The cost of health care in the U.S. is rising at the slowest pace in four decades, helping curb inflation. The consumer-price index dropped 0.4 percent in April from the prior month, a second consecutive decrease and the biggest since...
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Photograph by Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg
Dental work performed at a free health clinic for the uninsured and underinsured at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.
Health Care Costs Slow: Inflation Curb
Photograph by Martin Soeby/Gallery Stock
It is becoming more common for wives to be paid more than their husbands.
Higher-Paid Women Less-Married, More-Divorced
Women who have come out on top in the job market may not find similar success in the marriage market. As the struggle for equal pay for equal work gains ground, there may still be psychological factors undermining the link...
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Photograph by Kristian Helgesen/Bloomberg
Maersk Line, the world's biggest container shipping company, will stop plying through the Panama Canal to move goods from Asia to the U.S. east coast as bigger ships help the company move it profitably through Suez Canal.
Import Prices: Disinflation Concern
To anyone worried about global disinflation, today’s Labor Department report on the cost of goods imported into the U.S. will prove sobering. The import-price index dropped 0.5 percent in April from the prior month as fuel costs retreated 1.7 percent....
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Photograph by George Frey/Bloomberg
Engineers work on the graphite super structures of the science module section of the James Webb Space Telescope at Alliant Techsystems Inc.'s (ATK) Space Components Division in Magna, Utah.
Unemployment Claims Lowest Since November 2007
An unexpected decline in applications for jobless benefits last week indicates companies remain optimistic the economy will persevere after cooling in the second quarter. The average number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits in the last four weeks dropped to the lowest...
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Photograph by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
A bitcoin.
Help Wanted: Bitcoin, 3-D Printing, Google Glass
Need a job? Try programming a gambling website that accepts the virtual currency Bitcoin, or creating computer blueprints of the objects that get printed on a 3-D printer. While last week’s Labor Department report showed U.S. job creation has been moderate at best,...
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Photograph by John Moore/Getty Images
Commuter passengers move through Penn Station on April 16, 2013 in New York City.
April Jobs Report: Caveats
At the risk of raining on Wall Street’s parade today after the Labor Department’s April employment report, there are some caveats in the data. Of the jobs added last month, many were in industries that typically don’t pay a lot. The average number...
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Photograph by Patrick Fallon/Bloomberg
An employee demonstrates how to prepare a room for guests at a hotel in Los Angeles, California.
Job Market Better-Looking in Rear-View Mirror
The more time government statisticians have to crunch the numbers, the stronger the job market looks — that is assuming you’re not looking to earn in the six figures. On March 8, the Labor Department said employers added 236,000 workers...
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Photograph by Spencer Platt/Getty Images
A worker is viewed through protective sheeting on the Brooklyn Bridge on April 30, 2013 in New York City.
Zero-Interest Fed: How Long?
The Labor Department said today that the economy added 165,000 jobs in April. With this kind of moderate-but-not-stellar growth in payrolls, is the Federal Reserve on track to meet its own forecast for its first interest-rate increase? A simple calculation...
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Photograph by Mario Tama/Getty Images
People yell during a protest for better wages for fast food workers in Harlem on April 4, 2013 in New York City.
Minimum Wage Boost: Surprising Ally
Supporters of a minimum wage increase may have a surprising ally — small business owners. More than two-thirds of them support increasing the federal minimum wage, according to a poll released yesterday by Small Business Majority, a non-profit advocacy group...
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Photograph by Lachlan Currie
Wages are up, but inflation is up even more.
Wages Up 0.5% — Cost of Living 1.7%
Workers in the good old USA earned $773 a week in the first quarter before taxes and other deductions, 0.5 percent more than in the same three months of 2012. Unfortunately, the cost of living for the almost 103 million...
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Contributors
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Al Hunt
is a columnist for Bloomberg View and host of the weekly show "Political Capital with Al Hunt" on Bloomberg TV. -
Mark Silva
is deputy managing editor for government news in Washington and editor of Political Capital. He has covered the White House and national politics. -
Emma Fidel
is political editor for Bloomberg.com in Washington. She previously covered financial regulation as a Bloomberg intern. -
Don Frederick
edits political and government coverage for Bloomberg News. He previously worked for more than a decade at the Los Angeles Times' Washington bureau. -
Gregory Giroux
analyzes elections, financing of congressional and presidential elections, political advertising and demographics in Bloomberg's Washington Bureau. -
Julie Bykowicz
covers the influence of money and lobbying in Washington, and covered the state legislature and city crime for the Baltimore Sun for 10 years. -
Jonathan Salant
covers campaign finance and lobbying in Washington. He was president of the National Press Club and started in Washington in 1987. -
Richard Rubin
covers federal tax policy. He worked at Congressional Quarterly and The Charlotte Observer before joining Bloomberg News in 2010. -
Julie Hirschfeld Davis
is a senior political reporter for the Washington Bureau. She covered the 2012 campaign for Bloomberg News and previously covered the White House for the Baltimore Sun. -
Lisa Lerer
covers the White House and covered the 2012 campaign for Bloomberg News. She covered Congress, lobbying and the 2008 campaign for Politico. -
John McCormick
is a national political reporter looking forward to the 2016 presidential campaign, which will be the fifth he's covered. He's also reported for The Des Moines Register and Chicago Tribune. -
Julianna Goldman
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Television. -
Hans Nichols
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Television. -
Margaret Talev
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and covered the White House for McClatchy Newspapers. She has covered California and Florida politics. -
Cary O'Reilly
is Editor at Large at Bloomberg First Word and is Washington Daybook columnist for Bloomberg Government and Bloomberg News.
