs themselves, and should be considered in the future”, concluded Vitaitis.

    Read the full research: https://iproyal.com/trade-wars-and-price-hikes.pdf

    ABOUT THE RESEARCH

    The study analyzed pricing data from Keepa, tracking 100 products in each of 19 randomly selected Amazon categories. Researchers have no affiliation with Keepa.

    Media Contacts: 

    Benjamin Hart / Sasha Arion
    Spreckley
    Tel: (0)207 388 9988
    Email: iproyal@spreckley.co.uk

    Source: IPRoyal

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  • As voters demand affordability, Stanford economist argues for ‘temporary, targeted price controls’ with supply-side reforms | Fortune

    Price controls are literally a textbook example of a policy that creates market inefficiency, but an economist sees some merit in them as voters delivered victories to Democrats who promised to hold the line on the cost of living.

    Zohran Mamdani, who vowed to freeze rent, won the race for New York mayor, and Mikie Sherrill, who proposed freezing electricity rates, was elected to be New Jersey’s next governor.

    Given the affordability crisis many Americans face, more Democrats will run on price controls too, wrote Stanford economist Neale Mahoney and former White House economic advisor Bharat Ramamurti in a New York Times op-ed on Sunday.

    “This may terrify many economists, who have long dismissed price controls as failed policy. But, like it or not, voters are demanding short-term price relief, and temporary price controls may be the only viable way to provide it,” they said.

    To combat rising costs, standard policy tools often take longer than voters will tolerate or don’t work. For example, tax incentives or deregulation can increase supply but can take years to make an impact on prices.

    In addition, subsidies and tax credits can offer some short-term relief but also eventually push up prices as demand increases faster than supply can catch up.

    Mahoney and Ramamurti also acknowledge that price controls obscure market signals that encourage producers to expand output and lower costs, pointing to President Richard Nixon’s efforts to cap gasoline prices in the 1970s.

    “Yet sharply rising rents and utility bills wreak havoc on family budgets. That’s why there is a case for temporary, targeted price controls that hold down costs, paired with supply-side reforms that encourage new production,” they added, noting that Mamdani and Sherrill have proposed similar ideas.

    For housing, that could mean rent caps on existing units, plus government investment in new housing as well as zoning and permitting reforms.

    To be sure, policies initially billed as temporary often last longer than intended as they inevitably create constituencies that lobby for them to continue.

    Policymakers can use sunset clauses or target price control narrowly to mitigate such risks, according to Mahoney and Ramamurti. But they also admit “we may need to accept some trade-off between immediate relief and weaker long-run investment.”

    “In a cost-of-living crisis, the question isn’t whether to intervene, but how to do so in a way that delivers relief today without creating new problems tomorrow,” they said.

    While the annual rate of consumer inflation has cooled sharply since hitting a high of 9% in 2022, prices are still going up and President Donald Trump’s tariffs are not helping. In fact, headline inflation has remained sticky and ticked higher since he launched his trade war.

    The off-year elections this month that delivered stunning losses to Republicans brought the issue of affordability front and center. 

    Trump has already rolled back some of his signature tariffs to help lower grocery prices, and “there are discussions” on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies as Republicans scramble to address soaring healthcare costs.

    That’s as voters are demanding that overall affordability improve and want to see prices decline, not just rise at a slower pace.

    “People are angry about the loss of affordability, and are inclined to blame incumbent governments for this,” Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, said in a note on Friday. “It is tempting to think of affordability as another version of the ‘cost of living crisis’—but affordability is subtly different, and may linger.”

    Jason Ma

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  • Trump misleads on Thanksgiving dinner price comparison

    Facing falling consumer confidence and widespread concern about inflation, President Donald Trump said a Walmart Thanksgiving dinner package shows his policies are lowering prices.

    Trump used the talking point in a Nov. 10 interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham. Days earlier, Trump referred to Walmart during a Nov. 6 dinner with Central Asia leaders, and said, “When you look at a 25% reduction in costs for Thanksgiving between Biden and me … that’s a tremendous number.”

    Trump, who campaigned on a promise to tackle inflation, has pushed back — sometimes misleadingly — against discussions of grocery prices increasing on his watch. His Walmart example misleads by pointing to one corporate offering as evidence of grocery prices falling overall. 

    This year, Walmart is advertising a package of Thanksgiving dinner ingredients for $40. That is $15 less than the Thanksgiving grocery package it promoted in 2024. But the 27% price drop is not from lower-priced goods. It’s because some items were removed or downsized from the 2025 dinner promotion.

