1. Inflation ticked higher in December due to housing, fuel costs
Inflation edged up in December thanks largely to higher housing and energy costs, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The consumer price index rose 3.4% in December from a year earlier, slightly more than economists had expected and up from November's 3.1%. Core inflation, excluding volatile fuel and food costs, fell slightly to 3.9% year-on-year, just above estimates but below 4% for the first time since May 2021. Inflation dropped by nearly half in 2023, The Wall Street Journal reported, while inflation-adjusted wages grew a robust 0.8%. The inflation declines in previous months fueled hope the Federal Reserve would soon start cutting interest rates, but December's data underscored the challenges to getting inflation down to the central bank's 2% target. The Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press
2. Hertz to sell 20,000 EVs, buy more gas cars
3. Stock futures slip ahead of more inflation data
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
4. Discord cutting 17% of staff after pandemic expansion
5. Oil prices rise after US, UK strikes against Houthis in Yemen
-
Store closings could accelerate throughout 2025Under the Radar Major brands like Macy's and Walgreens are continuing to shutter stores
-
The diamond market is losing its shineUnder the radar Precious gemstones are rapidly dropping in price
-
Can the US Steel-Nippon Steel merger come back to life?Today's Big Question President Trump opposed the deal. But he could be flexible.
-
How Trump is making your Shein and Temu orders more expensiveIn the Spotlight The president has ended a tariff loophole for small shipments
-
Getty Images and Shutterstock merge into a picture powerhouse to combat AIThe Explainer The $3.7 billion deal is one of the largest in the industry's history
-
What went wrong at Nissan?In the Spotlight And will a merger with Honda make the difference?
-
Biden expected to block Japanese bid for US SteelSpeed Read The president is blocking the $14 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel, citing national security concerns
-
Nordstrom family, investor to take retail chain privateSpeed Read The business will be acquired by members of the family and El Puerto de Liverpool, a Mexican real estate company
