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Inflation, Interest Rates Could Weigh On Economy

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The global economy must steer through a precarious recovery this year and next as inflation keeps dragging on household spending and higher interest rates weigh on growth, banks and markets. That was the takeaway Wednesday from the latest economic outlook by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The group, made up of 38 member countries, raised its growth forecast this year to 2.7% from an estimated 2.2% in November and foresaw only a tiny acceleration to 2.9% next year. The rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic and energy ...

Optimism Builds For Home Builders

LOS ANGELES — By almost any measure, the U.S. housing market has yet to emerge from a more than year-long slump. Through the first three months of 2023, sales of previously occupied U.S. homes are running 28% below the pace in the same quarter last year, while sales of new homes are down ...

Changing Market

BOSTON (AP) — Teens have long been vital to filling out the summertime staffs of restaurants, ice cream stands, amusement parks and camps. Now, thanks to one of the tightest labor markets in decades, they have even more sway, with an array of jobs to choose from at ever higher ...

New Owner Reopens Westfield Pizza Shop

Nick Barresi cuts the ceremonial grand opening red ribbon celebrating his ownership of CJ’s Pizza, 77 E. Main St., Westfield, recently. The new look of the dining room and menu embraces an updated eclectic style restaurant while keeping the traditional recipes. Some new items have been ...

One Metric Shows Recession May Be Here

NEW YORK — The latest round of corporate earnings is leaving Wall Street with a confounding sense of relief and lingering anxiety. Companies are in the midst of an “earnings recession,” meaning profits have contracted for two straight quarters, starting with a 4.6% drop at the end of 2022. Profits for S&P 500 companies shrank just over 2% last quarter, compared with forecasts of a 6.7% drop. That brought some relief to Wall Street that the quarter wasn’t as bad as it could have been. But, analysts also expect more pain ahead. Analysts polled by FactSet now expect a 6.4% ...

Jobless Benefit Claims Up Slightly

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week but remains at healthy levels that continue to show a strong U.S. labor market. U.S. applications for jobless claims were 232,000 for the week ending May 27, an increase of just 2,000 from the previous week. The weekly claims numbers are considered representative of the number of U.S. layoffs. The four-week moving average of claims, which flattens out some of the week-to-week volatility, fell by 2,500 to 229,500. Since the pandemic purge of more than 20 million jobs three years ago, the U.S. economy ...