Anna Edwards

A federal government shutdown would cut off access to key data on unemployment, inflation and spending just as policymakers are trying to guide the economy to a “soft landing” and avoid a recession.Federal statistical agencies, including the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, will suspend operations unless Congress reaches a deal before Sunday to fund the government. Even a short shutdown would probably delay high-profile data releases — including the monthly jobs report, scheduled for Oct. 6, and the Consumer Price Index, scheduled for Oct. 12.This isn’t the first time government shutdowns have…

The agency’s proposed changes come as it faces a legal challenge to its authority before the U.S. Supreme Court. Arguments in the case are expected to be heard this coming week, with a decision sometime next year.Here are some questions and answers about medical debt:What should I do if I can’t afford to pay a medical bill?If you lack health insurance, check to see if you qualify for coverage under Medicaid, the federal-state health program for low-income people, or ask if you qualify for patient assistance programs that can reduce the amount you owe, said Chi Chi Wu, a senior…

More than a week into its targeted strike at the three established U.S. car companies, the United Automobile Workers union has poked holes in a supply chain that has still not fully recovered from the pandemic.The companies and the union remain far apart in negotiations, and the U.A.W. could expand its strikes to more locations as soon as Friday. Depending on how long the strikes last, it could exact a heavy toll on autoworkers and the three companies — General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis, the parent of Chrysler and Jeep. But the work stoppages could also be painful to…

As the U.S. government narrowly avoided a shutdown this weekend, a different kind of high-stakes shutdown occurred on Saturday.In 2021, as part of a rescue package to combat the pandemic, the U.S. government made its single largest investment in child care, committing $24 billion to fund the sector that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has called a textbook example of a broken market. That funding expired on Saturday, pulling a lifeline from more than 220,000 providers — about 80 percent of all child care centers across the country. In crisis-prone Washington, this one has been called the “child care cliff.”The child…