The financial news that actually matters
PayPal is preparing to shed roughly 4,760 jobs over the next two to three years. Upwork, the freelance-work marketplace, already eliminated about 24% of its workforce in what the company’s SEC filing describes as a restructuring plan adopted in May 2026. Both companies pointed to artificial intelligence as a driving force, and both made their…
The U.S. economy added 115,000 jobs in April 2026 and the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on May 8. The gain topped most forecasts, especially given the drag from higher energy prices. Tensions between the United States and Iran that escalated earlier in 2026 have disrupted oil…
A pound of steak has never cost more at the American grocery store. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the average retail price for uncooked beef steaks at $12.74 per pound in February 2026, the highest reading in the agency’s decades-long tracking series. March held almost flat at $12.73. Ground beef, the cut millions of…
In the spring of 2022, filling up the family car went from routine expense to budget emergency. Between January and mid-May of that year, the national average price of gasoline jumped from roughly $3.30 per gallon to $4.56, according to AAA’s daily tracking data. For a household burning about 41 gallons of fuel a month,…
The S&P 500 pulled back from its all-time high at 7,337 — and more than half the year’s gains came from just five stocks. The S&P 500 hit 7,337 on an intraday basis in mid-May 2026, marking a fresh peak before sellers stepped in and dragged it lower by the close. The retreat was small….
A nurse shortage that never ended may be the only thing keeping the U.S. jobs market from looking outright weak. The private sector added 109,000 positions in April 2026, comfortably beating the 97,000 that economists had projected and snapping back from a sluggish March. But strip out healthcare and its adjacent services and the picture…
Bitcoin surged past $81,000 in the first week of May 2026, touching $81,423 during Asian trading hours on May 4 and reclaiming a level it hadn’t seen since January 31. The rally didn’t come out of nowhere. Across April, U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds absorbed a net $2.44 billion in fresh capital, according to daily…
Not long ago, a saver willing to open an online account could earn close to 4.75% APY on plain, FDIC-insured cash. That was late 2025, when Bankrate’s weekly survey of top nationally available accounts showed leading offers clustered near that mark. By late May 2026, the best widely available high-yield savings rates have slipped to…
A household carrying $6,600 in credit card debt at today’s average interest rate will hand roughly $1,386 to its card issuer this year and owe every dollar of the original balance when January rolls around. That single number captures the trap that tens of millions of Americans are stuck in as of mid-2025: high balances…
About 7.5 million federal student loan borrowers are still technically enrolled in the SAVE repayment plan, a plan the U.S. Department of Education now calls “unlawful” and has moved to kill. Starting July 1, 2026, loan servicers will begin mailing notices that force a decision: choose a new repayment plan within 90 days of receiving…