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USA Today
31-05-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Sticker shock: Are American consumers learning to live with inflation?
American consumers may be learning to live with inflation. A long-running Gallup poll shows a steep drop in the share of Americans who name inflation as their biggest financial problem. Only 29% of consumers listed inflation as their top financial concern in April, down from 41% in April 2024. It's the lowest reading on the annual survey since 2021. Another recent survey, from the Ipsos Consumer Tracker, found fewer Americans think prices are rising. The share of consumers who said their household expenses are higher than a year ago slipped from 68% in February to 58% in May. Is inflation still top of mind for American consumers? Other surveys suggest, however, that inflation remains very much on consumers' minds. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. In a CBS News poll, taken in late May, 76% of Americans said their income wasn't keeping up with inflation. And a University of Michigan consumer survey, updated May 30, found that Americans expect prices to rise by 6.6% over the next year, twice the annual inflation rate they predicted a year ago. Economists say American consumers harbor complex feelings about inflation. On one hand, consumers have consistently cited rising prices as a top household concern, a sentiment that dates back to the dawn of the COVID-19-era inflation crisis in 2021. On the other hand, through four inflationary years, Americans have continued to spend. Consumer spending has risen steadily from 2021 through early 2025, despite rising prices. (Consumer spending slowed slightly in April, according to data released May 30.) 'We've had a remarkably robust consumer for the past 3 ½ years, when we've had a lot of inflation,' said Aditya Bhave, senior U.S. economist at Bank of America. Americans have had plenty of time to get used to inflation. The annual rate has hovered above 2% for every month since February 2021, federal data shows. The Federal Reserve sets 2% as its goal for a healthy inflation rate. The sky-high inflation of 2021 and 2022 is long gone. The annual rate hasn't topped 4% since early 2023. In April 2025, inflation registered at an unremarkable 2.3%. 'We don't have the super-high, 6%, 7% and 8% inflation numbers anymore,' said Yiming Ma, an associate professor at Columbia Business School. 'If you listen to the news, it's not as much about inflation anymore.' Financial fears in 2025 go beyond inflation For much of this year, other financial worries have dominated the financial headlines: Tariffs. Turbulent stocks. Instability at Social Security, the IRS and other federal agencies. Potential Medicaid cuts. Many of those fears peaked in April, the month President Donald Trump rolled out sweeping import tariffs. 'There's a lot of moving parts that were affecting consumers attitudes toward the economy in April,' said Bill Adams, chief economist at Comerica Bank. Adams notes that Gallup polled consumers about financial worries in early April, just as the tariff drama was unfolding. Tariffs, of course, are widely presumed by economists to cause inflation. In the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, inflation fears spiked dramatically as the Trump administration pursued tariffs. In January, the average consumer expected prices to rise 3.3% in the next year. By May, the figure had risen to 6.6%. That data point, too, is complicated – and highly politicized. Is inflation still a thing? It depends on your politics. Democrats expect prices to rise by 8% over the next year, according to Michigan survey data from April. Republicans expect them to rise by 0.4%. The figures are three-month averages. The disparity suggests Democrats and Republicans occupy separate realities. Economists say it illustrates that one party expects Trump's economic policies to succeed, while the other expects them to fail. 'There's a huge amount of partisan influence when you see consumer sentiment,' Stephen Juneau, senior U.S. economist at Bank of America Securities, told USA TODAY in March. Americans seem largely united, however, in their disdain of higher prices. Consumer prices are about 24% higher now than in February 2020, at the dawn of the pandemic, Bankrate reports. 'The cumulative increase in prices over the last half-decade has been much higher than it was from 2015 to 2020,' said Adams of Comerica. 'And I think that is what has contributed to this sense of frustration about inflation among American consumers.' Before the current inflation outbreak, America had not experienced an inflation crisis in 40 years. The 8% annual inflation rate in 2022 was the highest figure recorded since 1981, according to Federal Reserve data. When will consumers forget about inflation? American consumers may have learned to live with inflation. Here's what it would take for them to forget about it, according to Adams and other economic experts: 2% inflation The Fed aims for a target of 2% annual inflation: A level so low that consumers tune it out. If the annual inflation rate reaches that range and stays there, the Fed reasons, most Americans won't notice it. 'I think you'd need an extended period of somewhat lower inflation, in the low 2s or high 1s, along with wages that are outpacing that inflation,' said Bhave of Bank of America. Time to adjust If inflation eases to 2%, the Fed's target rate, it might still take many months for consumers to adjust to permanently higher prices. 'It is not long ago that you can remember what eggs cost in 2021 or 2021, compared to now,' said Alex Jacquez, chief of policy and advocacy at the progressive Groundwork Collaborative. Consumer prices spiked dramatically in 2021 and 2022. Prices continued to rise in 2023 and 2024, but not so sharply. If inflation continues to cool, and wages continue to rise, Jacquez and other said, the day will come when prices no longer seem so high. 'I think we could see consumers adjusting to prices as they are today, if we see the rate of inflation going to where it used to be,' Adams said. 'But it'll take time.'
