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☆ You may hate high interest rates and home prices, but many boomers have reason to celebrate
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | Andy Kiersz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

High home prices and interest rates have created many challenges for young Americans. These trends have been driven by the combination of high home prices and interest rates. By pushing up the number of renters, high home prices help keep young Americans' rent prices high. For young Americans, there's not a whole lot to like about high interest rates. Elevated rates not only contribute to the high mortgage rates that have helped make homeownership so expensive but also make credit-card debt all the more costly.

Persons: —, boomers, Xers, there's Organizations: Service, National Association of Realtors, Atlanta Fed, Federal, Federal Reserve, New, Boomers, US, Treasury Locations: Wall, Silicon, New York

☆ 10 signs the US economy may struggle in the next year
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Madison Hoff | Noah Sheidlower | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

By raising interest rates, the Fed "wants us to buy fewer cars. There are signs that a drop in savings could be making it harder for Americans' to keep up with paying off debt. Long-term interest rates rising for non-economic reasonsLong-term interest rates are on the rise, even though economic data on the whole is improving. Higher-interest payments for the US governmentSløk also noted higher interest payments for the US government as another downside risk to the outlook. Projections published by the Congressional Budget Office show increasing estimates for the upcoming decades for federal interest payments as a share of GDP.

Persons: Torsten Sløk, Sløk, Paul Krugman, Persis Yu, Jan Hatzius, Goldman Sachs, Hatzius, it's, , you've, Andy Kiersz, That's, Brent Organizations: Service, Apollo Global Management, NYU Stern School of Business, Federal Reserve, San, San Francisco Fed, Student, Protection, CNBC, New York Fed, Banking, West Texas, Labor Statistics, US, Fitch, Congressional Locations: Wall, Silicon, San Francisco, China, Japan, Europe, Germany

☆ The 30 highest-paying jobs in New York State
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Pediatric surgeon was the highest-paying job in New York, based on May 2022 data. Similarly to our published list of the highest-paying jobs in the US, medical occupations loom large on the list focused on New York. With the average for all occupations in the state being $74,870, all 30 of the highest-paying jobs in the state had averages well above that. AdvertisementAdvertisementBelow are the highest-paying jobs in New York. We included each jobs' average annual salaries and the number of people employed in each job in New York State from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Persons: Dermatologists, Andy Kiersz Organizations: Empire State, Pilots, Service, Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS, New York Locations: Empire, New York, Wall, Silicon, New York State

☆ 34 high-paying jobs for people who don't like stress
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

O*NET scores job characteristics like stress tolerance on a scale from 0 to 100, where a 0 means stress tolerance is not at all necessary for an occupation, and 100 suggests a job with a very high-stress environment. We ranked occupations from most to least stressful using O*NET's stress tolerance score, with lower scores indicating less stressful jobs. For instance, postsecondary economics teachers had a stress tolerance score of 63 and had an average annual wage of $122,750. This job had a stress tolerance score of 51 and an average annual wage of $77,310. For instance, a few high-paying occupations had a stress tolerance score of 68, such as geoscientists and postsecondary mathematical science teachers.

Persons: Andy Kiersz Organizations: Service, Bureau of Labor Statistics Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ Businesses are scrambling for tips right now because they don't want to raise wages in case of a recession
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Firms don't want to raise wages because they're worried about a recession, so you pay workers instead. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. And now, businesses are trying to avoid making the larger wages those tips have augmented their responsibility, as the economy cools. Jonathan Morduch — a professor of public policy and economics at New York University — told the Wall Street Journal that as businesses prepare for a potential recession, "they don't want to lock into higher wages." "Businesses are happy to let workers earn more from tips, especially when there's no pressure to raise the tipped minimum," Morduch told the Wall Street Journal.

