Can a labor market be hot and cool at the same time? That’s the picture painted by the latest federal hiring figures, which show a step down in job creation last month — as well as a drop in joblessness. Employers added 143,000 jobs in January, slightly fewer than expected, the Labor Department reported on … Read more
Less than six months ago, Federal Reserve officials were wringing their hands about the state of the labor market. No major cracks had emerged, but monthly jobs growth had slowed and the unemployment rate was steadily ticking higher. In a bid to preserve the economy’s strength, the Fed took the unusual step of lowering interest … Read more
The Labor Department’s latest monthly report on hiring and unemployment will include revisions for previous months. The revised figures should provide a more accurate picture of the U.S. job market, but they could also sow confusion. The monthly job figures are based on two surveys, one of employers and one of households. Those surveys are … Read more
President Trump indicated he was ready to broaden his trade war on Friday, saying that he would announce reciprocal tariffs on other countries next week. Such a measure would raise the levies the United States charges on imports to match what other countries charge on American products, a move that could trigger new trade fights. … Read more
When I returned to Windsor, Ontario, the day before President Trump was set to impose potentially devastating tariffs on exports from Canada, fear was the city’s prevailing mood. A week later, following Mr. Trump’s suspension of a 25 percent tariff on most exports and 10 percent on oil, the mood has shifted more toward anger … Read more
President Trump on Sunday said that he would impose a 25 percent tariff on all foreign steel and aluminum imports into the United States as of Monday and would soon announce reciprocal tariffs on America’s trading partners. Speaking from Air Force One en route to the Super Bowl, the president said his metal tariffs would … Read more
President Trump announced sweeping tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum on Monday, re-upping a policy from his first term that pleased domestic metal makers but hurt other American industries and ignited trade wars on multiple fronts. The president signed two official proclamations that would impose a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum from all … Read more
America has seen this movie before: President Trump, who imposed stiff tariffs on Monday on imported steel and aluminum, did so once before, in 2018. So domestic industries have a pretty good idea of how the story ends. Manufacturers of trucks, appliances and construction equipment scramble to find U.S. sources of metal inputs, keeping steel … Read more
President Trump promised voters that, if elected, he would enact policies that would bring prices down on “Day 1” in office. But three weeks into his term, Mr. Trump and White House officials have become more measured in how they discuss their efforts to tame inflation. They have begun downplaying the likelihood that consumer costs … Read more
A pillar of President Trump’s policies has been tariffs, which are taxes on products imported from other countries. He has imposed or threatened to impose them as a way to influence global supply chains, raise revenue and extract concessions from other countries. But what can often be lost amid proclamations targeting other countries is who … Read more