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China revives efforts to roll out property tax to rein in runaway home prices, after two-year silence

Prices are going up — here’s what inflation means to you

From gas and groceries to computers, cars and clothing, Americans are already paying more for everyday expenses.  As the economy reopens in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, consumers are putting their stimulus checks, enhanced unemployment benefits and stashed cash to work.Yet all that spending — coupled with supply chain setbacks — is driving prices higher and decreasing your purchasing power over time.More from Personal Finance:Is a $300 unemployment boost holding back jobs?Americans fear highest inflation in nearly a decadeThe pandemic drove these Americans into early retirement”Inflation is the cost of an expanding economy,” said certified financial planner Douglas Boneparth, president of Bone Fide Wealth in New York.Last month, inflation accelerated at its fastest pace in more than 12 years as the economic recovery kicked into gear, the Labor Department said Wednesday.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsAmericans’ expectations for inflation over the next few years also hit its highest level in nearly a decade, according to another report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.  Overall, the expectation is that the inflation rate will be up to 3.4% one year from now — its highest level since September 2013 — and at 3.1% three years from now, the Fed survey

Household debt climbs to $14.64 trillion, due to jump in mortgages and car loans

Akapong Osotsil / EyeEm | EyeEm | Getty ImagesConsumer debt edged higher during the first three months of 2021, due primarily to a jump in mortgages and auto loans, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday.Total household debt balances rose by $85 billion in the first quarter, a 0.6% increase that brought the total level to $14.64 trillion.Fueled by low rates and a red-hot housing market, mortgage debt swelled in the period by $117 billion, or nearly 12%, to $10.16 trillion, according to the New York Fed’s quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit. Auto loans increased by $8 billion, to $1.38 trillion, while student debt balances increased by $29 billion to $1.58 trillion, even though many loans are in forbearance granted during the pandemic.One surprise in the report came from a substantial decline in credit card balances. That level fell by $49 billion in the quarter, the second largest drop since the New York Fed began tracking it in 1999.Credit card balances now total $770 billion, or $157 billion lower than they were at the end of 2019, “consistent with both paydowns among borrowers and reduced consumption opportunities,” the report stated.New York Fed researchers said the latest round of declines also