Sales of new US homes jumped in May, reflecting gains in the West and South and interrupting a months-long skid as the residential real estate market adjusts to rising borrowing costs and still-elevated prices.

Sales of previously owned US homes fell for a fourth month in May, receding to the lowest level in nearly two years and underscoring how high prices and a surge in mortgage rates have stifled demand.

Applications for US unemployment insurance were little changed last week, suggesting the labor market remains exceptionally tight.

The likely moderation of US job growth in coming months will reflect a combination of hiring challenges in a remarkably tight labor market, shifts in spending patterns and outright soft spots within a handful of industries.

The widespread adoption of remote work across the US has left local employers learning to compete with out-of-state companies offering big-city salaries.

Bank CEOs kicked off earnings season with a consistent message that household finances and demand are in solid shape. Procter & Gamble Co., which counts Tide, Bounty and Pampers among its brands, has seen consumers reaching for premium-brand products. Bank of America Corp. and credit-card giant American Express Co. noted solid travel demand.

Contract closings decreased 2.7% in March from the prior month to an annualized 5.77 million, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed Wednesday. The figure was in line with estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Purchases of goods and services, adjusted for changes in prices, fell 0.4% from the prior month, following a 2.1% jump in January, according to Commerce Department figures Thursday. The decline was due entirely to a decrease in spending on merchandise.

Prices paid to U.S. producers rose strongly in February on higher costs of goods, underscoring inflationary pressures that set the stage for a Federal Reserve rate hike this week. The producer price index for final demand increased 10% from February of last year and 0.8% from the prior month, Labor Department data showed Tuesday. That followed an upwardly revised 1.2% monthly gain in January.

The consumer price index, due Thursday, is forecast to accelerate to a 7.8% increase in February from a year ago, which would be the most since 1982. But economists are now saying it could peak somewhere in the 8%-9% range this month or next, as the invasion of Ukraine and severe restrictions on the Russian economy send the prices of staples like oil and food soaring.

U.S. consumer prices surged in January by more than expected, sending the annual inflation rate to a fresh four-decade high and adding more urgency to the Federal Reserve’s plans to start raising interest rates.

U.S. productivity surged last quarter by the most in more than a year, reflecting a sharp acceleration in economic output, while labor costs growth cooled.

U.S. economic growth accelerated by more than forecast in the final three months of last year, fueled by the rebuilding of inventories and a pickup in consumer spending.

New U.S. home construction unexpectedly strengthened in December to the fastest pace in nine months, led by apartment projects and suggesting builders found some success navigating shortages of materials and labor.

Prices paid to U.S. producers decelerated in December as two key drivers of inflation in 2021 -- food and energy -- declined from a month earlier, representing a respite in the recent trend of sizable increases.

The U.S. is poised to enter Year Three of the pandemic with both a booming economy and a still-mutating virus. But for Washington and Wall Street, one Covid aftershock is eclipsing almost everything else.

A record number of U.S. small businesses once again reported raising compensation last month, the National Federation of Independent Business said Thursday.

U.S. consumer confidence decreased to a nine-month low in November as accelerating inflation and a pickup in Covid-19 cases weighed on Americans’ views on the economy.

Economists are getting a dose of humility on forecasting inflation after a resurgent coronavirus, a tenuous global supply network and stimulus-fueled consumers combined to send U.S. prices well beyond the expectations of Wall Street and policy makers.

After U.S. prices climbed by the most in three decades, there’s even worse news ahead for households and policy makers: Inflation likely has further to rise before it peaks.

The best growth of the expansion is likely behind the U.S. just as the world’s largest economy reclaims its pre-pandemic level of output.

An unexpected jump in U.S. wages has given financial markets a new reason to worry that higher inflation may be here to stay.

As the U.S. job market comes roaring back, there’s a growing debate about whether there are enough workers to power faster economic growth.

U.S. consumer prices climbed in March by the most in nearly nine years as the end of pandemic lockdowns triggered a rebound in travel and commuting that pushed up the cost of gasoline, car rentals and hotel stays.

A key measure of U.S. consumer prices rose less than expected in February as costs of used vehicles, clothing and transportation services declined from a month earlier, suggesting broader inflationary pressures remain tame.

With Democrats on the verge of passing an almost $2 trillion stimulus bill and Covid-19 vaccinations moving ahead, the U.S. economic outlook is much sunnier than it looked in early January.

The U.S. economy is starting to display pockets of price pressures, further stoking the debate among economists and market participants over the future path of inflation.

With Covid-19 cases stabilizing and Democrats oiling the tracks to pass large parts of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan -- even without Republican support -- economists are raising their 2021 economic growth forecasts.

U.S. home construction starts rose in December to the best pace since late 2006 as builders responded to the robust demand for single-family housing.

With Democrats set to effectively control the White House and Congress, economists are betting that another significant jolt of fiscal support will boost economic growth this year.

Chances of another federal stimulus package got a boost as Democrats swept this week’s Senate runoff elections in Georgia, offering the prospect of more support for people and businesses hammered by the pandemic.

The U.S. economy has splintered along state and city lines, with the speed of the rebound largely dependent on the magnitude of local business restrictions to combat an unending surge in Covid-19 cases.

The story of U.S. inflation in 2021 could very well amount to this: It’s all a mirage.

Applications for U.S. state unemployment benefits unexpectedly posted the first back-to-back weekly increase since July, while Americans’ incomes and savings fell last month.

The U.S. economy’s record third-quarter surge has already given way to a more moderate pace of growth, with a fresh jump in coronavirus infections and an extended deadlock over further stimulus threatening to weigh on activity.

While the economic restart has helped put 7.5 million Americans back to work in May and June combined, payrolls are down more than 14.5 million from their pre-pandemic peak.

As states restarted their economies and millions of Americans headed back to work, consumers opened up their pocketbooks more freely.