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Wall Street takes a tumble as hot inflation numbers further dash hopes of rate cuts
CBSN
U.S. stocks are sinking Wednesday following new inflation data that showed prices accelerated for a third consecutive month. The hotter-than-expected report further dashed hopes for Fed rate cuts this year amid fears that progress may be stalling in taming elevated price levels.
The S&P 500 slumped 1.1% in early trading and is on track for one of its worst days of the year so far. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 451 points, or 1.2%, as of 9:35 a.m. EST, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.1% lower.
"There are still embers of inflation here and there in the economy," said Joe Davis, chief global economist at Vanguard.
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Washington — A federal judge on Thursday allowed President Trump's efforts to shrink the federal workforce to continue moving forward while legal proceedings continue, declining a request from a group of labor unions to temporarily block his firing of federal employees and other actions targeting government workers.
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President Trump on Wednesday said he's considering using 20% of the savings from Elon Musk's cost-cutting task force, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to provide direct payments to taxpayers. But economists and policy experts across the political spectrum expressed skepticism about the feasibility of such a "DOGE dividend."
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How Clinton's "reinventing government" compares to DOGE's approach: "We cut fat and they cut muscle"
As President Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency push to slash spending, Republican allies have pointed to a White House program from 30 years ago as akin to DOGE's efforts.
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed the Pentagon to come up with plans to cut 8% from the defense budget in each of the next five years, according to sources familiar with his plans. The Defense Departmen expects to redirect those fund to other programs in the department that would be prioritized by President Trump.