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Used car prices hit record highs in 2025: What buyers need to know
According to a new report from auto industry experts, used cars are more expensive than they've been in years. A May 22 report from Edmunds indicated that in the first quarter of 2025, the average transaction price for used cars 3 years old or less jumped above $30,000 for the first time since 2023. The price of lightly used vehicles closed in on the average sales price of brand-new cars, making it just $17,000 less expensive to buy used, rather than new. That is the narrowest difference between new and used car prices since 2022, Edmunds reported. The report also indicates that the average age of vehicles traded in has grown from 7.3 years old to 7.6 years old in the span of a year. The shifts, which indicate a tougher market for potential buyers, may result from the aftereffects of the pandemic-era semiconductor chip supply shortage, coupled with tariff-related anxieties among buyers. The leap in used car prices can be attributed in part to the semiconductor chip shortage from the COVID-19 pandemic, the report said. The supply shortage of new cars several years ago is resulting in a smaller inventory of used cars now. Leasing dropped sharply in 2022 and 2023, meaning fewer 3-year-old used cars are returning to dealerships in 2025. As supply shrinks, price goes up. Why used car prices are rising in 2025: What every buyer needs to know Ivan Drury, the author of the report at Edmunds, told the Free Press that the market conditions of 2022 and 2023 led to a natural shrinkage of lightly used cars in today's economy. "Not only has it just outright reduced volume, but leasing penetration rates took a dump," Drury said. "They were like the lowest we had seen in 10 years. ... So, naturally, we are going to see a deficit in this vehicle type from the very get-go." While the changes in the used car market may strain some buyers' wallets, the market may be advantageous for drivers who leased a new vehicle in the last three years. Dealers seeking to grow the amount of lightly used cars on their lot may be paying more as they return at the end of their leases. The report notes: "3-year-old lease-return values are coming in higher than automakers originally forecasted — offering some drivers unexpected trade-in advantages." While supply shortages of years past affect the supply of used cars now, experts at Edmunds predict the looming supply strain from President Donald Trump's tariff plans may create a similar stir in the market. The report cites the early 2020s as a "historical precedent and a likely guide to the complications ahead," as Trump and automakers go back and forth on the future of automotive tariffs. Drury added that the instability in the auto market now will affect future used car markets, much like what is happening with COVID-19-era vehicles. "We're repeating this cycle over and over," Drury said. In his report, Drury predicts that there may be a larger range of resale values, as already-imported foreign models are expected to be met with higher demand than their brand-new counterparts and pre-owned American-made vehicles. If tariffs tighten new vehicle inventory, "spillover demand could once again inflate values of used vehicles, particularly for near-new models," Edmunds said. If the used car market is too volatile, skirting tariffs with an American-assembled new car may not assuage any concerns, either. A separate report from indicates that American-made vehicles are more expensive than imported vehicles. Through the first quarter of 2025, reported that cars assembled in the United States had the highest average price point at $53,000, making them more expensive than the overall average price of a new car at $49,000. According to Drury, the reason for steeper prices among American-assembled cars is that the larger, more expensive cars in the American market are assembled here. "It's the vehicle types that bring up that average," Drury said, noting that larger, more expensive vehicles like trucks and SUVs are manufactured in the United States. With prices shifting upward, the best time to buy a car has already passed, Drury said: "I'd say that was yesterday." Contact Liam Rappleye: LRappleye@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Used car prices hit record highs in 2025: What buyers need to know Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Chicago Tribune
28-05-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Rep. Regan Deering: Illinois doesn't need a bigger budget — it needs a better one
