Business

Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images (NEW YORK) — Consumer confidence plummeted in February, indicating worry about the direction of the U.S. economy under President Donald Trump. A gauge of consumer confidence registered its largest monthly drop since August 2021, the nonpartisan Conference Board said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the share of consumers who expect a recession within the next year surged […]

Adam Gault/Getty Images (NEW YORK) — Americans’ household debt — including credit cards, mortgages, auto loans and student loans — is at a new all-time high $18.04 trillion, according to a report released Thursday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Overall debt grew by $93 billion in the last three months of 2024 — and […]

(Anton Petrus/Getty Images) (NEW YORK) — While Elon Musk has vaulted into a powerful role overhauling government agencies and upending Washington, the world’s richest person has suffered a $106 billion drop in wealth due to steep decline in shares of his Tesla electric car company. Tesla’s stock price has plummeted 30% from its all-time high […]

Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images (NEW YORK) — Consumer prices rose 3% in January compared to a year ago, ticking up from the previous month and posing an obstacle for Trump administration tariff policies that many economists expect to raise some prices, government data on Wednesday showed. The inflation reading came in higher than […]

Chip Somodevilla/POOL/AFP via Getty Images (NEW YORK) — An Elon Musk ally hired to overhaul the U.S. Department of Treasury has a lengthy record of undertaking hardline reforms in the private sector that demoralized staff and made them fear for their jobs, according to interviews with several former employees at his tech firm. Tom Krause, […]

(Bundit Minramun/Getty Images) (NEW YORK) — Quiksilver, Billabong, and Volcom, known for their surf and skate products, are closing stores in the United States. The parent company of the brick-and-mortar stores, Liberated Brands, filed voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday, which will result in over 100 retail locations across the country being shuttered, according to […]

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images (WASHINGTON) — Housing prices are soaring twice as fast as overall inflation. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage topped 7% in January for the first time since last spring. Observers as disparate as J.P. Morgan and the left-leaning nonprofit Center for American Progress have declared a “housing affordability crisis.” The cost crunch could last longer or […]

Logan Cyrus/Bloomberg via Getty Images (WASHINGTON) — Autoworkers, farmers and alcohol distillers are among a set of U.S. workers who risk losing their jobs as a result of potential tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico, experts told ABC News. The U.S. president was expected to sign executive orders on Tuesday putting in place the 25% […]

lvcandy/Getty Images (NEW YORK) — The stock market fell on Monday after President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, eliciting threats of retaliation and setting the stage for a trade war. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid about 550 points, or 1.25%, in early trading on Monday. The S&P 500 dropped 1.5%, […]

(Westend61/Getty Images) (WASHINGTON) — Tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada that are set to take effect could hike the price of a gallon of gasoline for some drivers by as much as 70 cents and send grocery bills climbing, experts told ABC News. The Trump administration this week reiterated plans to slap 25% tariffs […]