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The future may be female, but in economic terms, the present is as well. The gender gapwhich references how much more the average man in the United States earns compared to the average womanhas eroded in recent years, largely because women are earning more money, according to new data from the Bank of America Institute. In a report published this month, the data shows that womens median discretionary spending increased 0.9% year-over-year during November, and that its been growing faster than mens spending over the previous two-year period. Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, female workers median annual income growth is growing faster than male workers, in large part due to bigger pay jumps when changing jobs. While the past few years have seen wages grow overall in the wake of the pandemic, the important point unearthed in the data is that women are seeing bigger pay increases, and in aggregate, its evidence of a narrowing gender pay gap, says Taylor Bowley, an economist at Bank of America Institute and author of the publication. While the gender pay gap can vary by a few percentage points depending on the specific data used to calculate it, the most recent numbers from the Department of Labor, published last year, show that the average full-time working woman earns 84% of what men are paid. But again, Bank of America Institutes numbers show that number creeping up. Not only that, but with women earning more money, and spending more of it, theyve been something of an economic engine in recent years, too. Women are helping drive growth, says Bowley. Even pre-pandemic discretionary spending for women was up compared to mens, she says. Theres increased potential for women to continue to be key players in the economys strength. The data is highly encouraging. What forces drive women to earn more, fuel the economy, and erode the gender pay gap? There are a lot of variables in the mix, Bowley says, but a good place to start looking is at education numbers. Public data shows that womens enrollment in four-year degree programs has been outpacing mens for a while. More education translates into more opportunities. That also helps drive womens labor force participation rates, she says. In all, women are more educated, earning more money, and becoming an increasingly important pillar of economic growth. That, if anything, Bowley says, is the key takeaway from the data: Women are a key source of strength for the economy, and its increasingly important.
Category:
E-Commerce
Republican Representative Eric Burlison of Missouri has introduced a new bill, the Life at Conception Act, which proposes a federal ban on abortion. The full text of the bill is not yet available, but a press release this week from his office notes, This landmark legislation declares that unborn children are ‘persons’ under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing their right to life to be legally recognized and protected. At a time when Republicans are seeking to narrow the definition of who is a citizen under the 14th Amendment by eliminating birthright citizenship, they are also using the 14th Amendment to extend personhood to fetusesan indication of who is and isn’t considered a person with rights according to GOP philosophy. I am proud to introduce the Life at Conception Act, which reaffirms the original intent of the 14th Amendment by declaring that the term person includes all human beings from the moment of conception . . . It is a scientific fact that life begins at conception, Burlinson wrote on his Facebook page. Personhood for a fetus, however, may come at the cost of personhood for a mother. Abortion bans have been linked with delays in medical treatment for women who are miscarrying, deaths in cases of risky pregnancies, as well as the increased criminalization of pregnant women. Even in cases where a mothers life is not at stake, abortion bans can impact the quality of medical carefor both women and the communities they live in. According to a 2023 study, states with abortion bans are seeing fewer applications from medical students for residency programs, particularly OB/GYN residency programs. Applications for OB/GYN residencies dropped by 6.7% in states with abortion bans but increased by 0.4% in states without restrictions. In a 2024 study, 11% of oby-gyns said they left states with abortion bans, while their colleagues who stayed described struggling with larger workloads and to hire replacements. Burlison bill currently has 68 cosponsors. It would need a majority of votes to pass (218 of 435) and move to the Senate. If it were to move to the Senate, it would need 51 votes out of 100 to pass. However, if the bill got filibustered, it would need 60 out of 100 votes to pass. Currently, Republicans hold 53 out of 100 votes in the Senate.
Category:
E-Commerce
President Donald Trump may want lower interest rates, but the Federal Reserve will almost certainly keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at its two-day policy meeting that ends Wednesday.It is likely to be a quiet start to an eventful year for the central bank. Trump said last week in Davos, Switzerland, that he would bring down energy prices, then “demand” that the Fed lower borrowing costs.Later, when asked by reporters if he expected the Fed to listen to him, he said, “yes.” Presidents in recent decades have avoided publicly pressuring the Fed out of deference to its political independence.Outside of a U.S. President bending norms, the Fed also faces challenges in achieving its economic objectives. Inflation remains above its 2% target: Its preferred measure is at 2.4%, though core pricesconsidered a better gauge of where inflation is headedrose 2.8% in November from a year ago.Fed officials, led by Chair Jerome Powell, want to thread a moving needle: By keeping borrowing costs higher, the Fed hopes to slow borrowing and spending enough to reduce inflation, but without causing a painful recession.Powell said in December that the central bank has entered a “new phase,” in which it expects to move more deliberately after cutting its key rate to 4.3%, from 5.3% in the final three meetings of 2024. In December, Fed officials signaled they may reduce their rate just twice more this year. Goldman Sachs economists believes those cuts won’t happen until June and December.A cut in March is still possible, though financial markets’ futures pricing puts the odds of that happening at just one-third.As a result, American households and businesses are unlikely to see much relief from high borrowing costs anytime soon. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage slipped to just below 7% last week after rising for five straight weeks. The costs of borrowing money have remained high economy-wide even after the Fed reduced its benchmark rate.That is because investors expect healthy economic growth and stubborn inflation will forestall future rate cuts. They recently bid up the 10-year Treasury above 4.80%, its highest level since 2023.Another reason for caution among Fed policymakers this year is that they will want to evaluate any changes in economic policy by the Trump administration. Trump has said he could slap tariffs of 25% on imports from Canada and Mexico as early as February 1. During his presidential campaign he threatened to impose taxes on all imports.The Trump administration has also said it will carry out mass deportations of migrants, which could push up inflation by reducing the economy’s ability to produce goods and services. At the same time, some economists say Trump’s promises to deregulate the economy could lower prices over time.When Trump imposed tariffs on a limited number of imports in 2018 and 2019, Fed economists expected the biggest impact to fall on economic growth, with the inflationary impact being relatively minor. As a result, when growth did slow, the Fed ended up cutting its key rate in 2019, rather than raising it to fight off any inflationary impact.On Wednesday, Fed officials could also change the statement that they release after each meeting to upgrade their assessment of the labor market, a signal that rate cuts may be delayed.In December, the statement included a mildly pessimistic take: “Labor market conditions have generally eased, and the unemployment rate has moved up but remains low.” In the summer and fall, employers slowed their hiring. The rise in the unemployment rate had unnerved Fed officials and was a big reason they reduced their key rate by an unusually large half-percentage point in September.Earlier this month, Fed governor Chris Waller cited weaker hiring as evidence that the Fed’s key rate is “restrictive,” meaning it is acting as a brake on the economy and should bring down inflation over time. If rates are restrictive, that means the Fed would have more room to cut them if inflation were to decline further.Yet this month, just a few days after Waller’s remarks, the December jobs report showed that hiring accelerated and the unemployment rate slipped to a low 4.1% from 4.2%.The healthier employment numbers suggested that hiring has at least levelled off. If it stays as strong as last month, the improved job gains would suggest the Fed’s rate isn’t restrictive at all, and few, if any, rate cuts are needed. Christopher Rugaber, AP Economics Writer
Category:
E-Commerce
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