Later this week, the General Assembly is expected to pass a new state budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Most Illinoisans won't even know it's happening. It will likely be done late at night, without real discussion, transparency or input from the very people who will be forced to pay for it. The Democratic majority is talking about new tax hikes, more spending and more empty promises. And once again, these lawmakers are doing it behind closed doors. As a freshman lawmaker, this is my first session in the Illinois House. And I can tell you that this isn't how things are supposed to work. Before serving in public office, I was a small-business owner and a nonprofit leader. I've worked with budgets, made tough calls and felt the pressure that comes when needs grow and resources shrink. In the real world, when money runs out, you prioritize. You stretch. You reform. But not in Springfield. Since just before Gov. JB Pritzker took office in 2019, state spending has increased by more than $16 billion. This year's budget is projected to hit $55 billion, nearly $2 billion more than last year. Pritzker and legislative Democrats celebrate this explosion in spending, suggesting that attempts at reform are extreme. And now, as the Tribune Editorial Board recently warned, they are considering new tax hikes. Let's be clear: There's nothing compassionate about taking more from families who already have to get by with less, as persistent inflation drives up the price of everything. Compassion isn't measured by how much we spend; it's measured by whether people are actually better off. Take Medicaid as just one example. Enrollment has more than doubled in Illinois since 2000, fueled by COVID-19-era policies and emergency federal funds. That emergency is long over, but the spending continues. Worse, this expansion is celebrated. Medicaid was designed to be a safety net for the most vulnerable, not a permanent crutch for a system that refuses to reform. Yet any effort to restore balance is met with political spin and fearmongering. Instead of addressing waste and fraud and providing adults with a path to productive and independent lives through meaningful work, the Pritzker administration attacks these reform efforts. Taxpayers are left holding the bag, and those truly in need are no better off. I've seen what real help looks like. Through my work with the Northeast Community Fund and a food bank in Decatur, I've stood alongside families in crisis. I've seen the power of community, the power of dignity and the power of hope. I know what it takes to help people rebuild their lives. But that's not what's happening in Springfield. There, the goal is growing government, not growing opportunity. More dependency. More bureaucracy. More power for those in charge. And, heartbreakingly, less hope for the people they claim to serve. When we talk about Medicaid and this budget, we should be asking the hard but fundamental questions: Why are so many families forced to rely on what was a last-resort safety net? Why have Pritzker and the majority destroyed opportunity, driven out good careers, failed to educate our kids and forced so many families to rely on broken government programs, instead of helping them build lives of independence and prosperity? We should be lifting people out of poverty, not locking them in it. We should be creating jobs and driving growth, not exploding Medicaid rolls and taxing working families to fund it. We should be empowering people, not expanding bureaucracy. There are better paths forward. We need a budget that is truly balanced, offers property tax relief and includes no tax hikes. We need to reform the major drivers of government spending, restore honest budgeting and transparency, audit every program for its impact and efficiency, and refocus taxpayer dollars on results, not rhetoric. This debate isn't just about one budget line or one vote. It's about the kind of state Illinois has become and whether we still have time to change course. I believe we do. And we must because this is about whether my three kids and an entire generation of families will be able to build the lives of their dreams right here at home. We need to stop pretending that unlimited spending is a sign of compassion. It's not. It's a sign of failed leadership. Illinois doesn't need a bigger government. It needs a better one. State Rep. Regan Deering, R-Decatur, represents Illinois' 88th District.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
HGEA finalizes $41 million hazard pay settlement
Honolulu Mayor Rick Blan giardi's administration has finalized a multimillion-dollar settlement with the Hawaii Government Employees Association involving dangerous COVID-19-era work. To that end the City Council voted unanimously May 14 to authorize the city's request to settle approximately $41.4 million in claims for temporary hazard pay for HGEA's affected employees and members for essential government services performed during the pandemic. HGEA—the state's largest public-sector union, representing nine bargaining units within the city and county alone, including Ocean Safety Department lifeguards—will see its THP payout cover the period from March 5, 2020, to March 5, 2022. The mayor's office confirmed that the terms of the agreement include $15, 000 payments for those HGEA employees who filed hazard pay claims on or before March 18, 2022, and $7, 500 payments for those employees who did not file claims. 