Money in the News
Trending and breaking stories with a financial angle. This category covers the headlines that affect people’s wallets, from government policy shifts and cost of living changes to corporate upheaval and the financial side of technology. This is what keeps The Money Overview current with the broader news cycle.
Latest in Money in the News
Sugar and sweets are forecast to cost 6.6 percent more this year, the USDA says
Sugar and sweets, the grocery category covering candy, baking sugar and similar items, are forecast to cost 6.6 percent more in 2026 than in 2025,...
Grocery prices are forecast to rise 1.8 percent in 2027, the USDA predicts
Grocery prices, what the Department of Agriculture calls food-at-home, are forecast to rise 1.8 percent in 2027, a deceleration from the 2.4 percent increase the...
Food stamps lifted 3.1 million Americans out of poverty in 2025, Census figures show
Three million one hundred thousand people would have counted as poor last year if food-stamp benefits were left out of the poverty calculation, according to...
Starbucks is closing about 250 North American coffeehouses in a second round of cuts
About 250 Starbucks coffeehouses across North America are closing this week, roughly 1 percent of the company’s more than 18,000 locations in the region, Chief...
Imported upholstered furniture keeps a 25% tariff until January 1, when Trump’s delayed increase is scheduled to start
A 25% tariff on imported upholstered furniture, in place since September 2025, is scheduled to rise to 30% on January 1, 2027, after President Trump...
Senators press the Trump administration to release heating aid before November 1
Two senators from opposite parties are pushing the Trump administration to release winter heating aid before a legal deadline requires it, for different reasons and...
Trump moves to cancel $810 million Congress approved by letting the money expire September 30
A rarely used budget maneuver called a pocket rescission is set to let $810 million in money Congress already approved lapse on September 30, the...
Medical care prices rose 1.6 percent in the year to August, while drug and medical-supply prices fell 2.7 percent
Doctor visits and hospital stays kept getting more expensive over the year to August even as prescription drugs and other medical supplies got cheaper, based...
Trump’s Energy Department commits $1.9 billion to grid projects it says will lower power costs for 100 million Americans
Chris Wright’s Energy Department is committing $1.9 billion to 31 electrical-grid projects across 26 states, funding the agency says could strengthen an aging transmission network...
Out-of-pocket medical bills pushed 7.7 million Americans into poverty in 2025, more than payroll or income taxes did
Medical bills pushed more Americans into poverty last year than either of the two largest taxes withheld from a paycheck, according to the Census Bureau’s...
Trump’s mileage rollback, due Monday, is estimated to save $930 per new vehicle while drivers burn $185 billion more in fuel through 2050
Buying a new vehicle could get $930 cheaper once a federal fuel-economy rollback set to be finalized Monday takes effect, but drivers as a group...
Medicaid spending climbed $47 billion this fiscal year to $655 billion, CBO says
Eleven months into the federal fiscal year, Medicaid has already cost $655 billion, up $47 billion, or 8 percent, from the same stretch a year...
Social Security spending rose $78 billion and Medicare $73 billion in 11 months, CBO says
Two of the federal government’s largest recurring costs grew at different speeds through the first 11 months of fiscal year 2026. Social Security outlays reached...
Interest on the national debt jumped $111 billion this fiscal year, CBO says
Net interest payments on the federal government’s public debt climbed to $1,052 billion over the first 11 months of fiscal year 2026, up $111 billion,...
Trump’s tariff revenue fell $17 billion in August from a year earlier as refunds reached about $110 billion, CBO says
Customs duty collections dropped $17 billion in August 2026 compared with the same month a year earlier, a 59 percent decline, as the federal government...
Los Angeles County’s sales tax rises to 10.25 percent on October 1, up from 9.75 percent
Sales tax across Los Angeles County ticks up to 10.25 percent on October 1, 2026, a half-point increase from the current 9.75 percent rate, under...
Only 60 percent of employers now cover weight-loss drugs for obesity, down from 72 percent
Employer coverage of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs for obesity has fallen to 60 percent, down from 72 percent a year earlier, according to Business Group on...
Nearly half of large employers plan to raise workers’ deductibles or copays in 2027, Mercer finds
Nearly half of the country’s largest employers, 48 percent, plan to raise workers’ deductibles or copays for 2027, according to survey findings Mercer released June...
About one in six U.S. households is behind on utility bills, with utility debt nearing $23 billion before winter
About one in six U.S. households is behind on its utility bills heading into winter, with residential utility debt nationwide nearing $23 billion, according to...
The 2027 federal pay plan gives the lowest enlisted ranks a 7% raise
The largest single percentage in President Trump’s 2027 pay plan belongs to the troops earning the least. Service members in the lowest enlisted grades, E-1...