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Good morning and happy Friday, Daily Money readers. Jayme Deerwester here. We’ve finally reached another rest interval in our 5:2 work-rest ratio routine.
Inflation is really starting to crimp Americans’ spending. In December, retail sales declined for the first time in five months, largely because of surging prices, bare store shelves and omicron.
Rising wholesale prices are leading businesses to pass more costs on to shoppers. As a result, consumers are retreating from spending at places like department stores, restaurants, and even online, because of both sticker shock and product shortages stemming from the supply snarls.
“I told my wife that it feels like it happened almost overnight,” says Jason Flores, 48, who relocated from San Francisco to Austin near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I even said to myself, ‘Holy cow, everything is getting super expensive here!'”
Want to do the math? Play with USA TODAY’s inflation calculator.
On to today’s …
💡DAILY INSIGHT. 💡 Boardrooms and corner offices at America’s largest and most powerful companies have remained predominantly white and male, while people of color – especially women of color – are clustered at the bottom levels of pay and prestige.
Federal regulators keep corporations’ annual diversity reports under wraps, but USA TODAY obtained them after senior technology and economic opportunity reporter Jessica Guynn asked S&P 100 firms to release the data voluntarily. The nation’s largest employer, Walmart, provided its worker demographics for the first time and the runner-up, Amazon, shared its data for the first time since 2016.
As with most of the nation’s biggest corporations, Walmart’s racial and gender composition at the top is very different from that in lower-ranking and lower-paying roles that typically offer less flexibility and fewer benefits. Last year, white men held 51.2% of Walmart’s executive posts despite making up just 33.7% of the U.S. labor force and only 24.5% of all Walmart employees. Meanwhile, diversity among Amazon’s executives has increased since 2016, but the change has been slow and falls behind other major companies – including technology giants – reviewed by USA TODAY. Search the full database.
OTHER STORIES YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS:
Can’t order free COVID-19 tests from COVIDtests.gov? There’s now a phone number to call for ordering or help.
Climate change and social media. Misinformation on Facebook, YouTube ‘as bad as ever’
How much does the average American make? U Penn students guessed six figures. Yeah, no.
Pacifiers recalled. Mushie & Co recalls nearly 334,000 Frigg silicone pacifiers due to choking hazard.
Peloton denies report it’s halting production. Shares of Peloton plunged Thursday following a report bike and treadmill production is being paused due to lower demand.
🎶 MOOD MUSIC. 🎶 Today’s in-depth report on corporate diversity inspired me to use “Shout,” Tears for Fears’ ode to feeling fed up, especially at work: “Those one-track minds that took you for a working boy. Kiss them goodbye, you shouldn’t have to jump for joy. You shouldn’t have to jump for joy.”