    Even so, a retail expert warned against relying on one large retailer’s prices to tell a broader story. Any store can charge less for items for reasons other than a decline in wholesale costs, including courting inflation-weary consumers. A grocer can also offer certain items as “loss leaders,” which means the company accepts losses on some items and makes up the difference from customers’ purchases of other, higher-margin items.

    The White House did not respond to an inquiry for this article.

    Comparing the 2024 and 2025 Walmart Thanksgiving packages

    Several items were consistent in Walmart’s 2024 and 2025 Thanksgiving promotions: turkey, bread rolls, canned corn, gravy mix, pie crust, pumpkin, evaporated milk and potatoes. Other 2025 food items were newly added: Stove Top brand turkey stuffing, baby carrots, canned green beans and macaroni and cheese.

    However, some items that had been included in the 2024 meal were either eliminated or downsized in this year’s promotion. 

    Items that were removed included chicken broth; fresh onions and celery; poultry seasoning; Marie Callender’s pecan pie; frozen whipped topping; mini marshmallows; Jiffy Corn muffin mix; and three bags of sweet potatoes. Three items also were downsized: cranberries (from a 14 ounce can to 12 ounces of fresh berries), mushroom soup (two cans to one) and crispy fried onions (from 6 ounces of French’s to 4.5 ounces of Kinder’s).

    We used Walmart’s website to calculate the value of the items added to, subtracted from and downsized in the 2025 basket. The prices were as of Nov. 12 and included sale prices reported that day.

    In all, the additions to the 2025 basket totaled $7.79, while the subtractions and downsized products totaled $24.35. This means the package declined in value by $16.56.

    The $16.56 decline in value is roughly comparable to the $15 price reduction for the 2025 basket. The price decline can be attributed to fewer products and smaller volumes, rather than lower food costs.

    “It is very unlikely that a typical household’s Thanksgiving shopping trip costs them 25% less than last year, unless they are feeding 25% fewer people or people are eating 25% less,” said Christopher Conlon, an economist at New York University’s Stern School of Business. 

    Federal price data shows that grocery prices are up almost 1.9% since Trump took office, with a few items — including eggs and bread — falling but others rising, including meats, coffee and sweets.

    Even if Walmart’s Thanksgiving package had decreased price on an apples-to-apples (or pumpkin-to-pumpkin) basis, that wouldn’t be proof that grocery prices are lower, Conlon said. Any company can lower prices on certain goods as a marketing tactic — especially a company as big as Walmart, which can subsidize lower prices on some goods with higher prices on others.

    Holiday packages such as Walmart’s do not “provide an accurate measure of year-on-year price changes but instead signal to consumers, ‘Shop here if you’re worried about prices,’” Conlon said. 

    Our ruling

    Trump said Walmart’s 2025 package of Thanksgiving dinner ingredients shows a “25% reduction in costs for Thanksgiving between Biden and me.”

    Trump referred to selections of Thanksgiving dinner groceries that Walmart promoted for $55 in 2024 and $40 this year, a 27% decline. 

    However, the 2024 and 2025 grocery packages are not identical. The $15 price decline is not from lower food prices; it is because some items were removed or downsized from the 2025 dinner promotion. Customers are paying less because they are getting less.

    Even if the Walmart comparison had been apples-to-apples, it alone would not be proof that grocery prices broadly have decreased by 25%. Companies can offer some items for less to get customers in the door and then make up the loss on higher-margin products purchased elsewhere in the store.

    The Walmart dinner package’s price did fall by about 25%, but not because of lower food prices. We rate the statement Mostly False.

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  • U.S. Agrees to Cut Switzerland Tariffs to 15% in Trade Deal

    The U.S. has reached a deal to reduce the crippling 39% import tariffs on Switzerland to 15%, easing a growing burden on the Alpine country’s export-dependent economy and the steepest tariff the Trump administration had imposed on a developed nation.

    “We’ve essentially reached a [trade] deal with Switzerland,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Friday on CNBC. “They are going to send a lot of their manufacturing to the United States—pharmaceuticals, gold smelting, railway equipment.”

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

    Georgi Kantchev

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  • U.S. to Cut Tariffs on Bananas, Coffee and Other Goods From Four Countries

    The U.S. plans to eliminate tariffs on bananas, coffee, beef and certain apparel and textile products under framework agreements with four Latin American nations, a senior administration official told reporters Thursday.

