The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.5 percent in December on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.8 percent in November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 7.0 percent before seasonal adjustment. Increases in the indexes for shelter and for used cars and … [More]

The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index increased slightly in December to 98.9, up 0.5 points from November. Twenty-two percent of small business owners reported that inflation was their single most important problem encountered in operating their business. Price raising activities have reached levels not seen since the early 1980s when prices were rising at double-digit … [More]

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 199,000 in December, and the unemployment rate declined to 3.9 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment continued to trend up in leisure and hospitality, in professional and business services, in manufacturing, in construction, and in transportation and warehousing. This news release presents … [More]

Small business owners continue to struggle to increase their workforce, with 25% of owners saying labor quality was their top business problem in December, according to NFIB’s monthly jobs report. Thirteen percent of owners cited labor costs as their top business problem, up three points from November and a 48-year record high. “The labor shortage is holding back … [More]

Small and midsize U.S. business leaders remain confident in their companies and resourceful in their approaches to confronting macroeconomic challenges that have created growing pains over the last year, finds JPMorgan Chase’s 2022 Business Leaders Outlook Survey released today. As a new year begins, the majority of business leaders are feeling upbeat: 83% of midsize and 71% … [More]

December listing prices accelerated 10.0% year-over-year nationally and at an even faster pace in more than one-quarter of large metros, led by Las Vegas (+32.4%) and Austin (+28.8%) Colder weather may be settling in, but new housing data suggests the winter market is heating up, as looming mortgage rate hikes motivate more buyers to search for a home despite limited … [More]

As Americans resume normal economic activities, Auto insurance rates will rise by 0.6% in 2022 after falling in 2021 according to ValuePenguin's State of Auto Insurance in 2022 report published today. The average cost of auto insurance is expected to reach $1,935 annually, with 22 states seeing car insurance premiums increase in 2022. Here are the key … [More]

Workers saw record hourly earnings growth and employment levels continued to rise as 2021 drew to a close. This is according to the aggregated payroll data of approximately 350,000 Paychex clients with fewer than 50 employees, released monthly in the Paychex | IHS Markit Small Business Employment Watch. The December data shows hourly earnings growth improved to 4.27 percent, … [More]

The hottest housing market of 2022 will be Tampa, according to a new Zillow® analysis. Rounding out the top five are Jacksonville, Raleigh, San Antonio and Charlotte in what is anticipated to be another hot year for housing across the Sun Belt. Zillow economists expect the housing market to back off just a bit from a record-breaking pace in 2021, but home shoppers … [More]

CoreLogic, a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider, today released the CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI™) and HPI Forecast™ for November 2021. While 2021 was a record-breaking year for U.S. home price growth, for many prospective buyers the hot housing market will continue to exacerbate ongoing affordability challenges into the new … [More]