Jeffrey Sparshott

The U.S. economy is inching along, productivity is flagging and millions of Americans appear locked out of the labor market.One key factor intertwined with this loss of dynamism: The U.S. is creating startup businesses at historically low rates.

U.S. employers hired at a steady clip in November while the jobless rate fell to its lowest level in nine years, a broadly upbeat performance that could mask underlying soft spots in the labor market.

The cost to produce the 1-cent coin rose to 1.5 cents in the 2016 fiscal year—the latest in a string of losses for the most abundant but least valuable coin in circulation.

A jump in gasoline prices helped push inflation to its strongest monthly gain in almost four years in January, a sign of steadily rising price pressures that may support additional moves by the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this year.

Real Time Economics: Just How Tight Is the Labor Market?  The Wall Street Journal

The U.S. employment report for May caps a full week of economic data.

A look ahead to expected economic news this week, including U.S. and China consumer prices, plus the European Central Bank’s announcement on interest rates.

U.S. jobless claims, due at 8:30 a.m. ET, are expected to have fallen to 260,000 in the week ended Aug. 13 from 262,000 one week earlier. + The Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s manufacturing survey, also due at 8:30 a.m., is expected to have risen to minus 5 in August from minus 12.3 one

(The post below is from the Real Time Economics newsletter. Read the full newsletter here and sign up here.) American workers quit 4.2 million jobs in August, but on

Employers are offering more paid time off in a strong labor market. Employees are using it.