The rise in the cost of living cooled in July, but not for grocery prices. 

The price of food at home rose 1.3% from June to July, marking a 13.1% increase compared to last year. It was the largest price increase for groceries since 1979, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

With rental prices rising nationwide, there has never been a better time to examine how high housing costs impact everyday Americans. The Rental Trap is a new MarketWatch column profiling tenants’ issues, including renters who spend a high portion of their income on housing.

In late July, with consumer prices soaring nationwide, tenants from across the country descended on Washington, D.C., to meet with some of the Biden administration’s top housing officials — and make them contend with the real-world impact of a painful cost-of-living crisis.

The U.S. July consumer inflation data was “positive” but the pace of price increases remains “much too high,” Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said Wednesday.

The 8.5% annual inflation rate over the past 12 months “is just huge,” Evans said, during a conversation about the economy and monetary policy at Drake University.

“That’s a big...

If you head to your local pool or beach in the coming days, don’t be surprised to find that it’s closed: A lifeguard shortage of epic proportions is playing havoc with that sacred summer ritual of going for a swim.

As has been widely reported, cities and towns across the U.S. are unable to open their aquatic facilities because of the lack of lifeguards. Or, at the very least, they are cutting back on the hours of operation.

Wednesday’s release of the consumer-price index report for July contained enough downside surprises to give stock investors hope the worst of inflation may be behind. Yet an undercurrent of worry remained at big-name firms like PIMCO, where the focus was on stickier components of the data that may only get worse.According to PIMCO economists Tiffany Wilding and Allison Boxer, the details of the report were “firmer” than what was implied by the annual headline CPI rate — which fell to 8.5% for July from 9.1% in June and came in below the expectations of economists and inflation-derivatives traders. If food and energy prices...

Defaulting on your student loans could lead to the federal government withholding your wages, your tax refunds and possibly your Social Security income — a process that’s both blunt and punitive, one government official says.

“Even if you were a hard-nosed accountant who only cared about collecting money for taxpayers, it makes no sense to try and collect a loan by driving borrowers into poverty and preventing them from getting back on their feet,” Education Department Undersecretary James Kvaal said in his opening remarks during a virtual panel held by the Student Borrower Protection Center.

The global tally of new COVID cases was stable in the week through Aug. 7 from the previous week, while the number of fatalities fell by 9%, according to the World Health Organization.

In its weekly epidemiological update, the agency said more than 6.9 million new cases were reported in the week and over 14,000 deaths were recorded.

The global tally of new COVID cases was stable in the week through Aug. 7 from the previous week, while the number of fatalities fell by 9%, according to the World Health Organization.

In its weekly epidemiological update, the agency said more than 6.9 million new cases were reported in the week and over 14,000 deaths were recorded.

at the end of that cycle, months before beginning to lobby for the CHIPS Act with promises to increase domestic production.

While paring back plans to buy equipment and increase production in the near future, both companies say they expect to continue to boost domestic output in the long term, the goal of the federal funding for semiconductor companies. As Micron was detailing its forecast and 2023 Capex cuts in government filings, executives promised in a news release to spend $40 billion through the end of the decade on U.S. production.

“This legislation will enable Micron to grow domestic production of memory from less than 2% to up to 10% of the global market in the next decade, making the U.S. home to the most advanced memory manufacturing and [research and development] in the world,” Mehrotra wrote.

From June: Micron signals the end of the chip boom

With less than half a year to go until required minimum distributions are due, plus rising inflation and interest rates and a volatile stock market, some retirees may be wondering how to take their RMDs most financially efficient manner. Join MarketWatch's Alessandra Malito and Jody King, director of wealth planning at Fiduciary Trust Company, as they discuss the best strategies.

Additionally, executives said they were “cautiously optimistic” about their ability to “operate within the $500 million adjusted Ebitda loss guardrail” that they had targeted earlier in the year.

Shares of Coinbase were up 1% in morning trading Wednesday.

Despite management being “bullish as ever” on the future of crypto technology, analysts remained largely focused on the near-term challenges in the wake of the latest report.

