Consumer inflation remained persistently high last month, boosted by gas, rents, auto insurance and other item. That's according to a government report that will likely give pause to the Federal Reserve as it considers how many — or even whether — to cut interest rates this year. Prices outside the volatile food and energy categories rose 0.4% from February to March. Measured from a year earlier, these core prices are up 3.8%. Wednesday's figures represent a disappointment for the White House. Republican critics of President Joe Biden have sought to pin the blame for high prices on the president and use it as a cudgel to derail his reelection bid.

America's employers delivered another outpouring of jobs in March, adding a sizzling 303,000 workers and bolstering hopes that the economy can vanquish inflation without succumbing to a recession in the face of high interest rates. Last month's job growth was up from a revised 270,000 in February and was far above the 200,000 jobs that economists had forecast. The hiring gain reflected the economy's ability to withstand the pressure of high borrowing costs resulting from the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes. The unemployment rate dipped from 3.9% to 3.8%. The economy is sure to weigh on Americans' minds as the November presidential vote nears and they assess President Joe Biden's reelection bid.

U.S. marriages have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels with nearly 2.1 million in 2022. That's a 4% increase from the year before. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released new data. The COVID-19 pandemic threw many people's wedding plans into disarray. In 2020, there were 1.7 million weddings in the U.S. New York, the District of Columbia and Hawaii saw the largest increases in marriages from 2021 to 2022. The CDC says the number and rate of U.S. divorces in 2022 fell slightly, continuing a downward trend.

America's employers delivered another healthy month of hiring in February, adding a surprising 275,000 jobs and again showcasing the U.S. economy's resilience in the face of high interest rates. Last month's job growth marked an increase from a revised gain of 229,000 jobs in January. At the same time, the unemployment rate ticked up two-tenths of a point in February to 3.9%. Yet despite sharply lower inflation, a healthy job market and a record-high stock market, many Americans say they are unhappy with the state of the economy — a sentiment that is sure to weigh on President Joe Biden's bid for re-election.

Illinois is adding tens of thousands of people to its population total, and California is getting misplaced sailors on an aircraft carrier put in the right location. That's because the states successfully asked for a review of their 2020 census figures. New York City also appears to have gotten an additional 1,090 people added to its population total recently after asking the Census Bureau to double-check the city's numbers from the head count of every U.S. resident. The changes will be applied only to future annual population estimates and not to how many congressional seats each state was allotted, nor for the data used for redrawing political districts.

Higher energy and housing prices boosted overall U.S. inflation in December, a sign that the Federal Reserve's drive to slow inflation to its 2% target will likely remain a bumpy one. Overall prices rose 0.3% from November and 3.4% from 12 months earlier. Excluding volatile food and energy costs, though, so-called core prices rose just 0.3% month over month. Core prices were up 3.9% from a year earlier — the mildest such pace since May 2021. Economists pay particular attention to core prices because, by excluding costs that typically jump around from month to month, they are seen as a better guide to the likely path of inflation.