Yellen: U.S. can lower inflation, protect jobs
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said U.S. inflation can come down without requiring a weakening in the historically strong job market.
“I don't see any reason why unemployment needs to rise to bring inflation down,” Yellen said Thursday. There's no evidence that the labor market is so hot that wage pressures are a source of inflation, she said, assessing that jobs data are “in line with” a continuing downward move in inflation.
Yellen played down Thursday's data showing a slowdown in economic growth, saying that “peculiar” elements like foreign trade and inventories had depressed the headline increase. The economy continues to fire on all cylinders, she said.
The biggest component of the increases in consumer prices has been housing costs, and “I have no doubt” that the contribution from this component will be falling over the coming year, Yellen said.
Rents have “stabilized and in some cases fallen,” in a shift that will be incorporated into the shelter component of the consumer price index, Yellen said.
Ring customers getting refunds in $5.6 million privacy settlement
The Federal Trade Commission is sending more than $5.6 million in refunds to consumers as part of a settlement with Amazon-owned Ring, which was charged with failing to protect private video footage from outside access.
In a 2023 complaint, the FTC accused the doorbell camera and home security provider of allowing its employees and contractors to access customers' private videos. Ring allegedly used such footage to train algorithms without consent.
Ring was also charged with failing to implement key security protections, which enabled hackers to take control of customers' accounts, cameras and videos. This led to “egregious violations of users' privacy,” the FTC noted.
According to a Tuesday notice, the FTC is sending 117,044 PayPal payments to impacted consumers who had certain types of Ring devices — including indoor cameras — during the timeframes that the regulators allege unauthorized access took place.
Many U.S. adults over 50 don't expect to retire, survey says
More than one-quarter of U.S. adults over age 50 say they expect to never retire and 70% are concerned about prices rising faster than their income, an AARP survey finds.
About 1 in 4 have no retirement savings, according to research released Wednesday by the organization that shows how a graying America is worrying more and more about how to make ends meet even as economists and policymakers say the U.S. economy has all but achieved a soft landing after two years of record inflation.
Everyday expenses and housing costs, including rent and mortgage payments, are the biggest reasons why people are unable to save for retirement.
The data will matter this election year as Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican rival Donald Trump are trying to win support from older Americans, who traditionally turn out in high numbers, with their policy proposals.
The AARP's study, based on interviews completed with more than 8,000 people in coordination with the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, finds that onethird of older adults carry a credit card balance of more than $10,000 and 12% have a balance of $20,000 or more. Additionally, 37% are worried about meeting basic living costs such as food and housing.
Judge tosses duplex law for California's charter cities
A Los Angeles County judge found that charter cities aren't subject to Senate Bill 9, the 2021 “duplex” law that allows up to four homes to be built on a lot in single-family neighborhoods.
The law fails to accomplish its stated purpose of creating more affordable housing, and therefore, doesn't meet the high bar of overriding local control over zoning, Superior Court Judge Curtis Kin said in a ruling released Wednesday, April 24.
SB 9 “is neither reasonably related to its stated concern of ensuring access to affordable housing nor narrowly tailored to avoid interference with local government,” Kin wrote.
The ruling applies only to the state's 121 charter cities, not to more than 400 “general law” cities and counties operating without their own charters.