    The expected move—which would apply to some goods from Ecuador, Argentina, El Salvador and Guatemala—is part of a shift from the Trump administration to water down some of its so-called reciprocal tariffs in the midst of rising prices for consumers, as well as legal uncertainty after a Supreme Court hearing this month.

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

    Gavin Bade

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  • Trump Says He Will Raise Tariffs on Canada by 10% Over Ontario Ad

    The U.S. will impose an additional 10% tariff on Canada, President Trump said on Saturday, a punitive measure in response to an ad campaign that he said misrepresented comments by former President Ronald Reagan.

    “Because of their serious misrepresentation of the facts, and hostile act, I am increasing the Tariff on Canada by 10% over and above what they are paying now,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Saturday.

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

    Gavin Bade

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  • US Inflation Stays Elevated But Prices Rose Less Than Feared Last Month – KXL

    WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. inflation remained elevated last month as gas prices jumped while the cost of rents cooled, painting a mixed picture of the expenses consumers are facing in a murky economy where growth appears steady but hiring slow.

    Consumer prices increased 3% in September from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Friday.

    The figures reflect a smaller increase than many economists had forecast, and will likely encourage the Federal Reserve to cut its key interest rate when it meets next week for the second time this year.

    More about:

    Grant McHill

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  • CPI inflation report will be released by Labor Department, while other data is delayed by shutdown

    A large US flag is seen on the facade of the Department of Labor headquarters building in Washington DC, United States on September 8, 2025.

    Celal Gunes | Anadolu | Getty Images

    The Labor Department will bring back staff to work on a key consumer inflation report despite the ongoing federal government shutdown, CNBC has learned.

    The department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics will “promptly resume” work on September’s consumer price index data, a White House official said. The report will come out at 8:30 a.m. ET on Oct. 24, nine days after it was originally scheduled, according to the BLS.

    The department had originally paused work on the CPI report – which tracks a broad basket of goods and services for price changes over time — because of its shutdown plan, the official said. But the Social Security Administration needs third-quarter CPI data for calculating and publishing annual cost-of-living adjustments before Nov. 1.

    Other BLS data releases including the nonfarm payroll report haven’t been published as originally intended since the federal government shutdown due to a lapse in funding. The Senate on Thursday failed to pass funding bills for the seventh time that would have ended the closure, which began last week.

    Bloomberg News first reported that the BLS was calling employees back to work on the CPI data.

    — CNBC’s Steve Liesman contributed to this report.

    Correction: The Social Security Administration needs third-quarter CPI data for calculating and publishing annual cost-of-living adjustments before Nov. 1. An earlier version misstated the organization’s name.

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  • Why your morning coffee is costing more these days – MoneySense

    Dry weather and production woes continue to brew higher coffee costs

    Coffee prices have remained high amid concerns of dry weather in Brazil, a major coffee-producing country. That’s making your daily cup of coffee more expensive, whether you’re brewing it at home or buying a coffee at a café. Statistics Canada data shows Canadians paid 27.9% more for their coffee at a grocery store in August compared with a year earlier.

    Robert Carter, president of the Coffee Association of Canada, said the surge in coffee prices is a continuation of what roasters and cafés saw last year. “The commodity side is still fluctuating, and the production side, we’re still seeing limited production challenges out of various countries such as Colombia and Brazil,” he said.

    Carter said cafés and coffee bean roasters were already struggling with rising operational costs, such as with packaging and labour, and now coffee bean prices are adding to their challenges. “The cost of goods, which coffee would fall into, has definitely seen an increase … within the double digits,” he said.

    Tariffs and supply pressures squeeze smaller coffee roasters

    Coffee prices are also seeing added price pressures from tariffs, even as Canada dropped its counter-tariffs in September.

    Von Massow suspects price fluctuations are likely hurting smaller roasters in Canada more than larger players who buy directly from producers. Small-scale coffee roasters typically buy coffee beans from brokers who aggregate supply from farmers and coffee-producing countries. “The smaller roasters are going to get squeezed, everyone gets squeezed, as costs go up because we as consumers are resistant to price increases and they don’t want to see volume go down,” he said.

    Von Massow said it will be more difficult for smaller roasters to pass down costs to their customers. “They’ve always differentiated not on price, but on product,” he said of smaller roasters. “But the greater the price disparity is, the less their demand will be.”

    However, some costs will be mitigated for these roasters as the impact of counter-tariffs start to wear off, von Massow said. Meanwhile, other costs are likely to be passed on to customers. “We’re seeing big companies start to announce some price increases as the shortages become more sustained,” he said. 

