Despite U.S.-Iran peace talks failing over the weekend, financial markets rose today. But we’re still feeling the push and pull of Mideast tensions in job creation and bank earnings. We’ll tell you about it below. Also, Mark Zuckerberg has a meeting solution, and if you’ve put off your taxes, read on. But first, why are eggs and butter cheaper while tomatoes cost 22% more than a year ago? My colleagueÂ
Kristin Schwab explains. — Carrie Barber, newsletter editor
| | |
|
|
|
 |
Joe Raedle/Getty Images | Grocery inflation slowed in March. That doesn't mean your cart is cheaper. |
While eggs are down nearly 45%, tariffs and supply chain pressures are pushing some produce prices higher. |
Inflation jumped in March — 0.9% from the month before and 3.3% year-over-year, according to the latest consumer price index. Energy prices were largely to blame for overall price growth.
One category that bucked the trend and saw a little inflation slowdown is an important one: food at home. Grocery inflation came in at 1.9% year-over-year.
“If you think back to what was happening
a year ago, really remember then we had the wake of avian flu,” he said.
The good news is egg farms fared better this winter, which has egg prices down nearly 45% year-over-year, according to the March CPI. Other categories that saw some relief include butter and cheese.
Despite those drops, groceries were still up 1.9%.
“All of this conversation about inflation still involves prices going up, just slower than they might otherwise be or had been,” said Hamory.
It means there are categories rising enough to more than make up for the lower price of eggs. Take tomatoes, which cost 22% more than they did a year ago.
“There’s little question that tomatoes is sort of a case study in the ongoing impact of the current administration's tariffs,” said Ricky Volpe, an agriculture economist at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. | | | |
|
|
|
|
Let’s do the numbers Stock markets rallied today even though peace talks over the weekend failed to end the Iran war. The S&P 500 rose 1%, the Dow added 0.6%, and the Nasdaq climbed 1.2%. -
A barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, settled at $99.36; the national average for a gallon of regular gas was $4.12.
- Goldman Sachs profits rose nearly 20% in the first quarter compared to a year ago. It’s the first of the big banks to report earnings this week, and we’ll be looking at how the Iran war is creeping into results.
Nearly all of the 369,000 jobs created since the start of Trump’s second term have gone to women, the Department of Labor found. Where are the men? Apparently not interested in health care jobs traditionally held by women.
Government
The Iran war is mostly hurting the U.S. economic growth and the labor market, but a few industries expect to add jobs, experts told us; oil drilling and defense contractors are a few of them. Taxes |
| |
|
|
|
QUOTE OF THE DAY | “For a lot of people my age, I think the goal is to go to a country like Vietnam and invest and work. I see that as such an amazing opportunity for the country.” |
— Tommy Nguyen, 25, son of Vietnamese immigrants |
|
Nguyen worked in Vietnam for a year, but now he’s helping his aging parents at their bánh mì sandwich shops in Southern California’s Little Saigon. Thousands of Vietnamese refugees settled there in the 1970s and ’80s, and the Orange County neighborhood now boasts the largest Vietnamese population outside of the country itself. While many immigrant business owners have aged out of the workforce, their children are forging new ties with the country their parents fled. It’s part of our continuing series “The Age of Work.” |
| |
|
|
|
 |
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images | Final note |
Another way to face time |
|
| | |
|
|
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this newsletter, forward it to a friend. If this newsletter was forwarded to you, subscribe to Marketplace newsletters here.
 Got feedback for us? Just reply to this email. We can't get back to everyone, but we read it all. | |
|
| | |
|
|
|
