The government said Feb. 3 that employers added a sizzling 517,000 jobs last month and that the unemployment rate dipped to 3.4%, the lowest level since 1969.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge eased further in December, and consumer spending fell — the latest evidence that the Fed’s series of interest rate hikes are slowing the economy.

The pandemic-era surge in shipping costs was a “smoking gun” that foretold the global inflation spike, and the sharp drop in maritime-freight expenses since peaking last year will contribute to an easing in price pressures.

NEW YORK — Americans cut back on spending in December, the second consecutive month they’ve done so.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen welcomed the most recent U.S. inflation figures, saying some of the most important price pressures over the past two years had begun to decline significantly.

WASHINGTON — Rising U.S. consumer prices moderated again in December, bolstering hopes that inflation’s grip on the economy will continue to ease this year and possibly require less drastic action by the Federal Reserve to control it.

Inflation in the United States slowed again in November in the latest sign that price increases are cooling despite the pressures they continue to inflict on American households.

The Federal Reserve will push rates higher than previously expected and keep them there for an extended period, Chair Jerome Powell said Nov. 30 in remarks likely intended to underscore the Fed’s focus on combating inflation.

The U.S. job market remains healthy as fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, despite the Federal Reserve’s rapid interest rate hikes this year intended to bring down inflation and tighten the labor market.

Prices at the wholesale level rose 8% in October from a year ago, the fourth straight decline and the latest sign that inflation pressures in the United States are easing from painfully high levels.