Daily briefing · August 12, 2026

Today's Economic Brief

The latest official readings show consumer-price growth at 3.5%, unemployment at 4.1%, annualized real GDP growth at 1.5%. New releases and revisions can change that picture.

What changed

BLS · Aug 12, 2026

Major Economic Indicators Latest Numbers

Consumer Price Index (CPI): +0.1% in Jul 2026 News Release Historical Data Unemployment Rate: 4.1% in Jul 2026 News Release Historical Data Payroll Employment: -23,000(p) in Jul 2026 News Release Historical Data Average Hourly...

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FRED Blog · Aug 10, 2026

Can small business owners access the credit they need?

The takeaway Small businesses with lower credit risk tend to receive all the financing they seek more often than businesses with higher credit risk, which may be newer, smaller, and more in need of financing. Small business cre...

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FRED Blog · Aug 6, 2026

What securities do FDIC-insured banks hold?

The quarterly banking profile of FDIC-insured institutions provides an overview of their aggregate financial condition, including data on bank earnings, loan and deposit activity, and asset quality. According to theses profiles...

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Why it matters

Consumer-price growth is 3.5%, up 0.8 percentage points from Jun 2025.
Unemployment rate is 4.1%, little changed from Jun 2025.
Federal funds rate is 3.63%, down 0.7 percentage points from Aug 2025.

These comparisons describe published observations; they do not assign causes.

What comes next

Thu, Aug 13 at 8:30 AM ETProducer Price IndexBLS
Tue, Aug 18 at 8:30 AM ETU.S. Import and Export Price IndexesBLS
Thu, Aug 20 at 10:00 AM ETSummer Youth Labor ForceBLS
Fri, Aug 21 at 10:00 AM ETState Employment and Unemployment (Monthly)BLS
Wed, Aug 26 at 8:30 AM ETGDP (Second Estimate) and Corporate Profits, 2nd Quarter 2026BEA