Persons: you've, they're, It's, Scheherezade Rehman, Jonathan Morduch —, New York University —, Andy Kiersz, Jacob Zinkula, Laurence Kotlikoff, what's, Morduch Organizations: Service, George Washington University, Wall Street, New York University, Boston University Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ 'Skiplagging' to save money on plane tickets is only possible because airlines are breaking one of the basic laws of geometry
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Andy Kiersz | Taylor Rains | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

That means buying cheaper tickets with a layover in their actual destination city instead of a direct flight. This only works because air fares violate the "triangle inequality," one of the basic laws of geometry. One of the most basic laws of geometry is something called the "triangle inequality." But that clearly is not always the case, and that violation of the triangle inequality is what makes skiplagging possible. If airlines want to fight skiplagging, a good first start would be making airfares into a geometrically-accurate metric.

Persons: skiplagging, Brian Hayes Organizations: Flyers Locations: layover, New York, Amsterdam, London

☆ The Fed just paused on raising interest rates. Here's what it means for jobs, prices, and your bank account this summer.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Bartie Scott | Andy Kiersz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The Federal Reserve announced Wednesday that it would not raise interest rates this month. It's important to note that a one-time pause doesn't mean interest rates won't rise any more at future meetings, but the committee signaled that an end is in sight. The decision included a projection of two more 25 basis point rate hikes before the end of the year. Critics of the Fed's aggressive rate hikes over the last year have said they risk putting Americans out of work by squeezing businesses. The Fed needs to slow down on these extreme rate hikes and remember its dual mandate of price stability and maximum employment.

Persons: —, Jerome Powell, Noah Sheidlower, Jobs, Massachusetts Sen, Elizabeth Warren, Powell, it's, Joe Brusuelas, Brusuelas, Kathy Gramling, Marta Norton, Norton Organizations: Federal Reserve, Service, Fed, Capital Economics, Food, RSM, EY, Morningstar Wealth's America, Silicon Valley Bank, First, FDIC Locations: Massachusetts, EY Americas, Silicon, First Republic

☆ Pay raises just caught up with inflation for the first time in 2 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Bartie Scott | Andy Kiersz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

For two years, inflation has outpaced wage growth and economic mobility stalled for many US workers. Now, however, while wage growth has been slowing over the last several months, inflation has been coming down even faster. Of course, this is just one month of real wage growth after two years of average pay lagging behind rising prices. Looking closer at what's draining Americans' wallets the most could give an indication of who will benefit more from real wage growth. The slowdown in inflation comes as the Fed weighs its next move in its fight against rising prices.

Persons: —, they're, That's Organizations: Service, Bureau of Labor Statistics

☆ West Coast unemployment is the worst in the US as tech firms slash headcount
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Andy Kiersz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

California, Oregon, and Washington were all in the top 10 states with the highest unemployment rates in April. The West Coast has borne the brunt of tech layoffs in recent months. California's 4.5% rate, Washington's 4.3%, and Oregon's 4.0% were all well above the national unemployment rate of 3.5% that month. Nevada came in with the highest unemployment rate in April at 5.4%. Still, the rest of the year will show whether or not the recent wave of tech layoffs spreads to the broader economy and leads to a long-awaited recession.

Persons: — Organizations: Service, Bureau of Labor Statistics Locations: California, Oregon, Washington, West, San Francisco, Seattle, California's, Nevada, Texas, New York

☆ The US labor market is still red-hot, adding 339,000 jobs in May
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Madison Hoff | Andy Kiersz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The unemployment rate climbed to 3.7% in May, according to the jobs report on Friday. This monthly job growth came in far above the forecast of 180,000. Job openings data for April was released by the BLS on Wednesday. Data from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed that after a few months of job openings consecutively falling, there was an uptick from March to April. The number of layoffs and discharges fell by 264,000 from March to April to 1.6 million, according to the latest JOLTS report.

