Expect Higher Costs for Your Health Care Benefits Next Year

Employers are predicting an increase of as much as 9 percent, on average, but are generally avoiding passing along much of that to their employees, industry groups say. Weight-loss drugs. Cutting-edge gene therapies. In vitro fertilization. All are life-changing, but expensive, medical options that are helping to drive up health care costs next year for […]

Why Cooling Inflation Hasn’t Eased Sticker Shock

The term refers to what we have internalized as the fair price for a product or service. It’s often out of sync with what things now actually cost. After two years of the highest inflation since the 1980s, the problem of rapid price increases appears largely under control, according to most indicators. But that’s not […]

The Fed’s Preferred Inflation Gauge Cooled Overall in September

Overall inflation slowed in September from a year earlier, though some signs of stubbornness lingered under the surface. Inflation has been cooling for two years, and fresh data released on Thursday showed that trend continued in September: Prices climbed just 2.1 percent compared with a year earlier. That is nearly back to the Federal Reserve’s […]

Inflation Is Basically Back to Normal. Why Do Voters Still Feel Blah?

Consumers still give the economy poor marks, though the job market is strong and price increases have faded for months. Grocery inflation has been cooling sharply, but Tamira Flamer, 27, says she hasn’t noticed. What she knows is that paper plates and meat remain more expensive than they were a few years ago. “I feel […]

Walmart Holiday Shopping Plans Are Laid Months Before Black Friday

To prepare for ever-longer shopping season, thousands of employees were assembled for a retail jamboree in Florida’s August heat. It felt like calculated chaos inside the chilly convention center where Walmart had recreated one of its Supercenter stores. It was late August in Orlando, Fla., and the retailer had flown in thousands of workers to […]

Automatic Refunds for Significant Flight Disruptions: New Airline Rule Goes Into Effect

The Transportation Department’s new rule also sets the definition for what constitutes a “significant” delay in air travel. The Transportation Department’s new rule requiring airlines to provide prompt, automatic refunds to passengers enduring significant flight disruptions is now in effect. The rule is intended to hold airlines to clear and consistent standards when they cancel, […]