Inflation is slowing down. Consumer spending had remained strong for quite some time despite inflation that starting to soften a little bit retail sales fell in December which is notable because that's obviously the holiday shopping season. The federal reserve has also been making interest rates since March so that's almost a year now and that affects the housing market, how much it costs to borrow. So you know the S&P 500 is up this year but investors are really keeping a close eye on what the Fed does.
Wealthy companies like Google and Microsoft are announcing unprecedented layoffs — all while the economy is trending in the right direction. Vox’s Emily Stewart explains.
This episode was produced by Miles Bryan, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Paul Robert Mounsey, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram.
Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained
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