ECONOMY

The state’s poorest mothers are paying hundreds of dollars out of pocket when they find baby formula because they say they can’t risk waiting for the exact brand and size container covered by Texas’ Women, Infant and Children program.

Sterling hit a two-year low versus the U.S. dollar following the GDP data as traders digested growing uncertainty about the U.K.'s economic outlook.

Join us in Austin from Sept. 22-24 for our biggest and best ideas weekend ever. The 30 speakers we’re announcing today are only a hint of what we have planned.

An EU ban on oil and gas from Russia would limit its ability to fight in Ukraine, Sergeii Marchenko says.

The state’s high property taxes have taken center stage as Texas’ real estate market explodes and drives up home values.

Austin joins at least 28 U.S. cities, like Los Angeles, Chicago and Pittsburgh, that have tried out some form of “guaranteed income” — financial assistance targeted at needy households.

Texas is a great state, but there’s a lot of work to do, and it starts with the public — and what Texans really want. The political class isn’t going to do this on its own.

Texas political leaders usually settle for caution. The big stuff is risky, but it’s also possible — and even inspiring — to see leaders ignoring the small stuff and aiming higher.

Texas school districts, cities and counties rely heavily on property taxes to pay for roads, libraries, police, firefighters and public schools. But lowering tax bills has long been a difficult endeavor.

China on Monday posted better-than-expected GDP growth in the first quarter, though retail sales for March slumped amid ongoing Covid lockdowns on the mainland.

The deals Abbott made with three of the four Mexican border governors don’t include any new security measures south of the border. Abbott threatened to restart the inspections if Mexican states don’t slow migration to Texas.

Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin all ranked among the top 10 cities for new eviction filings in early April, among the 31 cities tracked by Eviction Lab.

Like other states, Texas found out during the pandemic how critical high-speed broadband is for school, work and medicine. And the state is working to expand it — but it’s going to be at least a year before Texans start to see results.

The announcements come a day after Abbott reached a similar deal with Nuevo León’s governor, who agreed to add security at a major border bridge in exchange for an end to increased vehicle inspections by Texas troopers.

Gov. Greg Abbott is slated to have a meeting and press event with Samuel Alejandro García Sepúlveda — the Mexican governor of Nuevo León, the state that includes a section of the border near Laredo — later Wednesday afternoon.

Public education in Texas — like everywhere in the country — is hurting after more than two years of pandemic. But many in the political class are preoccupied with reforms that have more to do with social issues than with education.

The pressures pushing up costs for consumers are also hitting agencies trying to combat hunger, making it hard to keep up with rising demand for their aid.

Commercial traffic at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge stopped Monday and a similar protest affected traffic into and out of El Paso. The blockades could impact the flow of produce to restaurants and grocery stores.

Though the economy may be the focus of November’s congressional elections, other divisive topics -- some new, some perennial -- will also vie for attention from voters. These so-called wedge issues are being fanned mostly by Republicans, who see little downside in taking on polarizing issues that might motivate conservative voters. The Supreme Court, with six of its nine seats filled by conservative justices appointed by Republicans, seems poised to stir things up even further with upcoming deci

Trucks delivering products from Mexico are facing hourslong waits at ports of entry.

The Biden White House is betting the U.S. economy is strong enough to withstand the threats to growth posed by inflation and the war in Ukraine.

The governor is pushing for more border security measures, some of which he acknowledges will slow traffic across the Texas-Mexico border.

Inflation is the topic of the month in our solutions journalism show, “Solutionaries.”

A new Texas Lyceum poll finds the state’s voters in a sour mood — particularly around economic issues. That’s useful information for candidates during this election year, and for the officeholders who’ll be trying to put things in order after the elections.

RevLab at The Texas Tribune is partnering with LION Publishers and the News Revenue Hub to host the first Independent News Sustainability Summit from Oct. 27-29 in Austin.

The U.S. economy ended 2021 by expanding at a healthy 6.9% annual pace from October through December, the government reported Wednesday, a slight downgrade from its previous estimates.

Texas got a temporary reprieve on Medicaid funding from the federal government. But that won’t solve underlying problems with high numbers of uninsured Texans and the plight of hospitals in the state — especially those in rural areas.

We cannot wait to see you there. With elections looming and issues aboil, we have our best-ever program planned.

Here are facts and figures of the OECD’s plan and what it hopes to achieve.

A new law prohibits the state from contracting with or investing in companies that divest from oil, natural gas and coal companies.

Although child care providers have mostly reopened, 8% have closed permanently since the start of the pandemic — and 57% of Texas counties still qualify as child care deserts.

The popular breakfast food had sales over $9 billion in 2020 and then $8.66 billion in 2021, according to IRI, a market research firm in Chicago.

According to data from globalpetrolprices.com, 46 countries has gas prices that are $6 a gallon or more, 26 have prices that are at least $7 a gallon while nine countries have gas prices that are $8 a gallon or more.

