The Fed is struggling to break the back of inflation. Here's why.
CBSN
The Federal Reserve's two-year battle to tame inflation is turning into a drawn-out war, with the central bank grappling with prices that have run surprisingly hot this year. A major reason: stubbornly high housing and rent costs that have sapped household budgets across the U.S.
The Fed will be scrutinizing the latest Consumer Price Index report on Wednesday morning for signs that its campaign to finally extinguish runaway inflation by pushing up interest rates is working. Wall Street expects a slight improvement, with economists forecasting that the CPI in April rose 3.4% from a year ago, a tick lower from March's 3.5% increase, according to financial data company FactSet.
Still, 3.4% remains far higher than the Fed's target of 2% inflation. Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday acknowledged that his confidence that inflation is set to ease "is not as high as it was."
Billions of cicadas are emerging across about 16 states in the Southeast and Midwest. Periodical cicadas used to reliably emerge every 13 or 17 years, depending on their brood. But in a warming world where spring conditions arrive sooner, climate change is messing with the bugs' internal alarm clocks.
Senate Democrats to unveil package to protect IVF as party makes reproductive rights push this month
Washington — A group of Senate Democrats is set to unveil a new package to protect access to IVF on Monday, as the party makes a push around reproductive rights this month — two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.