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wholesAle inflAtion slows down
Wholesale inflation in U.S. further slowed in November to
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Christopher Rugaber –The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Wholesale prices in the United States rose 7.4% in November from a year earlier, a fifth straight slowdown and a hopeful sign that inflation pressures across the economy are continuing to cool.
The latest year-over-year figure was down from 8% in October and from a recent peak of 11.7% in March. On a monthly basis, the government said Friday that its producer price index, which measures costs before they reach consumers, rose 0.3% from October to November for the third straight month.
Still, a measure of “core” producer prices, which exclude volatile food and energy costs, accelerated, rising 0.4% from October to November. The core figure had risen just 0.1% from September to October. Looked at over the past 12 months, though, core producer prices were up 6.2% in November, less than the 6.7% in October.
The latest figures reflect an ongoing shift in inflation from goods to services. The cost of goods rose just 0.1% from October to November, with wholesale gas prices tumbling 6%. (Food prices were an exception: They jumped 3.3% last month, fueled by costlier vegetables, eggs and chicken.)
By contrast, services prices rose more, up 0.4%, led mostly by more expensive financial services. The wholesale cost of airfares and hotel rooms both fell, though, and overall services prices have slowed in the past three months.
“Overall inflation is moving in the right direction, though at a slow pace,” PNC Financial Services Group said in research note. “The Federal Reserve’s monetary policy tightening plans will remain aggressive until clear, consistent signs of inflation’s demise have been demonstrated.”
Rising prices are still straining Americans’ finances, particularly for food, rent and services such as haircuts, medical care and restaurant meals. Yet several emerging trends have combined to slow inflation from the four-decade peak it reached during the summer. Gas prices have tumbled after topping out at $5 a gallon in June. Nationally, they averaged $3.33 a gallon Thursday, according to AAA, just below their average a year ago.
And the supply chain snarls that caused chronic transportation delays and shortages of many goods, from patio furniture to curtains, are unraveling. U.S. ports have cleared the backlog of ships that earlier this year took weeks to unload. And the cost of shipping a cargo container from Asia has fallen sharply back to pre-pandemic levels. As a result, the prices of long-lasting goods, from used cars and furniture to appliances and certain electronics, are easing. Friday’s producer price data
In fact, captures inflation at an early stage of production and can often signal where consumer Rising prices are still straining Americans’ finances, particularly for food, rent and services such as haircuts, medical care and restaurant meals. prices are headed. Next week, the government will report its highest-profile inflation figure, the consumer price index. The most recent CPI report, for October, showed a moderation in inflation, with prices up 7.7% from a year earlier. Though still high, that was lowest year-over-year figure since January. Fed Chair Jerome Powell, in a speech last week, pointed to the decline in goods prices as an encouraging sign. Powell suggested that housing costs, including rent, which have been a major driver of inflation, should also start to slow next year. The Fed chair also signaled that the central bank will likely raise its benchmark interest rate by a smaller increment when it meets next week. Investors foresee a half-point Fed hike, after four straight three-quarter-point increases.
U.S. sanctions firms for human RIGHTS ABUSES
By Fatima Hussein – The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department said Friday it is imposing sanctions on a broad array of people and companies around the world for corruption and human rights abuses — from illegal fishing operations in Chinese waters to kickbacks in Guatemala — in recognition of International AntiCorruption Day.
Those sanctioned include the 15-member Russian elections commission, which oversaw a sham referendum in Russia-occupied Ukraine in September, a group of companies and people linked to illegal fishing operations and human rights abuses in Chinese waters and a church founder in the Philippines charged with sex trafficking.
Other people and firms from Iran, the Western Balkans, Liberia and El Salvador were also among those identified by the U.S. federal government for financial penalties and blocks on property located or managed in the U.S.
The wide-sweeping sanctions announcement comes on the day that the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, and aligns with Biden administration officials’ participation in the International Anti-Corruption Conference this week. The conference lineup includes speeches by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, White House National Security adviser Jake Sullivan and other officials who endorsed various anti-corruption efforts domestically and worldwide.
The sanctions targets announced Friday include a group of companies accused of illegal fishing and worker abuse in Chinese waters. One company, Dalian Ocean Fishing Co. Ltd., maintained working conditions so dangerous that five workers died after 13 months at sea, with three of the workers’ bodies dumped into the ocean rather than repatriated to their homes.
A senior department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the U.S. action, said on a call with reporters that Dalian employs crew members who work an average of 18 hours a day, live off expired food and drink dirty water. Illegal unreported fishing is associated with distant water fishing, where boats fish in other countries’ or international waters. China’s distant water fishing fleet is the largest in the world. Additionally, three politicians from Guatemala, including Allan Estuardo Rodriguez Reyes, the country’s former president of the Congress, face sanctions for alleged corruption and using political influence to get kickbacks and other favors.
And in Russia, several presidential administration officials and the country’s elections commission will be blocked from the U.S. financial system. A U.S. Treasury statement says that for years the Kremlin’s elections commission has touted “clean and transparent elections in Russia that have been riddled with irregularities and credible accusations that the Kremlin has carefully managed the results.”
The sanctioned people and companies’ property
The Treasury Department says it’s sanctioning a group of companies and people linked to illegal fishing operations and human rights abuses in Chinese waters. >AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File and interests in the U.S. will be blocked and American companies that do business with the sanctioned entities will have to wind down their ties with them. The administration uses a Trump-era executive order that implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act as its authority to issue the sanctions.
In fact, “Over the past year, Treasury has made combatting corruption and serious human rights abuse a top priority,” said Treasury’s Under The Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence sanctioned people Brian Nelson in a statement. “By exposing the and companies’ egregious behavior of these actors, we can help property and disrupt their activities, dismantle their networks, interests in the U.S. and starve them of resources.” will be blocked. Treasury is pursuing more anti-corruption efforts in the future, by soon creating a database that will contain personal information on the owners of at least 32 million U.S. businesses as part of an effort to combat illicit finance. Sullivan said at the anti-corruption conference earlier this week that the administration supports the ENABLERS Act, which would expand the definition of the Bank Secrecy Act — and would require accountants, lawyers and other professionals to conduct due diligence checks on their clients’ money, to ensure it doesn’t derive from money laundering. Right now the Bank Secrecy Act only applies to financial institutions. “We encourage Congress to enact it into law as soon as possible,” he said.