Twenty-five states, including California and New York, preceded Texas in getting federally backed programs up and running to help homeowners suffering financial hardship because of COVID-19.

Tax havens, also known as offshore financial centers, are a country or jurisdiction that has minimal tax liabilities to foreign individuals or businesses.

Some futurists depict Michigan and the Great Lakes as “climate havens” that will lure people and businesses weary of worsening drought, wildfire, hurricanes and other disasters. Not so fast, skeptics say.

On this first day of early voting in the Democratic and Republican primaries, take a moment to think through the issues — whether the candidates are talking about them or not — before you cast your ballot.

Renters are seeing their housing costs jump as population increases, strict zoning regulations and rising home sales push up rent prices.

Tribune editor-in-chief Sewell Chan moderated a conversation with experts on what the influx of Californians means for Texas’ economy, population and politics.

Elizabeth Economy looks closely at Xi Jinping's push to make China the center of the world.

Job growth in the state, driven by population gains, has outpaced the rest of the country in recent months, according to recent federal data.

Economic activity jumped by 6.9% in the last three months of last year, beating forecasts.

Tribune energy and economy reporter Mitchell Ferman moderated a conversation with labor and economic development experts who discussed how COVID-19 has affected Texas’ economy and how businesses, workers and government have responded.

The German government has cut its growth forecast for this year.

The U.S. Treasury Department seized $1.9 million in unspent rent relief from five Texas counties and one city because local officials didn’t spend the money fast enough.

If Texas politicians seem to be tinkering at the edges of major issues like the pandemic, electric blackouts and education, an election year is the best opportunity to set them straight.

The German economy grew by 2.7% in 2021, despite another year of surging Covid-19 cases, pandemic-related restrictions and supply chain pressures.

As 2021 comes to a close, here’s a look back at just some of our favorite images captured by Texas Tribune photographers all over the state — and across the nation — to tell the stories of Texans in a challenging year.

Here are a dozen of my columns from 2021: highlights on the winter storm, redistricting, the state’s finances and on issues that could figure into this next round of elections.

The Texas Department of State Health Services, which tracks the number of coronavirus vaccinations, cases, hospitalizations and deaths across the state, won’t be updating its daily dashboard Friday through Sunday both this week and next over the holidays.

After nearly two years of navigating life during a pandemic, many Texans are now scrambling for COVID tests, delaying plans and worrying about relatives who have been exposed to the virus.

Texas’ housing crunch has spread outside of the state’s major metropolitan areas and into more rural parts of Texas. Smaller cities and towns saw steep increases in home prices as COVID-19 spread.

Republicans in Austin have been after local governments for years, pushing aside local laws and rules on a long list of issues where local and state powers overlap. Now they're recruiting fellow Republicans for local offices, to try to change things at the ground level.

Prices rose 6.8% in the year to November with the cost of fuel, used cars and food rising fastest.

Chances are, winter weather won’t be as bad as it was last February. Chances are, Texas won’t have the electric blackouts that caused so much misery then. And chances are, whatever happens will have some influence on the 2022 elections.

Critics of the Chapter 313 corporate tax incentive program say it lacks accountability and is burdensome to taxpayers in the state.

Evictions in major Texas cities have reached levels not seen since the pandemic began. But tenant protections and financial assistance for struggling renters are beginning to fade.

As the political season starts, the contestants got an unexpected bit of good news: The state comptroller says the next Legislature will start with almost $25 billion in the state treasury. Expensive campaign promises just got a lot easier to make.

Thirty-eight percent of respondents said the state economy is doing worse than a year ago, further evidence that Texans are still feeling the pandemic’s consequences.

A large Russian island north of Japan will be a testing ground for Moscow’s efforts to reconcile its prized fossil fuel industry with the need to do something about climate change

October's job creation was strong in almost every sector, as hiring across industries helped the broader U.S. economy rebound from a late-summer lull.

Can free flights and rent lure the foreign workers back to Australia who quit when Covid arrived?

Yes, growth was weaker than forecast in the third quarter, but the latest GDP report also shows that the softness is temporary.

The Taliban's hold over the country is not in dispute but it is facing challenges from women against its extreme version of sharia law and guerrilla fighters in Afghanistan's north.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Tuesday that the U.S. economy has been permanently changed by the COVID pandemic and it is important that the central bank adapt to those changes. “We're not simply going back to the economy that we had before the pandemic,” Powell said at a Fed virtual town hall for educators and students. Powell said that, while it is not yet clear if the delta variant of COVID will have further impact on the economy, the country has already seen significant changes since the pandemic began shutting the country down in March 2020.

Economy expected to grow by 7.25% in 2021 as lockdown restrictions are eased, says Bank of England.

The economy rose 6.4% in the first quarter.

The economy rose 6.4% in the first quarter.