    Coffee chain Tim Hortons said it will increase the price of its coffee by an average of three cents per cup. “This is the first time in about three years that we’ve adjusted the price of coffee,” said Michael Oliveira, director of communications at Tim Hortons, in an email. “This is significantly below inflation and reflects our commitment to great value and everyday low prices for our guests.”

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    The coffee market’s roller-coaster ride isn’t over yet

    Speculation on coffee futures—a way of measuring commodity prices based on contracts for future delivery in a publicly-traded market—have also amplified price pressures. “The coffee market has been on a roller-coaster for the past year,” said Adam Pesce, president of Oakville, Ont.-headquartered Reunion Coffee Roasters, which sells wholesale and also runs a retail café in Toronto.

    Reunion has had to increase prices over the past several months to match its rising costs, said Pesce. He said market speculators have been active and making a lot of money by holding a longer position on the commodity. Meanwhile, coffee roasters are buying as little as possible, hoping prices might come down. It has been “a very exhausting, very time-consuming year of watching the market,” compared with previous years when markets were more stable and less erratic, Pesce said.

    Von Massow said coffee prices will continue to reflect the climate impacts of an individual year—with some annual yields better than others. “One thing that we can say definitively is that there’s going to be more variability in prices going forward,” he said.

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    About The Canadian Press


    About The Canadian Press

    The Canadian Press is Canada’s trusted news source and leader in providing real-time stories. We give Canadians an authentic, unbiased source, driven by truth, accuracy and timeliness.

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  • Trump has repeatedly said the U.S. has “no inflation.” He’s

    President Donald Trump frequently touts his battle against higher prices, often by saying the U.S. currently has “no inflation.” 

    On Sept. 19, while meeting reporters in the Oval Office, Trump referenced his tariff policy, saying, “Even people that were against the tariffs, now they see the way they’re working. And by the way, with no inflation, with no problem, we’re just building up cash and we’re using that cash to reduce taxes, reduce debt, and other things.”

    It wasn’t the first time he said that. Since July 1, Trump has referred to the U.S. having “no inflation” 11 times at eight events — a radio interview, a bill signing, bilateral meetings with a foreign leader, gaggles with reporters, a Cabinet meeting, and a roundtable in Florida.

    In a Sept. 12 interview with Fox News, he hedged slightly, saying, “We have almost no inflation anymore.”

    By two measures — the inflation rate and the Federal Reserve’s target for “price stability” — the statement about no inflation is inaccurate. 

    Sign up for PolitiFact texts

    Trump’s statements about “no inflation” is also undercut by White House news releases, which on multiple occasions since July 1 have characterized the current level of inflation as beating expectations, not being zero. The news releases have used more cautious phrasing, describing inflation as “on target” and “low and stable.”

    When we asked the White House for evidence to back up Trump’s statements, White House spokesperson Kush Desai echoed the news releases’ language, saying, “President Trump is right: The days of Joe Biden’s debilitating inflation crisis are over. Since President Trump took office, inflation has been tracking at a low and stable 2.3 percent annualized rate and real wages for American workers are up.” 

    Inflation today is far lower than its 2022 peak under Biden, when the consumer price index — a widely tracked Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation metric — hit a four-decade high of about 9% year-over-year. 

    But there’s a difference between lower inflation and no inflation. 

    “Consumer price inflation is not zero, under any plausibly complete definition covering all the goods and services Americans purchase,” said Gary Burtless, an economist at the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C., think tank.

    Measuring by the inflation rate

    Trump is wrong by the literal inflation rate. In August, the year-over-year consumer price index increase was 2.9%, just a hair lower than its 3% level when Trump began his second term.

    Inflation eased after the 2022 peak, mostly on Biden’s watch. By the time Biden left office, inflation was down by about two-thirds from the 2022 peak.

    Measuring by the Federal Reserve’s target for “price stability”

    Has the inflation rate settled in at the Fed’s target? Here, too, the answer is no.

    Historically, the Federal Reserve has aimed for “price stability” of about 2% rather than a literal 0% inflation rate. To measure whether inflation is close to that 2% benchmark, the Fed uses personal consumption expenditures, a measurement that’s slightly different from the consumer price index.

    In July, the year-over-year change in personal consumption expenditures was about 2.6%, above the Fed’s 2% target. 

    If measuring “core inflation” by removing food and energy — an approach economists sometimes prefer, because it reduces the volatility of the index — the year-over-year change in personal consumption expenditures was about 3.5%.

