Daily briefing · August 24, 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

FRED Blog · Aug 24, 2026

State and metro employment: Second quarter 2026

National employment growth in the second quarter of 2026 accelerated slightly to 0.3% compared with one year ago. However, this aggregate figure conceals wide variation in job growth across U.S. states: 38 states experienced jo...

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Cleveland Fed · Aug 24, 2026

A Fracturing Wage Floor? Below-Minimum Wages in the Twenty-First Century

The prevalence of workers earning below the minimum wage grew to its highest recorded level by 2025. Fourth District states deviate from national trends.

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BLS · Aug 21, 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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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

Wed, Aug 26 at 8:30 AM ETGDP (Second Estimate) and Corporate Profits, 2nd Quarter 2026BEA
Wed, Aug 26 at 8:30 AM ETPersonal Income and Outlays, July 2026 BEA
Wed, Aug 26 at 10:00 AM ETAccess to and Use of LeaveBLS
Thu, Aug 27 at 10:00 AM ETWorker DisplacementBLS
Thu, Aug 27 at 10:00 AM ETEmployment Projections and Occupational Outlook HandbookBLS