The U.S. recovery likely found its rhythm in the first three months of 2021, according to early forecasts of data to be released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis this morning. It appears likely all Covid-19-era losses will be recovered by the middle of this year.

CNBC's Jim Cramer on Monday advised that retail investors ignore talk of a potential market top with the economy in recovery mode.

Pedestrians walk outside the New York Stock Exchange in the U.S. The U.S. economy is recovering from the Covid-19 recession, but some economic "scarring" may take a long time to heal, said Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Thomas Barkin. Economic scarring refers to damage left behind by crises that will suppress growth prospects over the medium or long term. "I'm hopeful we're on the brink of completing this recovery," Barkin said Monday at the Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference that's being held virtually this year. The U.S. economy contracted by 3.5% in 2020 compared to a year ago, estimated the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Lightfoot’s plan created a six-month payment plan that reduces required down payments and gives those with ticket debt more time to pay. The plan also allowed people to request a 24-hour extension to pay their fines in full or get on a payment plan after their vehicles are locked with a Denver boot, though the plan does not ban use of the controversial device that has been the bane of many motorists’ existence.

Without stimulus, employment might not reach pre-pandemic level until 2024 New analysis from the Congressional Budget Office predicts the U.S. economy will return to its pre-pandemic peak in the middle of 2021, but the number of people employed won't return to previous levels until 2024. Maya MacGuineas, the president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, joins CBSN's "Red & Blue" host Elaine Quijano to discuss what she thinks the federal government should do to aid the economy.

Militias take aim at gun laws: "It's about shooting tyrants in the face"

Militias take aim at gun laws: "It's about shooting tyrants in the face"

The gain came after a 31.4% plunge in the second quarter and was better than the 32% estimate from economists surveyed by Dow Jones. "It's obviously good news that the economy bounced back in the third quarter," said Eric Winograd, senior economist at AllianceBernstein. "There's still a lot of work to do here and the pace of improvement ... is going to slow. That is part of the reason that the pace of growth is going to slow from here." The economy has been in a technical recession since February, as first-quarter growth declined at a 5% pace.

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday turned slightly more positive on the global economy for this year, but warned of a "long, uneven and uncertain" recovery. The global economy is now projected to contract by 4.4% in 2020 — an upward revision from an estimate of -4.9% made in June. The IMF's projection assumes that social distancing due to the coronavirus pandemic will continue into 2021, and that local transmission will fall everywhere by the end of 2022. However, it warned that the coronavirus crisis is far from over. The IMF projected "only limited progress" going forward and cut its GDP (gross domestic product) growth expectations for next year to 5.2%, from an estimate of 5.4% made in June.

HOUSTON Job losses and the unemployment rate in the Houston area reached record levels in April due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to data released by Workforce Solutions Friday morning. The economy in the Houston area has taken a significant hit with more than 452,000 Houston-area workers now unemployed, according to the data. Not surprisingly, customer-facing industries were the hardest hit, said Parker Harvey, the regional economist at Workforce Solutions. Michelle Castrow, a manager at Workforce Solutions, said that some companies are still hiring despite the downturn. Were working with our employer partners daily and posting new job openings to wrksolutions.com/jobsnow, she said.

(CNN) Victoria's Secret is permanently closing a quarter of its stores in the United States and Canada over the next few months. There are approximately 1,100 Victoria's Secret locations in North America. Chief Financial Officer Stuart Burgdoerfer said in an earnings call Thursday that it was a "very significant decision" that is intended to "strengthen" Victoria's Secret. L Brands also said it was closing 50 Bath & Body Works stores, mostly in mall locations where it doesn't expect foot traffic to regain pre-pandemic normalcy. Investors are fans of the slimming plans: L Brands shares are up 18% in Thursday trading.

China, the world's second largest economy, is under threat as the pandemic wipes out jobs and slows productivity and growth. But even with the economic setback, that's not stopping Beijing from doubling down on its geopolitical agenda. China could be using diplomatic outreach, while skirting any responsibility for the crisis, as a way to move forward with its geopolitical plans, Economy said. I think the Trump administration will be looking to China to buy American, to fulfill the promises that it made," she said. In the meantime, the People's Republic of China has rolled out significant measures to offset the economic impact of the pandemic.

The economy is the theme on Day 2 of the RNC; Yahoo saw profits plunge 64%; and Nintendo doubled its market cap thanks to "Pokemon Go." These headlines and more from CBS MoneyWatch.

The economy is improving, so why are Americans feeling so down? Steady job-creation this year has failed to quell people's anxiety about their financial prospects and the broader direction of the economy. CBS News' Lauren Lyster reports.

Will the economy change much during the year's second half? The economy contracted nearly three percent during the first quarter of the year. CBS News business analyst Jill Schlesinger explains what to expect in the second half of the year.

U.S. economy shrinks for first time in three years The harsh weather this past winter is getting much of the blame for a slowdown in the economy, but most economists believe it sets the economy up for a strong rebound this quarter. Anthony Mason reports.