    Is the inflation rate falling?

    Not only is the inflation rate not zero or 2%; it’s been creeping further and further away from those benchmarks.

    From February to April, the inflation rate declined. But then, prices began to rise.

    Three measures — the consumer price index, personal consumption expenditures and personal consumption expenditures minus food and energy — all reached their Trump second-term lows in April, then began rising. For the consumer price index minus food and energy, the inflection point came one month later, in May.

    Except for a few wiggles, the inflation rate has climbed every month since — in May, June, July and August.

    The inflation rates are now back to about where they were when Trump took office, but based on the trajectory, heading higher.

    Many categories have seen steadily increasing inflation during Trump’s second term, too. These include electricity (up 6.2% from August 2024 to August 2025), used vehicles (up 6%), medical care (up 3.4%), groceries (up 2.7%) and durable goods (up 1.9%).

    At least two major sectors have seen declining inflation rates this year — shelter (a broad category for housing) and tuition/child care — but they are outnumbered by sectors that have seen accelerating inflation. And both shelter and tuition/child care remain more expensive today than a year ago: 3.6% higher for shelter and 3.3% higher for tuition/child care.

    “I think there could be some room for the administration to highlight less inflation, so far, than economists predicted in response to his tariff policies, but not to claim no inflation,” said Tara Sinclair, a George Washington University economist and former Treasury Department deputy assistant secretary for macroeconomics under Biden.

    Our ruling

    Trump said the U.S. currently has “no inflation.” 

    By two measures — the inflation rate and the Federal Reserve’s target for “price stability” — the statement is inaccurate. 

    The inflation rate is not zero; it’s currently at 2.9% year over year. That’s higher than the Fed’s 2% “price stability” target. of 2%. And the inflation rate has been accelerating rather than easing for the past four months.

    We rate the statement False.

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  • Price Tracker: See grocery, housing and gas prices

    These days, it feels like everything costs more: groceries, housing, rent, gas. Now, you can track how prices are changing in your community.

    WTVD

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  • See how your cost of living has changed with the ABC Price Tracker

    The app includes prices for many of your basic needs, from food to housing to transportation, spanning a decade of data points.

    Tuesday, September 9, 2025 3:00PM

    The ABC Data Team has launched the Price Tracker, an interactive tool that provides up-to-date information on the price of household necessities in your area.

    It displays regional prices of essentials for the 100 largest U.S. metro areas over the last decade. Simply search for your area to see how the cost of living has changed for households like yours. Then select groceries, housing or utilities to drill down into each category of basic expenses.

    The ABC Price Tracker can help you answer questions like:

    • How have rent and other housing expenses changed over the last 10 years?


    • Which grocery items have seen the biggest price hikes nationwide?


    • When was the last time gas cost less than $3 per gallon in my area?

    The interactive tool will automatically update with the latest data available, so you can give your sticker shock a gut check.

    Go here to use the ABC Price Tracker.

    Copyright © 2025 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.

    WLS

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  • Higher inflation and unemployment cast shadow over Europe’s biggest economy

    A vendor gives a customer change at stall at a farmers market in Hanau, Germany, on Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025.

    Alex Kraus | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Increases in unemployment and inflation cast a shadow over the outlook for Europe’s largest economy, which joins the wider EU bloc in bracing for the full impact of newly implemented U.S. tariffs.

    German inflation rose by a higher-than-expected 2.1% in August, preliminary data showed Friday, exceeding the 2% expectations of analysts polled by Reuters. Inflation, which is harmonized for comparability across the euro zone, had risen by a cooler-than-expected 1.8% in July.

    Germany’s core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, was unchanged from the previous month at 2.7% in August, the country’s statistics office Destatis said.

    Yields on German government bonds, known as Bunds, were little changed shortly after the data release, which came on the same day that labor office figures showed the number of unemployed people jumped to 3.025 million in August, to a rate of 6.4%.

    The broader euro zone inflation reading, due Tuesday, will offer further insight into the economic impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, which have hit various European sectors in recent months.

    The U.S. and EU struck a trade agreement in July, including a 15% tariff rate on many EU goods exported to the U.S. Fresh details released earlier this month suggested that this blanket rate will also be applied to some hotly contested sectors like pharmaceuticals — but crucial questions still remain unanswered, leaving businesses on edge.

    The tariffs are widely expected to drive prices higher in the U.S., but their effect on costs elsewhere is less clear.

