Clarisa Diaz

The highly anticipated inflation gauge is out. It shows that consumer prices in September rose 0.4% from the previous month, and 3.7% from a year ago, steady from the 3.7% increase posted in August, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data. The shelter index—mostly composed of rental costs—increased 7.2% over the last year. That accounted for 70% of all price increases minus food and energy, with gasoline also a major contributor to the rising inflation. The good news Th…

Wildfires are costing the US economy between $394 billion and $893 billion each year, according to a new report by Joint Economic Committee Democrats. The committee found the highest cost to the economy is loss of real estate value—with $337.5 billion going up in smoke in the last year—further pinching supply for those looking to become homeowners or seeking housing. Mitigating exposure to wildfire smoke is the next biggest cost at $202.5 billion per year. The report findings explore the downwin…

The first company to sign up for Google Ads was a lobster delivery company started from scratch by Dan Zawacki in Chicago with only $1,000 in 1989. The company now makes around $6 million in revenue with 26 employees. Initially a more affordable idea for gifting clients the crustaceous delicacy instead of wining and dining them during the 1980s, Lobster Gram was birthed right alongside the dot com boom to become one of the first mail order seafood and gourmet food businesses on the internet. Qua…

New applications for mortgages have fallen 6.9% from a week ago, a decrease in demand that hasn’t been seen since 1995, according to a survey released today (Oct. 18) by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The association keeps a weekly index tracking changes in mortgage applications. Applications for a 30-year conventional mortgage to purchase a home are 21% lower than the same week one year ago, showing that potential homebuyers are continuing to pull back and reassess their strategies for…

A total of nearly 6 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions were produced by 100 companies or entities in the US in 2020 alone, according to analysis from the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at University of Massachusetts Amherst. Over half a billion metric tons of those emissions were from facilities owned by ten companies, many of which supply electricity for utilities, including Vistra Energy, Duke Energy, Southern Company, and Berkshire Hathaway. The US government as an entity wa…

Olive oil prices have gone from bad to worse. Extreme heat, wildfires, and drought are cutting harvest yields for producers, prompting shortages—and higher prices. In May, the global price of olive oil reached a 26-year high. It’s since gained another 32%, setting an all-time record. Nearly $6,000 per metric ton in May, the global price now tops $9,000. Spain, the world’s largest exporter and importer of olive oil, has yielded only half what it normally would this year, thanks to extreme heat a…

Around 13% of 17 million US households were food insecure at some time during in 2022, according to a new report by the USDA. That means those households were unable to acquire enough food, or uncertain of being able to acquire it, because they had insufficient money or other resources. The number is 2.6% higher than in 2021, when 13.5 million households struggled with food security. The rise also comes as the US government pulls back on its food benefits for low-income households. Pandemic-er…

It makes the world go ’round Growing and selling wheat is a trade that has been around since the advent of farming thousands of years ago. Wheat is believed to have been initially grown in neolithic times as a way to provide sustenance for families, much like its purpose today, making it a strong culinary connector to our prehistoric roots. As long as there has been wheat, there has been bread. The oldest loaf likely dates back to 14,000 years ago, and there’s evidence that cured meat was eve…

It makes the world go ’round Growing and selling wheat is a trade that has been around since the advent of farming thousands of years ago. Wheat is believed to have been initially grown in neolithic times as a way to provide sustenance for families, much like its purpose today, making it a strong culinary connector to our prehistoric roots. As long as there has been wheat, there has been bread. The oldest loaf likely dates back to 14,000 years ago, and there’s evidence that cured meat was eve…

A new way to dye fabrics, yarns, and other materials could make the textile industry more sustainable and chemical-free. Fabric dyeing consumes 1.3 trillion gallons of water every year globally, the equivalent of two million Olympic-sized swimming pools. Synthetic dyes make up most of the pigments that color garments sold for mass fashion retail, amounting to billions of articles of clothing per year, but the dyes also contain harmful chemicals in addition to using up water resources. Over the…