Persons: —, Daniel Zhao, Glassdoor's, Nick Bunker, Nela Richardson Organizations: Service, payrolls, Labor Statistics, BLS, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Reserve, Labor, Bank of America Institute, Bank of America

Some popular big cities are losing residents, US Postal Service change-of-address requests indicate. Requests made in 2023 also show that smaller spots outside big cities have tended to gain residents. Smaller spots outside larger urban hubs, meanwhile, are attracting more residents than they're losing. Many people move over the summer to avoid pulling kids out of school midyear, so end-of-year change-of-address data may shed light on other patterns. Also, bigger cities are more likely to both lose and gain people because of their larger populations; the USPS doesn't adjust its numbers according to population.

☆ Why are you suddenly being asked to tip more? It could be because workers are getting more expensive.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | Andy Kiersz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

More and more businesses are asking customers to tip. It's driven in part by the spread of digital payment technologies that include prompts to tip workers. Workers are getting more expensive, and tips help cover the costBusinesses relying on tips to help pay their workers is far from a new phenomenon — particularly in the restaurant industry. One potential reason service businesses are warming up to tipping is that they're under particular pressure to keep labor costs in check. In recent years, many service businesses have struggled to attract workers and been forced to raise pay considerably as a result.

☆ Blue-collar workers could save the US from recession as the tech industry withers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Andy Kiersz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

After a pandemic-era tech jobs boom — and now bust — more and more Americans are returning to blue-collar work for better pay and more security. As AI stands poised to potentially remake white-collar work, blue-collar work may emerge even more resilient. The Biden administration has been devoted to turning that around, pouring billions into projects devoted to bringing manufacturing jobs back stateside. And another key to the puzzle is treating blue-collar work with respect, like any other work — including high-paying tech jobs. Are you thinking of taking the plunge into blue-collar work, or have you already?

While remote workers are hitting the green on weekday afternoons, productivity isn't dropping. That's good news for leisure businesses and shows remote work has changed people's work structures. While some companies have called employees back to the office, Bloom doesn't think remote work is going anywhere. All those remote workers hitting the green doesn't necessarily mean people are working less. This will raise 'Golf productivity' — the number of golf courses played (and revenue raised) per course."

☆ The unemployment rate is at its lowest since 1969
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Andy Kiersz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The US added over half a million jobs and unemployment fell in January, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate is now at its lowest since 1969, easing fears of a potential downturn. Indeed, hiring was booming so much that the unemployment rate fell to 3.4%. That's the lowest rate since 1969. That's right: The US hasn't seen an unemployment rate this low since the moon landing.

☆ An Apple a day could keep the layoffs away
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

For many tech workers, however, this Lunar New Year was tainted with layoff anxiety. Apple is the only Big Tech company that hasn't conducted sweeping layoffs recently. Apple has long been a lone wolf among its Big Tech peers. The chart above shows how more tech workers were laid off in January 2023 than during the first half of 2022 combined. Read four of the memos in full here, from Google Chrome, Google Cloud, Google UK, and its Europe, the Middle East, and Africa offices.

☆ Companies raising prices to get ahead of skyrocketing costs was one of the biggest drivers of surging inflation, a new study shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Over the past two years, soaring inflation has hit Americans in their wallets. Some pointed to soaring inflation as a byproduct of corporate greed, as firms took advantage of the economic environment to rake in record profits. Even across industries that had "very different relative demand and inflation rates" throughout 2021, markup growth remained pretty much the same. Throughout 2021, companies saw their profits soar, pocketing their highest margins since December 1950. They added that "this suggests that the source of high markup growth in recent years was not a steady increase in monopoly power."

☆ First-time homebuyers are pretty much screwed in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | Andy Kiersz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Starter homes are typically more affordable houses that are purchased by new home buyers. Their absence has made it difficult for many first-time buyers to afford homeownership. The stark indicator only illustrates that starter homes are vanishing from the US real-estate market. Starter homes are typically smaller, more affordable houses that are purchased by first-time buyers or those on a tight budget. With higher home prices, mortgage rates and property taxes, as well as a possible recession looming in 2023 — that could trigger mass job losses — the odds are stacked against many would-be first-time buyers.

