MoneyWatch

A Texas mother of a toddler, scraping by on her husband’s income, was desperate to return to work but struggling to afford child care. A young Florida warehouse worker had barely left behind a turbulent past of homelessness and abuse only to be mired in debt. When both women learned …

Inflation continued to wallop Americans in September, with a key measure of price increases hitting a 40-year high last month, the Labor Department reported on Thursday.  Core inflation, which tracks average price increases except for volatile food and energy costs, rose 6.6% over the past 12 months — its highest …

A former Seattle tech worker convicted of several charges related to a massive hack of Capital One bank and other companies in 2019 was sentenced Tuesday to time served and five years of probation. U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik said sentencing former Amazon software engineer Paige Thompson to time …

U.S. consumers grew more confident for the second month in a row as gas prices continued to fall. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose to 108 in September, from 103.6 in August. The back-to-back monthly increases follow three straight monthly declines as American households were …

AMC Entertainment shares are plunging after rival movie theater chain Cineworld warned that it might file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  AMC, the world’s largest movie theater chain, joined the ranks of so-called meme stocks last year as retail investors bet on a turnaround and drove its stock up more than …

Two crashes involving Teslas apparently running on Autopilot are drawing scrutiny from federal regulators and point to a potential new hazard on U.S. freeways: The partially automated vehicles may not stop for motorcycles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent investigation teams to two crashes last month in which Teslas …

Rivian laid off more than 800 workers this week in a move aimed at helping speed the struggling electric truck maker toward profitability.  Company founder and CEO R.J. Scaringe sent an email earlier this month to staff announcing the layoffs, and workers were officially let go on Thursday, the company …

Temperatures are spiking across the U.S. and Europe, leaving individuals looking for ways to stay cool. As uncomfortable as humans are during heat waves, the portable electronic devices we rely on are even more susceptible to breaking down and malfunctioning when it gets too hot outside. Smartphone devices like Apple’s iPhone …

Facing rising costs of goods and services and slowing wage growth, many Americans are struggling to stretch their dollars far enough to cover basic needs.  If you’ve already culled streaming subscriptions and pared down other expenses, there are simple ways to spend less with subtle behavioral changes around the home, …

Individual retirement accounts, or IRAs, are the dominant retirement account in America today. Nearly 4 in 10 Americans have one, and, as of last year, these accounts held $13.5 trillion in total assets, according to Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.  But those would-be retirees …