Category: Cost of Living
-
New HUD rent ceilings take effect October 1 in 2,606 areas, 466 of them lower than last year
On October 1, a single HUD notice resets the rent figure that decides how far housing-voucher assistance stretches across 2,606 communities nationwide, and in 466 of them, that figure is about to fall. The Department of Housing and Urban Development published its annual Fair Market Rent update on September 1, and the number attached to…
-
Abbott will pay nearly $385 million over formula bought through WIC and Medicaid
A nearly $385 million civil settlement puts a household-name infant-formula maker at the center of a federal spending case involving products bought through WIC, Medicaid and other government programs. The money will go to federal and state governments, not directly to shoppers. The distinction matters because the agreement resolves allegations about taxpayer-funded purchases without creating…
-
Government funding runs out December 11, a month after the midterms
The federal government will keep running past its usual September 30 funding deadline after Congress passed, and President Trump signed, a short-term spending law that carries agencies through December 11. Lawmakers timed the bill so the next funding fight lands roughly a month after the November midterm elections rather than before them. The measure passed…
-
The Census Bureau releases the 2025 income and poverty numbers Tuesday morning
The U.S. Census Bureau will publish its 2025 income, poverty and health insurance figures this Tuesday morning, September 15, opening the release with a live public webinar at 10 a.m. Eastern. The report comes from the Current Population Survey’s Annual Social and Economic Supplement, the same annual survey that produces the nation’s official poverty rate…
-
A family of four can earn $61,050 and still qualify for WIC this year
A household of four can bring in as much as $61,050 a year and still qualify for WIC under the income guidelines now in effect. That’s the number the USDA published for the period running from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, and it surprises a lot of families who assume WIC is only…
-
Canada’s new tariffs hit American appliances, dairy and electronics, covering $27.6 billion of goods
Canada’s counter-tariffs on American goods took effect this month, and the list reads like a cross-section of everyday manufacturing and grocery-aisle staples. The Canadian government says the new tariffs mirror, dollar for dollar, a tariff the United States imposed on Canadian goods weeks earlier. For businesses on both sides of the border that sell into…
-
AT&T is charging $10 more a line on retired unlimited plans, showing up on August bills
AT&T customers who never switched off an older unlimited plan are seeing a new line item on their bill this month. The change, spelled out on AT&T’s own support site, adds a flat monthly charge to a set of retired wireless plans, with the amount depending on how many lines share the account. Customers who…
-
Dental prices fell in August while hospital and prescription prices did not move at all
Dental care got cheaper in August while the price of a hospital stay, a doctor’s visit, or a prescription barely moved at all, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Consumer Price Index. The overall medical care index fell 0.2 percent for the month — a rare monthly decline — even though medical costs…
-
Used cars cost 2.3 percent less than a year ago even after two months of increases
Used car prices rose for a second straight month in August, but they are still cheaper than they were a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Consumer Price Index. The used vehicle index climbed 0.4 percent in July and another 0.4 percent in August, seasonally adjusted, yet remains 2.3 percent below…
-
Grocery shoppers are paying 3.7 percent more for coffee and soda, the fastest-rising food category
Grocery shoppers paid the most extra for coffee and soda this year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Consumer Price Index, even as the overall grocery bill barely moved in August. Nonalcoholic beverages — the category that covers coffee, soda, and juice — rose 3.7 percent over the twelve months ending in August,…