'HGEA members provided core services to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic, as did members from other unions across the city's workforce, ' Ian Scheuring, the mayor's deputy communications director, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. 'As essential workers, and pursuant to their collective bargaining agreement, HGEA members have certain rights to hazard pay.' 'We appreciate the patience of our HGEA employees while the details of the settlement agreement were being finalized, and we appreciate the services that they provided the public during the pandemic, ' he added. HGEA, the last of three major government employee unions on Oahu to receive THP moneys, declined to comment on the settlement. In March the Council voted to authorize and resolve THP claims for affected employees and members of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers and United Public Workers of Hawaii who worked during the pandemic. Claims for both unions—estimated to cost the city roughly $76 million—covered the period March 5, 2020, through March 5, 2022, the city said. City officials had set aside about $115 million to settle hazard pay claims and grievances arising from the pandemic. Previously, city Managing Director Mike Formby told the Star-Advertiser the city would consider 'temporary hazard pay for the city firefighters and employees of Oahu Transit Services—TheBus and TheHandi-Van.' He noted those payments will require 'THP appropriations ' in the city's fiscal year 2026 budget, which is under Council consideration for possible approval by June. This week Scheuring said 'that in the interest of fairness for all of our city employees who worked during the pandemic that we are going to try to work out settlements with the firefighters and our transit operators.' 'So that is still very much on the table, ' he added. 'Now that we've gotten the hazard pay agreements done with the unions for whom it was contractually obligated, our attention will turn to THP agreements with those other unions.' However, Scheuring explained, 'That entire process is still pending.' The Council's latest vote comes after both the city administration and Council pledged to repay eligible, unionized city workers employed during the pandemic THP in order to avoid legal entanglements. Hawaii's government worker unions, including HGEA, UPW and SHOPO, pressured the state and its four major counties to pay back their respective memberships for pandemic-era work. In 2024, UPW Local 646—among other city unions—worked to gain COVID-19-related hazard pay from the city for its membership via arbitration. On July 30, arbitrator and former Hawaii Supreme Court Justice Simeon R. Acoba Jr. issued a decision on UPW's hazard pay grievance against the city. According to UPW documents filed in August with the 1st Circuit Court, the union will receive a hazard pay differential of 15 % for the designated two-year period. Originally, UPW sought a 25 % pay differential based on individual workers' minimum pay grades, UPW spokesperson Maleko McDonnell previously told the Star-Advertiser. And with nearly 37, 000 members statewide, HGEA received a THP settlement for nearly 1, 300 former and current Hawaii County employees in March. The union's Big Island workers were granted a 15 % hazard pay differential for work performed during the same two-year time frame, a union news release asserts.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Estate planning: Weber State launches no-cost, online tool to help everyone create a will
You've likely heard that there are only two certainties in life. One is taxes. You know the other. Still, many are ignoring their own mortality — at least when it comes to estate planning. Fewer than a third of Americans report having a will, according to the 2024 Wills and Estate Planning Study from Procrastination is usually to blame for many not engaging in estate planning. Would-be planners just 'haven't gotten around to it,' according to the study. Other common 'No will/No trust for me' responses: 'I don't have enough assets to leave to anyone.' 'I don't know how to get a will or a living trust.' 'It is too expensive to set up.' 'It takes too long or is too complicated to set up.' Weber State University's development office hopes to steer around such common roadblocks to creating a will with its recently launched online estate planning tool. The Wills Planner tool is available to all — and it's free. WSU development coordinator Angie Anderson said the accessible, no-cost estate planning tool aims to lessen the challenges that families often face following the death of a loved one. 'We all hate having to think about it, but we want our families to be taken care of,' Anderson said. 