CNN – Business/Consumer

By Alicia Wallace, CNN (CNN) — Surging gas prices and sky-high mortgages and rent sent inflation rising more than expected in March, adding to Americans’ prolonged and painful battle with high costs. That could force the Federal Reserve to keep its punishing rates higher for longer. US consumer prices picked up again last month, vaulting to a 3.5% increase for the

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN New York (CNN) — Stamp prices are set to increase — again. The US Postal Service filed a notice with its regulators to increase prices on First-Class “Forever” stamps to 73 cents from 68 cents, marking yet another price hike for the financially beleaguered federal agency. If approved by the Postal

By Chris Isidore, CNN New York (CNN) — Delta Air Lines reported vastly improved earnings in the first quarter, and the company said results should remain strong the rest of the year. The Atlanta-based airline said its adjusted earnings came in at $380 million, or 45 cents a share, up from $217 million, up 75%

By Oliver Darcy, CNN New York (CNN) — Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here. CBS News is overhauling its streaming platform. The Tiffany Network’s news division announced Tuesday that it will invest more deeply into its digital offering, entirely rebranding

By Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN New York (CNN) — Progress on inflation is moving in the wrong direction. The latest Consumer Price Index, released Wednesday, showed that annual inflation ticked up to 3.5% in March from 3.2% in February. That marked the largest annual gain in half a year. Even though the current inflation rate is

By Brian Fung, CNN (CNN) — The next time you go shopping for a home or mobile internet plan, you’re going to see a new label lay out exactly what you can expect to pay, the typical download speeds you’ll get and information about the internet provider’s policies. That information will now be standardized across

By Juliana Liu, Manveena Suri and Wayne Chang, CNN Hong Kong (CNN) — Fitch downgraded its outlook on China’s credit rating on Tuesday, citing increasing risks to its finances as it faces economic challenges. Lowering its outlook from stable to negative does not automatically mean the ratings agency will downgrade China’s creditworthiness, but it increases

By Junko Ogura and Juliana Liu, CNN Tokyo/Hong Kong (CNN) — Once seen as America’s greatest economic challenger, Japan is now looking to team up with the world’s biggest economy by appealing directly to US executives to invest in the Asian country’s emerging tech sectors including artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors and clean energy. Speaking in

By Diksha Madhok and Wayne Chang, CNN (CNN) — China’s gaming giant NetEase will bring back the iconic “World of Warcraft” and other popular video games by Microsoft’s Blizzard Entertainment to the country, the companies said in a joint statement Wednesday. California-based Blizzard and Hangzhou-based NetEase had ceased their 15-year relationship in 2023 after an

By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN (CNN) — It’s been almost 15 years since there has been any major change to the popular Toyota 4Runner SUV, a fan favorite among off-road enthusiasts. But an all-new version is finally coming, and among the most notable changes is the addition of a hybrid option. The 4Runner shares a lot

By David Goldman, CNN New York (CNN) — For the first time in its 42-year history, more people watched the women’s NCAA basketball final than the men’s. The total number of viewers for Sunday’s women’s national championship game between South Carolina and Iowa was 18.9 million, peaking at 24.1 million in the game’s final 15

By Ramishah Maruf, CNN New York (CNN) — Jessica Alba is stepping down as chief creative officer at The Honest Company, the baby products and personal care business founded by the actress in 2012. In a statement Tuesday, the company said Alba’s move away from her position will allow her to “shift her creative energy

By John Towfighi, CNN New York (CNN) — Are you 65 or older and still working or looking for work? CNN wants to hear about your experience. Americans are working later into their life as uncertainty over retirement grows. Now, some financial titans like BlackRock’s Larry Fink say the US should rethink retirement altogether. We

By Heather Law and Julia Vargas Jones, CNN New York (CNN) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva indirectly called out Elon Musk on the climate crisis on Tuesday, further increasing tensions between the country’s leaders and the billionaire businessman. Speaking at a launch event for the Union with Municipalities to Reduce Deforestation and

By Parija Kavilanz and Sandee LaMotte, CNN New York (CNN) — The school cafeteria versions of popular kids’ grocery store snack kit Lunchables is packed with too much sodium, a consumer watchdog group warned on Tuesday. Lunchables developed two new versions of the snack kit specifically to be available nationally as part of school lunch

By Hadas Gold, CNN (CNN) — Five of the major US television networks have banded together to draft a letter urging President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump to commit to participating in televised debates ahead of the 2024 election. According to a draft of the letter shared with CNN, which is also a

By Gregory Wallace and Gabe Cohen, CNN (CNN) — Federal authorities say they’re investigating Boeing after a whistleblower repeatedly raised concerns with two widebody jet models, and claimed the company retaliated against him. Whistleblower Sam Salehpour, a Boeing engineer, alleges that Boeing took shortcuts when manufacturing its 777 and 787 Dreamliner jets, and that the

By John Towfighi, CNN New York (CNN) — From central banks to Costco customers, it seems everyone is buying gold these days. The price of spot gold reached $2,364 per ounce Tuesday after hitting record highs for seven straight sessions and trading at $2,336 per ounce Monday. Year on year, gold is up 16.5%. Investors

By Jack Guy, CNN London (CNN) — Scrabble, one of the world’s best-loved word games, is to get a new “collaborative” and “accessible” version. The game has been around for more than 75 years, entertaining and infuriating players in equal measure with the simple premise of competing to see who can make the highest scoring

By Jeanne Sahadi, CNN New York (CNN) — If you won big on bets you made for the March Madness men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments, enjoy the money. Just know that some chunk of it may need to go to the IRS, and possibly your state, too. And if you lost big, there’s a possible