Supply chain risks

16 Business Report underscores fears inflation has spread beyond energy and goods, whose prices are driven up by supply chain issues and Ukraine war. Associated Press , News Partner Posted Replies WASHINGTON — The prices of gas, food and most other goods and services jumped in May, raising inflation to a new four-decade high and giving American households no respite from rising costs. Consumer prices surged 8.6 percent last month from a year earlier, faster than April's year-over-year increase of 8.3 percent, the Labor Department said Friday. The new inflation figure, the highest since 1981, will heighten pressure on the Federal Reserve to continue raising interest rates aggressively. On a month-to-month basis, prices jumped 1 percent from April to May, much faster than the 0.3 percent increase from March to April. Contributing to that surge were much higher prices for everything from airline tickets to restaurant meals to new and … [Read more...] about Inflation Hits New 40-Year High As Price Increases Spread

4 Business The central bank raised it's key interest rate by three-quarters of a point, part of a campaign to tighten credit and slow inflation. Associated Press , News Partner Posted Replies WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve on Wednesday intensified its drive to tame high inflation by raising its key interest rate by three-quarters of a point — its largest hike in nearly three decades — and signaling more large rate increases to come that would raise the risk of another recession. The move the Fed announced after its latest policy meeting will raise its benchmark short-term rate, which affects many consumer and business loans, to a range of 1.5 percent to 1.75 percent. With the additional rate hikes they foresee, the policymakers expect their key rate to reach a range of 3.25 percent to 3.5 percent by year's end — the highest level since 2008 — meaning that most forms of borrowing will become sharply more expensive. The central … [Read more...] about Fed Attacks Inflation With Highest Rate Hike Since 1994

To better control the price and size of its chickens, Costco decided to wean itself off major poultry producers and build its own supply network in the Midwest, where the company created an entire infrastructure from scratch. It was a half-billion-dollar gamble that some worried would hurt the warehouse club's reputation, even as it kept the company supplied with millions of chickens that Costco roasts in-house and sells at a loss to attract new members and more foot traffic. Last year, not even 24 months into its poultry experiment, Costco was the target of an undercover investigation by Mercy for Animals, which showed a Nebraska barn crowded with birds, some with open sores, sitting in their own feces because they were too top-heavy to walk. The investigation led to a Nicholas Kristof opinion piece in The New York Times. It also led to news stories in Nebraska, where Costco built a $450 million poultry complex in Fremont, as well as a petition to urge the company to adopt better … [Read more...] about Costco violates animal welfare laws to sell $4.99 chicken, suit says