'So we want to give everybody the opportunity to put some thought into how they want their legacies to be remembered.' The online estate planning tool is designed to make crafting a will as simple as possible. Site visitors can first download a free estate planning guide and then watch a series of brief tutorial videos with instructions on getting started, selecting individuals to help manage end-of-life legal and health care decisions, and how to select an estate plan that identifies people and charities that one might wish to have as beneficiaries. Users can then set up an account and begin the registration process. Users of the Weber State online tool have the option to name Weber State as a beneficiary in the document — but there's no obligation. 'We're really focused on empowering people to take that first step to plan for their future and their families,' Anderson said. 'Weber wants to make that as easy as possible.' Users of the tool can also work with WSU's development office for additional assistance. The office works with an experienced advisory council made up of financial advisers, attorneys and other experts, according to WSU. The pandemic triggered an uptick in Americans' preoccupation with their health and, yes, their mortality. So it's little surprise that there was a COVID-19-era surge in wills and trusts. But when the pandemic eased, Americans apparently focused attention on other matters. But the realities surrounding the need for careful estate planning remain. Experts say almost everyone should have an estate plan — but it's absolutely vital for anyone with children or people who own a home. People who die without a will, according to a USA Today report, 'can leave a thicket of probate problems' for loved ones. 'If you are 19, if you are 99 — everybody needs a will,' said Erin Smith, director of estate planning at Edelman Financial Engines, a financial planning and investment advisory company. Older Americans are more likely to have wills. Yet, even many of them don't have one. According to 43% of adults over 55 had wills in 2024 — down from 46% in 2023 and 48% in 2020. Many financial advisers recommend that Americans should have a will as part of a larger estate plan that dictates not just what happens to one's assets after death, but also who will manage one's affairs in an emergency while still living, USA Today reported. Someone who dies without a will might leave big questions unanswered: Who cares for a child? Who gets the family home? And some assets are tricky to divide among multiple heirs. 'People with children should probably have a will. People with minor children should probably have a will, just to determine who will take care of them,' Gal Wettstein, a senior research economist at the Center for Retirement Research, told USA Today. In a will or trust, a person instructs how to distribute property and other assets upon their death. When someone dies without a will, the local courts take over. Anyone with a comparatively simple estate — say, a spouse, a couple of children and a modest list of assets — might assume they don't need a will. But probate laws vary, and it can be hard to predict who gets what. In Utah, if a resident dies without a will, the probate court will appoint a personal representative to take care of the estate of the decedent, according to SmartAsset. The court then follows intestate succession laws to determine who inherits your property and how much of it they get. Aside from traditional estate planning such as wills, it's also essential to have a plan for one's digital assets — including passwords that unlock bank statements, social media accounts, digital photographs, video game assets and perhaps cryptocurrency. As noted recently in the Deseret News: If you don't plan how to pass that on before you die, it's going to pass along with you. Begin the process by giving your digital assets 'their own afterlife.' Here's a few tips from estate planning experts Gerry W. Beyer and Kerri G. Nipp: Make tangible media backups. Put important digital materials on a thumb drive or copy them to a CD or DVD. Take inventory of assets — including account details, usernames, passwords and instructions for handling the accounts in case of disability or death. 'Store this inventory carefully, considering options like a trusted person, encryption, a safety deposit box or an online password storage service,' they said. Consider storing photos and videos on a website that multiple family members or friends can access immediately. Wills should state whether the fiduciary has access to digital assets. Consider putting digital assets in a revocable trust, 'which may not become part of the public record and is easier to amend than a will.' You don't want to redo paperwork with every password change. There are online afterlife companies that can help plan for digital assets. There are also businesses that will manage one's passwords securely so they only have to keep track of one. Guard that one carefully.
