USA finance and economy summary news: June 7
US Finance News: Latest News
Headlines | 7 July 2022
- Workers across the country may receive a raise this month.
- Initial unemployment claims increase slightly by 4,000, up to 235,000
- Gas prices decrease slightly after holiday weekend
- 4.3 million workers quit their jobs in May, a sign that the Great Resignation continues
- Since 1 January, the NASDAQ Index is down 28 percent, the Dow Jones is down 15 percent, and the S&P 500 has fallen 19 percent
- Job openings hold steady around 11.2 million, up from more than 9.8 million in May 2021.
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The euro has fallen to 20-year low in comparison to the US dollar this week as European nations suffer major economic set-backs.
On Wednesday afternoon the euro was trading as low as $1.0165 in Europe, a clear sign that the currency’s prospects were looking bleak. The price rose slightly, just above the $1.02 mark, on Thursday but the continental currency remains extremely weak.
Gas prices drop below $4 at thousands of stations
Fuel experts GasBuddy have found that more than 2,500 gas stations in the United States are currently offering gasoline for $3.99 per gallon or less. This represents a considerable increase on the number doing so in recent weeks and offers more evidence that the national price of gas is beginning to fall after hitting record heights last month. This will be a great relief for motorists who had been forced to pay vastly inflated sums to make essential journeys.
Euro slumps to 20-year low against the dollar
The United States has undoubtedly suffered economic hardship as a result of the continued sanctions levied against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine, but Europe appears to be experiencing far greater problems. While the US relied on Russian-produced fuels to provide around 8% of its needs, European countries were far more reliant and the sudden pause on imports has had catastrophic effects on the continuent's economies and its most widely-used currency, the euro.
This week the euro dropped to a 20-year low against the dollar, signifying the dire straits currently facing the European economy. Numerous projections have pointed to recessions in many European nations before the end of the year.
Currently more than 43.4 million Americans are saddled with student debt. President Biden campaigned with a pledge to offer widespread student loan forgiveness but that has not yet been forthcoming. Yesterday, however, his Education Department announced a raft of new measure that will provide respite for some borrowers.
The new programs, and loosening of eligibility for existing ones, is designed to ease the loan burden for disabled students, public service workers, and borrowers who were misled by their schools.
Workers across multiple states will see a raise this month as minimum wage increases take effect. Nationally the minimum wage sits at $7.25 per hour, but many states have passed bills to increase their own.
Rather than a one time increase, states often chose to increase the wage over time as to not create economic shocks for businesses. The drawback of this method is that the increase can be offset by inflation by the time the process ends.
Various states are in the middle of increasing their minimum wage and July marks one of these milestones.
Read our full coverage to figure out where.
Initial unemployment claims increase
The Department of Labor has relased their weekly unemployment report that shows a slight incrase in the number of initial claims.
On the week ending on 2 July, initial claims increased by 4,000 to 235,000. The week prior New Jersey (+5,569), Massachusetts (+3,217), Ohio (+2,588), Kentucky (+1,478), and Missouri (+1,375), saw the greatest increases in the number of claims; those with the largest decreases were California (-2,504), Texas (-2,074), Michigan (-1,683), Pennsylvania (-1,628), and Georgia (-1,606).
Gas prices are inching down after the holiday weekend and have fallen significantly since their peak price in mid-June. Check out our full coverage for more on what is driving volitility and where consumers are paying the most and least at the pump.
The Child Tax Credit in 2022 will return to the conditions offered by the IRS before the American Rescue Plan expanded it. The amount of the credit is smaller, and eligibility is more restricted than last year under the rules which were established through the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). These changes will be in effect through the 2025 fiscal year, if no action is taken by Congress to modify the credit before then.
A big change that helped many families last year, instead of receiving monthly installments on the credit as they did from July to December in 2021, the money will be distributed in the form of a single tax credit which will either reduce the size of the recipient’s tax bill or increase their tax refund.
There are six areas that have seen a rise in employmnet in thirteen metro areas since May 2021
Over the last year, employment increased in 122 metropolitan areas and has remained unchanged in 267 areas.
Which saw the greatest increase in employment?
1. Atlantic City-Hammonton, New Jersey (where employment increased 15,200 or 12.5 percent)
2. Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nevada (87,100; 9.0 percent)
3. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (294,700; 7.7 percent).
Those areas that have seen at least a six percent increase include:
1. Odessa, Texas
2. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida
3. North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida
4. Austin-Round Rock, Texas
5. Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, Tennessee
6. Flagstaff, Arizona
7. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia
8. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas
9. Midland, Texas
10. Santa Fe, New Mexico.
President Biden speaks to the need to bolster Social Security
I’m here today to talk about the issue that affects every single American and their retirement. People around the country wake up every day wondering whether they’ve saved enough to provide for themselves and their families before they stop working — work at a job that provides basic dignity, a good middle-class job you can raise a family on, a job that provides a dignified retirement and will give you peace of mind.
It’s a dignified retirement with your spouse in the home in your community you worked and lived for your whole life. But the reality is for so many people: The goalposts keep moving.
Hello and welcome to our live blog on US finance news.
Markets are still responding to a rough second quarter. GDP is expected to show the second consecutive quarter of negative growth. Financial markets have lost double digit value since January and will continue to fall as interest rates are increased by the Federal Reserve to slow down the economy, in an attempt to decrease inflation.
Tomorrow, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the June unemployment data and later next week we can expect the June Consumer Price Index report. Unemployment is expected to increase by the end of the year and with gas prices hitting record levels in June, the CPI is likely to show another historic increase.