No one won the last Mega Millions drawing, sending its jackpot soaring to $1.35 billion. It's the second-largest prize in Mega Millions history. The Mega Millions jackpot is estimated at $1.35 billion, the second-highest Mega Millions top prize ever recorded. The next drawing for the jackpot is scheduled for Friday, January 13, according to the Mega Millions website. Still, some research suggests that lottery winners do tend to end up happier than others.

☆ The US is heading for a 'swamp' recession which could mire the economy in a disappointing and slow recovery
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Kelly told Insider the recovery may be considered "tepid" given it will be a "mild improvement in things." David Kelly, chief global strategist for JPMorgan Asset Management, called it a "'swamp' recession" in a note, suggesting the "economy would likely struggle to get out of" what is potentially a mild recession. It's like standing on the edge of a swamp," Kelly told Insider. "The problem this time around is two-fold," Kelly told Insider. In short, Kelly told Insider that a modest recovery from a shallow recession could be viewed as "tepid" as it will be a "mild improvement in things."

☆ 36 high-paying jobs for people who don't like stress
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

One of the characteristics measured is stress tolerance, which O*NET describes as jobs requiring "accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations." O*NET scores job characteristics like stress tolerance on a scale from 0 to 100, where a 0 means stress tolerance is not at all necessary for an occupation, and 100 suggests a job with a very high-stress environment. We ranked occupations from most to least stressful using O*NET's stress tolerance score, with lower scores indicating less stressful jobs. The above jobs were ranked from most to least stressful. In the case of a tied stress tolerance score, we ranked by average annual wages.

The number of working Americans aged 80 or over — such President Joe Biden — has risen from 1980. As seen in the above chart, 5.16% of Americans aged 80 and over had a job in 2022 as of October. Although the share of Americans age 80 and over with a job has tumbled some from it's high in 2018 per Insider's analysis, there are still plenty of older workers working past typical retirement age. And that's evidenced by poverty rates among older Americans standing higher than a decade ago as of 2021. However, not all older Americans want to keep working as they get older and will exit the labor force.

☆ Elon Musk has used Twitter once per hour on average since buying the company
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Travis Clark | Andy Kiersz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Musk has tweeted, retweeted, or replied on average once per hour since buying Twitter. The chart below shows that his total Twitter actions since the acquisition appear to exceed his total actions in the weeks before. Musk tweeted 65 times from October 6 through October 26; 105 times from October 27 through November 16. Overall: In total, he made 316 total Twitter actions in the three weeks before the purchase; 502 total actions since. His total replies since the purchase even exceeded his total Twitter actions from before.

☆ Democrats could defuse the GOP's biggest fiscal threat next year by raising the debt ceiling to a ludicrously high number
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Andy Kiersz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US is currently set to hit the federal debt ceiling once again next year. Historically, raising the debt ceiling was a fairly uncontroversial move taken by Congress every couple years as needed. Before the midterms, Republicans were already suggesting that they would use the upcoming debt ceiling fight to push for spending cuts, according to the Washington Post. They could repeal the debt ceiling outright, although that is unlikely given Biden and other prominent Democrats like Sen. Bernie Sanders have ruled that out. If one wanted to be patriotic, the new debt ceiling could be $7.41776, commemorating the date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

☆ Amazon founder Jeff Bezos pledged to donate the majority of his wealth to charity. Here's how he currently spends his $122 billion fortune, from giant underground clocks to space exploration.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Hannah Towey | Katie Canales | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Jeff Bezos has amassed a $122 billion fortune since founding Amazon in 1994, per Bloomberg. Bezos stepped down as Amazon CEO in mid-2021 after seeing a pandemic-era surge in wealth. He recently announced plans to donate the majority of his fortune to various charities. Billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has become one of the wealthiest and most recognizable figures in the tech world. In November, Bezos announced plans to donate the majority of his fortune to charity, a commitment he had until recently shied away from.

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