https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its November jobs report on Dec. 16, which details economic indicators like payroll numbers and the unemployment rate. The Federal Reserve uses the report to help set monetary policy, like influencing interest rates, while industry uses the report to inform business decisions like strategic planning, capital equipment spending, and hiring and layoffs. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-november-jobs-workers-economy-qa.html Economics & Business Fri, 19 Dec 2025 05:04:28 EST news685343042 What's the point of monetary policy? https://phys.org/news/2025-12-mortgages-loans-built-fed-dual.html Economics & Business Tue, 09 Dec 2025 01:00:01 EST news684421123 In 2013, the US Department of Justice quietly launched a program called Operation Choke Point. Its aim was to pressure some banks into cutting ties with businesses that, while legal, were deemed risky from a social or reputational standpoint. Included in the operation were payday lenders, firearm and ammunition dealers, tobacco vendors, online gambling sites, and even escort services. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-washington-starve-industries-loans.html Economics & Business Mon, 29 Sep 2025 09:21:04 EDT news678356461 Republican-leaning economists tend to predict stronger economic growth when a Republican is president than Democrats do—and because of this partisan optimism, their forecasts end up being less accurate. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-professional-economists-political-bias.html Economics & Business Mon, 15 Sep 2025 12:33:04 EDT news677158382 American families are struggling to keep up with their bills. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-financial-stress-uncertain.html Economics & Business Wed, 07 May 2025 14:00:03 EDT news665841292 When U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sweeping new tariffs on imported goods on April 2, 2025—upending global trade and sending markets into a tailspin—he presented the move as a response to a crisis. In an executive order released the same day, the White House said the move was necessary to address "the national emergency posed by the large and persistent trade deficit." https://phys.org/news/2025-04-deficit-isnt-emergency-america-strength.html Economics & Business Mon, 07 Apr 2025 13:09:06 EDT news663250142 A new paper by Harvard economists David Deming and Lawrence H. Summers offers early evidence of artificial intelligence shaking up the workforce. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-ai-labor-trends-major.html Economics & Business Mon, 17 Feb 2025 11:57:05 EST news659015821 In the years after the Great Recession, banks chose to keep some $420 billion in their reserves rather than loan it out to American people and businesses. While many tend to blame the banks themselves for that decision, one Wall Streeter-turned-academic is pointing the finger squarely at the Federal Reserve's decision to pay interest on banks' excess reserves. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-americans-lost-420b-bank-loans.html Economics & Business Tue, 14 Jan 2025 15:29:17 EST news656090953 Say "inflation" these days and the minds of most Americans jump to steep grocery bills and high interest rates. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-americans-inflation-traction-positive-economic.html Economics & Business Fri, 21 Jun 2024 11:10:12 EDT news638187004 Almost 20 percent of adults in the United States were financially impacted by natural disasters last year, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday, marking a nearly 50-percent rise from 2022. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-natural-disasters-adults-fed.html Environment Tue, 21 May 2024 12:30:02 EDT news635512703 Jaguars don't understand borders, but where the United States meets Mexico, they are having to adapt to them. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-us-mexico-border-wall-threatening-rare.html Environment Fri, 15 Dec 2023 04:20:16 EST news621836412 Climate disasters are now costing the United States US$150 billion per year, and the economic harm is rising. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-fed-climate-150b-economic-toll.html Environment Thu, 30 Nov 2023 12:10:01 EST news620566655 Inflation is back with a vengeance. Prices of goods and services have risen at rates not seen since the 1980s, slamming households, small businesses, corporations, and governments at all levels. But new research coauthored by Berkeley Haas Associate Professor Yaniv Konchitchki finds that most corporations that face significant risk from inflation have failed to disclose it, causing trillions of dollars in shareholder stock price loss damages thus far and threatening major additional losses for shareholders. https://phys.org/news/2023-04-sec-legal-requirements-investors-inflation.html Economics & Business Mon, 17 Apr 2023 16:51:51 EDT news600969086 New research conducted by the University of Houston Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership suggests the Black Lives Matter movement had a significant, positive impact on the fundraising efforts of Black restaurateurs. https://phys.org/news/2023-04-black-movement-significant-impact-entrepreneurs.html Social Sciences Thu, 06 Apr 2023 14:11:16 EDT news600009074 When assessing the quality of life of people around the world, economists have primarily focused on comparisons between countries, such as European nations vs. African nations vs. the United States. Metrics like per capita income, life expectancy and leisure are often used. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-economic-states-life.html Social Sciences Wed, 15 Mar 2023 13:25:04 EDT news598105501 Economic experts convened recently at Chicago Booth's second Economic Outlook 2023 event to discuss the global outlook for Asia as it heads into a post-pandemic world. The panel coincided with the full reopening of China's borders on Feb. 7, but questions remain about how the world's second-largest economy will recover from three years of isolation—and what it means for everyone else. https://phys.org/news/2023-02-asia-economies-post-pandemic-world.html Economics & Business Tue, 21 Feb 2023 11:16:03 EST news596200561 When the Federal Reserve convenes at the end of January 2023 to set interest rates, it will be guided by one key bit of data: the U.S. inflation rate. The problem is, that stat ignores a sizable chunk of the country—rural America. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-rural-americans-inflation-figures-faster.html Economics & Business Mon, 30 Jan 2023 13:09:14 EST news594306549 The year 2022 was a remarkable and historic time for the employment of people with disabilities. That's according to the National Trends in Disability Employment (nTIDE) 2022 Year-End Special Edition, issued by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire's Institute on Disability (UNH-IOD), based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Jobs Reports. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-employment-people-disabilities-outperforming-peers.html Social Sciences Mon, 23 Jan 2023 13:03:23 EST news593701393 In any other time, the jobs news that came down on Dec. 2, 2022, would be reason for cheer. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-opinion-jobs-wages-economist-gloomy.html Economics & Business Mon, 05 Dec 2022 13:40:01 EST news589466687 Americans are less likely to trust statements from the Federal Reserve about interest rates when a U.S. central bank official portrayed as a woman delivers the information as opposed to a man, according to our new study. https://phys.org/news/2022-11-men-dont-female-central-bankers.html Social Sciences Wed, 02 Nov 2022 12:21:04 EDT news586610462 Black households in the U.S. faced higher and more volatile inflation compared to white households from 2004 to 2020, reveals new research from the University of California San Diego's School of Global Policy and Strategy. The study, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, finds that Black families experienced slightly higher inflation and 13 percent more volatile inflation, which impacts prices on groceries and other household essentials. https://phys.org/news/2022-07-black-households-inflation.html Economics & Business Tue, 12 Jul 2022 03:53:40 EDT news576816815 The United States should immediately move to create a collection of strategic forest reserves in the Western U.S. to fight climate change and safeguard biodiversity, according to a scientific collaboration led by an Oregon State University ecologist. https://phys.org/news/2021-12-scientists-urge-strategic-forest-reserves.html Environment Tue, 14 Dec 2021 14:41:23 EST news558715279 Decisive action taken by monetary and fiscal policymakers mitigated the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. https://phys.org/news/2020-10-early-economic-action-response-pandemic.html Economics & Business Thu, 29 Oct 2020 09:19:58 EDT news523181995 Is living in the New York metropolitan area losing its appeal? It's entirely possible, say researchers at Florida Atlantic and Florida International universities who have studied more than 40 years of repeat home sales transactions. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-tepid-home-prices-waning-york.html Economics & Business Thu, 24 Sep 2020 08:56:09 EDT news520156568 From savings and job security to staying safe in the age of social distancing, there's a lot for consumers to worry about during the COVID-19 pandemic. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-consumer-evolving-covid-crisis.html Economics & Business Thu, 20 Aug 2020 08:13:46 EDT news517130024 Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers have determined that zero interest rates are more efficient than negative interest rates in terms of motivating individual investors to borrow money and take risks. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-negative-investors-risk-taking.html Economics & Business Mon, 08 Jun 2020 03:36:04 EDT news510806159 Supply chains collapse, companies are facing bankruptcy, and mass unemployment ensues. Covid-19 has triggered a global financial crisis and is forcing states to develop rescue packages on a scale not seen before. In addition, the crisis has called into question the US dollar's hegemony and could redefine the global monetary system. A team of researchers from the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) has developed four scenarios that show how political decisions will shape the post-Corona world. https://phys.org/news/2020-05-covid-affecting-global-economic.html Economics & Business Mon, 11 May 2020 13:00:10 EDT news508420785 With the COVID-19 pandemic wreaking havoc on the economy, we're all hoping for a quick recovery. https://phys.org/news/2020-04-economy-survive-pandemic.html Economics & Business Thu, 23 Apr 2020 08:10:01 EDT news506846771 Compared to what many others are predicting, a new presentation from prominent economist Christopher Thornberg delivers a more optimistic assessment of the long-term economic impacts that could result from the worldwide COVID-19 crisis. In the video presentation, released today by the UCR School of Business Center for Economic Forecasting and Development, Thornberg argues that many of the most dire predictions of economic armageddon are hyperbolic, although he acknowledges a number of serious wild card issues that could tip things downward. https://phys.org/news/2020-04-global-economic-outlook-optimistic-wild.html Economics & Business Tue, 21 Apr 2020 08:33:25 EDT news506676803 More than 2.1 million people around the world have become infected with COVID-19, and more than 140,000 people have died from the disease. The United States, now approaching 650,000 infections, is the new epicenter of the outbreak. https://phys.org/news/2020-04-covid-historic-economic-impact.html Economics & Business Fri, 17 Apr 2020 10:30:01 EDT news506336736