CNN – Business/Consumer

By Anna Cooban, CNN Business Russia is burning an estimated $10 million worth of natural gas a day near its border with Finland, analysts say, even as it threatens to push Europe into a winter energy crisis by restricting exports to Germany and other countries. State gas giant Gazprom is burning off, or “flaring,” about

By Alicia Wallace, CNN Business The Federal Reserve’s favored inflation indicator showed that prices took a breather last month as fuel costs continued to fall from record highs. The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index rose by 6.3% for the year ended in July, down from the 40-year high of 6.8% reported in June, according to

Martha C. White Inflation talk is expected to dominate the Federal Reserve’s annual summer gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which kicked off Thursday evening. Wall Street will be closely watching the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium — which returned to an in-person format after two years of being held virtually — searching for clues about where

By Julia Horowitz, CNN Business The big event for investors on Friday is in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will speak about the economy at a gathering of central bankers. Wall Street will be hanging on to Powell’s every word for clues about just how big the Fed’s next rate hike

By Parija Kavilanz, CNN Business We love our pets, but their shedding? Not so much. Pesky pet hair and dander loves to cling on to clothes and it often turns into a bigger mess when it’s run through a regular laundry machine. Household appliances maker Maytag says it has a solution to this long-standing pet

By Tara Subramaniam, CNN Business The leader of Papua New Guinea has appointed what are believed to be the world’s first ministers for coffee and palm oil. Prime Minister James Marape, sworn in this month after an election marred by violence, delays and allegations of fraud, announced on Tuesday a new cabinet that would include

By Matt McFarland, CNN Business This month, Tesla fans rushed to defend the automaker after a prominent critic released a video showing one of the company’s cars with the feature it calls “full self-driving” plowing into child-size mannequins. Some fans built or bought mannequins and child-size dummies to use in their own tests. Others asked

By Paul R. La Monica, CNN Business Dollar stores, as their name suggests, offer inexpensive products for bargain-hungry shoppers. But even Dollar General and Dollar Tree, which have thrived this year as rampant inflation has helped boost sales, are starting to feel the pinch of a slowing economy. Dollar General and Dollar Tree both reported

By Chris Isidore, CNN Business People hoping to get their holiday shopping delivered on time could be caught in the middle of a growing battle between FedEx and thousands of contractors who deliver most FedEx packages. Many of the contractors used by the company’s FedEx Ground division say they are losing money, even as revenue

By Anna Bahney, CNN Business Mortgage rates jumped higher this week as investors tried to make sense of data that gave mixed signals about the health of the US economy. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.55% in the week ending August 25, up from 5.13% the week before, according to Freddie Mac. That is significantly

By Matt Egan, CNN Business The pandemic continues to cast a shadow over the workforce. Long Covid, a combination of symptoms that emerge months or even years after recovering from the virus, is keeping up to 4 million Americans from working, according to a new study. The Brookings Institution report, released Wednesday, finds that about

By Julia Horowitz, CNN Business When consumers were stuck inside during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, there weren’t many places to spend money. So they turned their attention to technology, scooping up new gaming consoles, monitors and PCs that made living and working from home a bit easier. Now, as people return to

By Alicia Wallace, CNN Business The US economy shrank at a slightly slower rate than estimated during the second quarter, according to updated data released Thursday by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis. The nation’s gross domestic product — the broadest measure of economic activity — shrank 0.6% at an annualized rate from April through