US inflation rises in August as firms pass Trump tariffs cost on to consumers
Inflation rose slightly in August as companies continued to push the cost of tariffs on to consumers.The newest update to the consumer price index (CPI), which measures a basket of goods and services, showed that prices increased 2.9% over the last year – the highest since January.Core CPI, which excludes energy and food costs, stayed stable at 3.1% after going up in July.
Despite this slight uptick in inflation, Wall Street remains optimistic that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at the central bank’s board meeting next week.The Fed is under intense pressure from Donald Trump to cut rates, but the decision looks likely to be led by fears that the US jobs market is weakening.Investors are anticipating a quarter-point rate cut.Rates currently stand at a range of 4.25% to 5.
5%.US stocks shot up on Wednesday after the producer price index, which tracks wholesale prices, showed a slight dip in August after a steep rise in July, making investors hopeful that inflation – while still rising – is going up at a slow pace.The Fed has refrained from cutting rates over the past year, citing instability in the economy introduced by federal immigration and trade policies.The central bank has been on a years-long mission to bring inflation down to a target of 2%, a level that has not been seen since early 2021.Higher interest rates help temper rising costs, but at the risk of slowing other parts of the economy, including the labor market.
At his closely watched speech at the Fed’s Jackson Hole symposium last month, its chair, Jerome Powell, said that recent economic circumstances “may warrant adjusting our policy stance”, which many investors took as a signal that the Fed will drop rates.Powell said that while tariffs had started pushing prices up, with no clear end, a slowdown in the jobs market had caught the attention of the Fed.Powell said that the “downside risks to employment are rising”.“If those risks materialize, they can do so quickly in the form of sharply higher layoffs and rising unemployment,” Powell said.Data released in early August painted a concerning picture of the labor market, as initial jobs figures for May and June were revised down by a total of 258,000.
The White House quickly blamed the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the government agency that collects and reports employment data, for the gaps.But economists pointed out that uncertainty introduced by Trump’s tariffs probably caused delays in survey collection.Last week, the BLS revised down figures from June again, and the number of jobs added to the economy went into the negative for the first time since December 2020.The unemployment rate also went slightly up to 4.3%, the highest since 2021.
The Fed is scheduled to announce any changes to the interest on 17 September.
Barclays boss urges UK ministers to limit public sector pay rises
The chief executive of Barclays has said the UK government needs to limit pay rises for public sector workers and resist a further “squeeze” on banks with tax increases.CS Venkatakrishnan said the government needed to look at its own spending levels as the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, seeks ways to address a fiscal hole when she announces her budget in November.“We need to curb expenditure at the government level,” he told the Financial Times. “We need to find a way to curb wage inflation.”Venkatakrishnan said that while the government needed to restrict rising “public sector” wages, the inflationary impact of pay rises was an issue across the UK economy
UK economy flatlines in July in grim news for Rachel Reeves
The UK economy flatlined in July, according to official figures, in grim news for Rachel Reeves as she gears up for a challenging budget.It was a slowdown compared with June, when the economy grew by 0.4%, according to the Office for National Statistics.GDP expanded strongly in the first half of the year, making the UK the fastest-growing economy in the G7, but it had been widely expected to slow in the second half.The ONS said that growth in the services and construction sectors in July was offset by a 0
Larry Ellison briefly overtakes Elon Musk as world’s richest person
US tech billionaire Larry Ellison is neck-and-neck with Elon Musk in the contest to be the world’s richest person after briefly overtaking the Tesla chief executive on WednesdayEllison’s wealth surged after Oracle, the business software company in which he owns a stake of 41%, reported better than expected financial results.Oracle shares rose by more than 40% in early trading, at one point valuing the business software company at approximately $960bn (£707bn) and Ellison’s stake at $393bn, just ahead of Musk’s fortune of $384bn, according to Bloomberg’s billionaires index. However, Ellison’s lead was short-lived as the stock closed at $328, a rise of 36% valuing Ellison’s shareholding at $378bn and putting Musk back ahead.The pair sit comfortably ahead of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.Ellison, 81, also has other sources of wealth, including a stake in electric carmaker Tesla, where Musk is chief executive, a sailing team, the Indian Wells Open tennis tournament, and an island in Hawaii, according to Bloomberg
Snapchat allows drug dealers to operate openly on platform, finds Danish study
Snapchat has been accused by a Danish research organisation of leaving an “overwhelming number” of drug dealers to openly operate on Snapchat, making it easy for children to buy substances including cocaine, opioids and MDMA.The social media platform has said it proactively uses technology to filter out profiles selling drugs. However, research by Digitalt Ansvar (Digital Accountability), a Danish research organisation that promotes responsible digital development, has found evidence of a failure to moderate drug-related language in usernames. It also accused Snapchat of failing to respond adequately to reports of profiles openly selling drugs.Researchers used profiles of 13-year-olds and found a multitude of people selling drugs on Snapchat under usernames featuring keywords such as “coke”, “weed” and “molly”
Leigh sweep sorry St Helens aside to confirm home playoff slot
These two great rugby league clubs may both be preparing for the Super League playoffs in a fortnight’s time but on the evidence of what we have seen both here and in recent weeks, you suspect only one has a credible chance of walking out at Old Trafford in a month’s time.And incredibly, it is not the side who were world champions just two years ago and won four consecutive league titles at the turn of the decade. For all of the brilliance St Helens showed in that run of unprecedented domination, this is now a very different side: underlined by the fact that for the first time in the summer era, they will finish outside the top four in consecutive seasons.But this night belonged to a side who are hoping of ending a much longer wait to become champions of England. Not since 1982 were Leigh last the dominant force in rugby league, and their only other title came all the way back in 1906
Canelo Álvarez and Terence Crawford hit 167½lb ahead of Las Vegas megafight
Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez and Terence Crawford each weighed in at 167½lb behind closed doors on Friday morning, clearing the final hurdle before their historic showdown at Allegiant Stadium.The weigh-in result confirmed what many had been waiting to see: Crawford, unbeaten in 41 professional fights, tipping the scale at a career-high mark as he climbs two weight classes into the super-middleweight division for the first time. Until last year he’d never fought above 147lb and in his most recent outing last August he weighed 153.4lb in edging Israil Madrimov. Now, after months of adding bulk, he stands one night away from challenging for all four of Álvarez’s belts at 168lb
Stagnant GDP shows scale of challenge for Rachel Reeves at autumn budget
Britain is ‘a terrible place’ to sell medicines, says drug firm executive
Business rates rise would put hundreds of big shops at risk, say UK retailers
MPs raise concerns over Asda’s link to app offering high-interest loans to staff
Paramount Skydance reportedly preparing takeover bid for Warner Bros Discovery
UK must heed Sir John Bell’s big pharma investment warning