Federal Reserve governor Lael Brainard’s speech reaffirmed that the central bank largely sees its climate change role as part of its oversight of financial firms.

Minutes of the Fed’s latest policy meeting showed expectations of an economic pickup but also an acknowledgment of persistent pandemic risks.

U.S. shoppers boosted spending by 5.3% in January, the first increase in four months, buoyed by recent virus-related stimulus payments.

Child poverty is higher in the U.S. than in most advanced countries. President Biden and Sen. Mitt Romney propose reducing it by significantly expanding the child tax credit, which effectively would make the credit a near-universal basic income for children.

U.S. retail sales, after falling in each of the final three months of 2020, are expected to have turned around in January.

Early signs point to an uptick in consumer spending at the start of the year, particularly by lower- and middle-income households receiving Covid-19 relief payments.

The decision to maintain the status quo came despite intense lobbying by the U.S. restaurant and beverage industries that are already reeling from the pandemic.

The decline was driven by downbeat expectations among lower-income households.

The stress test will feature a scenario in which markets seize up and unemployment jumps above 10%.

Federal deficits are projected to soar over the next decade, but not as much as officials forecast last summer as economy revives, the nonpartisan agency says.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell 19,000 to 793,000 last week, the Labor Department said, a sign the labor market is mending from a steep slowdown.

Upbeat projections are buoyed by vaccinations and the stimulus outlook, though fears of virus variants are rising.