“The key question going into earnings was whether the company will announce further cuts to bloated expense base to limit losses and cash burn,” Bernstein’s Harshita Rawat wrote. “Management, however, noted that they are ‘cautiously optimistic’ about containing losses to previously guided -$500 adj. Ebitda number. We believe this might well prove to be an optimistic scenario”

Rawat is concerned about “ballooning” stock-based compensation, as well as the company’s cash-burn trends. She noted that Coinbase saw stock-based...

While American tourists have been filling up Europe’s corners this summer, happily snapping away and occasionally complaining about the heat, the region’s energy/climate crisis continues to deepen.

In the latest piece of bad news to hit the headlines this summer, Bloomberg reported Tuesday that officials in the U.K. had a “reasonable worst-case scenario” over potential gas shortages and a cold winter that could force organized blackouts.

In late July, with consumer prices soaring nationwide, tenants from across the country descended on Washington, D.C., to meet with some of the Biden administration’s top housing officials — and make them contend with the real-world impact of a painful cost-of-living crisis.

While everyday Americans have been reaching into their savings accounts...

With U.S. stocks back in rally mode following Wednesday's consumer-price index release for July, the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, better known as the VIX, or the market's "fear gauge", has dropped below 20 for the first time since April, according to FactSet data. The index reached a session low of 19.79 as the S&P 500 SPX,

The global tally of new COVID cases was stable in the week through Aug. 7 from the previous week, while the number of fatalities fell by 9%, according to the World Health Organization.

In its weekly epidemiological update, the agency said more than 6.9 million new cases were reported in the week and over 14,000 deaths were recorded.

The Department of Justice on Wednesday said it charged a member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps with a plot to murder former National Security Adviser John Bolton. The DOJ said that beginning in October 2021, Shahram Poursafi of Tehran attempted to arrange Bolton's murder, likely in retaliation for the January 2020 death of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force commander Qasem Soleimani. Bolton, who served as national security adviser under former President Donald Trump, thanked the Justice Department in a statement and said the "global threat" from the Iranian regime is growing.

The Department of Justice on Wednesday said it charged a member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps with a plot to murder former National Security Adviser John Bolton. The DOJ said that beginning in October 2021, Shahram Poursafi of Tehran attempted to arrange Bolton's murder, likely in retaliation for the January 2020 death of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force commander Qasem Soleimani. Bolton, who served as national security adviser under former President Donald Trump, thanked the Justice Department in a statement and said the "global threat" from the Iranian regime is growing.

With less than half a year to go until required minimum distributions are due, plus rising inflation and interest rates and a volatile stock market, some retirees may be wondering how to take their RMDs most financially efficient manner. Join MarketWatch's Alessandra Malito and Jody King, director of wealth planning at Fiduciary Trust Company, as they discuss the best strategies.

Oil futures trimmed losses Wednesday morning after weekly data from the Energy Information Administration showed a larger-than-expected drop in gasoline inventories, while crude inventories saw another big rise. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery CL.1,

President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed into law a bill that expands healthcare benefits for veterans who were exposed to so-called burn pits when they served in the military. The president called the measure "the most significant law in our nation's history to help millions of veterans who were exposed to toxic substances during their military service. Bar none." The law will increase veterans' access to medical care and disability payments.

But she is leaving the tennis court after a legendary career that has included 23 Grand Slam singles titles — including the 2017 Australian Open while she was two months pregnant — and it sounds like she’s devastated by it. 

“I’m going to be honest. There is no happiness in this topic for me,” Williams writes in Vogue’s September issue. “I know it’s not the usual thing to say, but I feel a great deal of pain. It’s the hardest thing that I could ever imagine. I hate it. I hate that I have to be at this crossroads. I keep saying to myself, I wish it could be easy for me, but it’s not.” 

Read more: Serena Williams retiring from tennis to focus on family — and her venture-capital firm

Williams writes that while she is ready for what’s next, the subject of stepping off the court still brings an “uncomfortable lump” in her throat, and she cries. Moving away from tennis is such a painful subject for her, in fact, that she’s only been able to discuss it...

Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he invoked his Fifth Amendment rights during a deposition with the New York attorney general's office. "I have absolutely no choice because the current administration and many prosecutors in this country have lost all moral and ethical bounds of decency," Trump said in a statement, invoking the FBI's raid on his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida earlier this week. Trump was set to be questioned under oath Wednesday in New York Attorney General Letitia James's civil investigation into his dealings as a real estate mogul.

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