Layoffs at white-collar companies are starting to rise. Now the question hanging over the economy in 2023 is whether that trend spreads to blue-collar industries as interest rates bite. A new wave of tech layoffs signals how executives are pivoting from a growth-above-all mindset to protecting their bottom line.

U.S. inflation eased to 6.5 percent in December compared with a year earlier, marking the sixth straight monthly deceleration since a mid-2022 peak. The consumer-price index, a measurement of what consumers pay for goods and services, rose at its slowest pace since October 2021, the Labor Department announced Thursday. 

Prices were lower last month for dozens of products including airline tickets, chicken, and shoes, providing some modest relief to Americans who faced historically high inflation in 2022.

The Treasury Department reported this week that the federal government ran a budget deficit of $85 billion in December 2022, a significant increase from the $21 billion deficit it ran in December 2021.

An annual survey carried out by the World Economic Forum shows policy makers, industry leaders and experts on risk expect high inflation and pressure on energy and food prices to persist and pose the most serious of a growing list of risks to global stability in 2025.

There are four big risks when it comes to bringing down inflation: geopolitics, domestic politics, demographics, and the Fed.

The World Bank sharply lowered its growth forecast for the global economy this year as persistently high inflation has elevated the risk for a worldwide recession.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank must avoid straying into political issues (like climate) that aren’t directly related to its economic-management objectives to protect its ability to bring down inflation without interference from elected officials.