    Germany’s highly export-driven economy has long been hovering near the flatline. The country’s gross domestic product expanded by 0.3% in the first quarter, before contracting by 0.3% in the following period, according to the latest data from Destatis.

    “It remains to be seen how European and US companies will react to US tariffs. While one scenario could see prices falling in the eurozone due to overcapacity and weaker sales in the US, globally operating companies might try to actually increase prices in Europe in order to offset profit-squeezing in the US,” said Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING, in a note.

    “A rather domestic theme will be the cooling of the German labour market, which should take away wage pressures and consequently inflationary pressures,” he added, noting that the inflationary hike in Germany now weakens the case for the European Central Bank to press ahead with an interest rate cut at its September meeting.

    The ECB most recently opted to hold its key rate unchanged at 2% during its July meeting.

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  • Trump teases tariffs on imported furniture

    Trump teases tariffs on imported furniture

    President Donald Trump has announced an investigation into tariffs on foreign-made furniture, which could affect prices and manufacturing in the U.S.

    Updated: 4:31 AM PDT Aug 23, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    President Donald Trump said on Friday that new tariffs on foreign-made furniture are coming later this year following an investigation.”Within the next 50 days, that Investigation will be completed, and Furniture coming from other Countries into the United States will be Tariffed at a Rate yet to be determined,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “This will bring the Furniture Business back to North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan, and States all across the Union.”A White House official clarified that the president is referencing a previously announced investigation that “will assess the national security risks arising from the United States’ increasing dependence on imported timber, lumber, and derivative products like paper, furniture, and cabinetry.”Nevertheless, the president’s comments on Friday sank some furniture stocks, from Wayfair to Williams-Sonoma. An industry coalition, called “Furniture for America,” expressed concerns about steeper tariffs earlier this year in written comments to the Commerce Department.”There is no rational relationship between imports of wood products or furniture and the national security of the United States,” the coalition wrote. “Second, no amount of tariffs will bring back American furniture manufacturing back to its prior levels. Tariffs will harm manufacturing still being done in the United States.” The White House said new tariffs on this sector would not stack on top of so-called “reciprocal” tariffs that are already targeting a wide range of countries, including major furniture suppliers like China and Vietnam. Federal data suggests those tariffs may be starting to show up in some furniture prices for consumers. The latest Consumer Price Index shows that, while overall inflation held steady between June and July 2025, furniture and bedding prices increased by 0.9 percent month-to-month. Some experts have identified this as an early warning sign, while conceding that the impact of tariffs on prices has generally been less severe than anticipated, perhaps because many businesses are absorbing added costs instead of passing them on to consumers. It remains to be seen how Trump’s latest batch of tariffs on most trading partners that took effect earlier this month will impact these trends.

    WASHINGTON —

    President Donald Trump said on Friday that new tariffs on foreign-made furniture are coming later this year following an investigation.

    “Within the next 50 days, that Investigation will be completed, and Furniture coming from other Countries into the United States will be Tariffed at a Rate yet to be determined,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “This will bring the Furniture Business back to North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan, and States all across the Union.”

    A White House official clarified that the president is referencing a previously announced investigation that “will assess the national security risks arising from the United States’ increasing dependence on imported timber, lumber, and derivative products like paper, furniture, and cabinetry.”

    Nevertheless, the president’s comments on Friday sank some furniture stocks, from Wayfair to Williams-Sonoma.

    An industry coalition, called “Furniture for America,” expressed concerns about steeper tariffs earlier this year in written comments to the Commerce Department.

    “There is no rational relationship between imports of wood products or furniture and the national security of the United States,” the coalition wrote. “Second, no amount of tariffs will bring back American furniture manufacturing back to its prior levels. Tariffs will harm manufacturing still being done in the United States.”

    The White House said new tariffs on this sector would not stack on top of so-called “reciprocal” tariffs that are already targeting a wide range of countries, including major furniture suppliers like China and Vietnam.

    Federal data suggests those tariffs may be starting to show up in some furniture prices for consumers.

    The latest Consumer Price Index shows that, while overall inflation held steady between June and July 2025, furniture and bedding prices increased by 0.9 percent month-to-month. Some experts have identified this as an early warning sign, while conceding that the impact of tariffs on prices has generally been less severe than anticipated, perhaps because many businesses are absorbing added costs instead of passing them on to consumers.

    It remains to be seen how Trump’s latest batch of tariffs on most trading partners that took effect earlier this month will impact these trends.

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