The financial news that actually matters
Millions of Medicare beneficiaries could see their standard Part B monthly premium jump from $202.90 to $218.60 by 2027, a projected increase of roughly $15.70 per month. That estimate comes directly from the 2025 Medicare Trustees Report, published on June 18, 2025, by the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid…
Starting June 9, federal bank regulators will no longer be allowed to push banks into closing customer accounts because of a person’s political beliefs, religious views, or constitutionally protected speech. The joint rule from the FDIC and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency was published in the Federal Register on April 10, 2026,…
Three sectors carried the entire weight of U.S. job creation in May 2026. Total nonfarm payrolls grew by 172,000, but leisure and hospitality, health care, and local government together accounted for 160,000 of those positions, leaving the rest of the economy essentially flat. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3 percent, raising questions about whether…
American workers saw their paychecks grow by 12 cents an hour in May 2026, pushing average hourly earnings to $37.53 on private nonfarm payrolls. That 0.3% monthly increase left year-over-year wage growth at 3.4%, a pace that looks solid in isolation but falls short of the rate at which consumer prices have been climbing. The…
American workers and employers received the same signal for the third consecutive month: the job market is holding steady but not improving. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the official unemployment rate stood at 4.3 percent in May 2026, unchanged from March and April. That flat line raises a pointed question about whether…
Travelers stuck on the tarmac or stranded at the gate after a domestic flight delay of three hours or more now hold a concrete financial right: an automatic cash refund for the full fare, taxes, and ancillary fees if they choose not to fly. Airlines cannot swap in a voucher or travel credit unless the…
U.S. banks and credit unions that want to send real-time payments across borders through FedNow face a narrow window to shape the rules. The Federal Reserve Board published a proposed rewrite of Regulation J on April 10, 2026, that would allow FedNow participants to route transfers through intermediaries, such as correspondent banks, for the international…
FICO made its UltraFICO score available to lenders on May 20, 2026, adding checking and savings account activity to the traditional credit scoring formula. The new model, built with data connectivity from Plaid, lets banks factor in deposits, withdrawals, and transfers when evaluating borrowers. FICO says more than 75 percent of consumers with sound financial…
Home sellers across the United States are slashing asking prices at a rate not seen in recent cycles, with more than a third of active listings now reflecting a price cut and the national median listing price falling 2.2% compared to a year earlier. The shift, documented in Realtor.com’s latest monthly housing report, signals that…
Starting June 9, federal banking regulators will be barred from pressuring banks to shut down customer accounts based on political beliefs, religious views, or constitutionally protected speech. The joint final rule from the FDIC and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency eliminates “reputation risk” as a supervisory tool, stripping examiners of the leverage…