The Daily Money: Americans' purchasing power recovers as wage growth outpaces inflation
Good morning! It's Daniel de Visé with your Daily Money.
If it feels like your paycheck is going further than it has in the past couple of years, it's not your imagination.
This week's inflation report is expected to reveal further progress in slowing consumer price increases that have strained U.S. households since early 2021, Paul Davidson reports.
Economists estimate that the annual inflation figure, due out Thursday, will show a rise of 3.2% in December, compared to 3.1% in the prior month. That's still well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal.
But by another yardstick – purchasing power – households recently have returned to their pre-inflation financial health, according to some studies.
Coming soon: more drone deliveries, new AI tech
Shopping at Walmart and Sam's Club is about to get easier, Bailey Schulz reports.
Walmart on Tuesday unveiled several new and upcoming offerings that aim to improve the customer experience, from generative AI-powered search tools to technology that will do away with the receipt check lines at Sam's Club.
“We build technology to serve people, and not the other way around,” Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon said in a news release. “Walmart’s purpose is to help people live better and, today, more than ever, advances in technology make it feel like anything is possible.”
McMillon took the stage Tuesday afternoon at the CES consumer technology convention in Las Vegas to highlight the company's latest innovations.
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"Beer Mint" sounds like an oxymoron: You take mints to camouflage beer breath.
Nonetheless, Miller Lite is rolling out Beer Mints, Mike Snider reports.
Billed as having "the same great taste as Miller Lite, only without the beer," the new mints ($5 for a tin of 40) go on sale online at millerlitebeermints.com on Jan. 12. A second Beer Mint drop is planned for Jan. 19.
Beer Mints are nonalcoholic, which invites another question: What, exactly, is the point?
Company officials explain: They are being marketed as support for those undertaking Dry January, a month of alcohol abstention.
About The Daily Money
Each weekday, The Daily Money delivers the best consumer news from Paste BN. We break down financial news and provide the TLDR version: how decisions by the Federal Reserve, government and companies impact you.