CNN – Business/Consumer

By Parija Kavilanz, CNN Business Surging shopper demand coupled with shipping container shortages and bottlenecks at ports have already triggered tighter supply of products, from cars to shoes. In particular, some of America’s biggest sellers of clothing and shoes cite one catalyst that has compounded the pressure: factory closures in Vietnam stemming from a second

By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Business The holiday season isn’t looking so merry for Dena Fargo this year. Her best-selling toy, a multi-colored, smiling stuffed animal called Snowcone the Happy Unicorn, won’t make it to eager parents and kids this year. Fargo, who imports Snowcone from a manufacturer in China, paid $1,300 in May for 500

By Matt Egan Fitch Ratings warned Friday that the fight in Washington over raising the debt ceiling could force the firm to downgrade America’s AAA credit rating. “The failure of the latest efforts to suspend the U.S. federal government’s debt limit indicates that the current stand-off could be among the most protracted since 2013,” Fitch

By Anna Bahney, CNN Business The housing market has recently cooled from white hot to merely red hot. But it’s still a great time to get top dollar on a home, even one that needs a little work. Or one that is a charred shell of a house. That’s the case with a home outside

By Chris Isidore, CNN Business New car sales plunged over the last three months in the United States despite strong demand, as the shortage of computer chips and other supply chain issues caused shutdowns at auto factories and choked off the supply of vehicles. General Motors reported sales fell a third from a year-ago last

By Moira Ritter, CNN Business Low-wage workers are making “eye-popping” gains in their paychecks, according to Goldman Sachs. The bank told clients in a note Thursday that low-wage-worker pay rose 5.3% year-over-year in the second quarter. For the third quarter, the data isn’t complete yet, but preliminary readings are on pace for a three-decade high

Opinion by David M. Solomon and Kenneth Adams for CNN Business Perspectives America’s more than 30 million small businesses have been some of the hardest hit by the pandemic. They employ nearly half of our workforce, and yet they’re far less resourced and capitalized than they were just 18 months ago. And now, entrepreneurs from

By Anneken Tappe, CNN Business A key measure of inflation hit a new 30-year high in August, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday. The price index tracking consumer spending — the PCE price index — was up 4.3% over the 12 months ending in August. That was a faster pace than July’s 4.2%. Inflation

By Walé Azeez, CNN Business Worker shortages have left UK service stations empty, created gaps on supermarket shelves and are forcing farms to cull pigs. Even the finance industry is starting to suffer. The situation could get much worse this winter if the British government doesn’t relax its Brexit immigration rules, business leaders say. Farmers,

By Julia Horowitz, CNN Business Congress started the week with an urgent to-do list. It may have crossed off one item, but crucial issues concerning investors still haven’t been resolved. What’s happening: US President Joe Biden signed a stopgap funding bill Thursday night to avert a government shutdown. That’s good news. Yet lawmakers remain bitterly

By Hanna Ziady, CNN Business Inflation in Germany hit its highest level in nearly three decades last month, fueled by rising energy costs, supply chain bottlenecks and price hikes following the easing of pandemic lockdowns. German consumer prices increased 4.1% in September compared with a year earlier, the country’s federal statistics office said in a

By Chris Isidore, CNN Business Employer Covid-19 vaccine mandates have become increasingly common. So has public acceptance, but opposition to some of those rules remains strong. A series of recent survey questions show a clear majority is on board with various groups of workers, such as health care workers, government employees or teachers, being required