Arizona will have added more than 100,000 jobs by the end of the year - with 86,000 of them in metro Phoenix - but housing affordability has declined because of rising home prices. Read more»

The U.S. cost of living surged 8.5% over the past 12 months, the fastest one-year increase in more than 40 years, driven by skyrocketing gas, food and housing prices - and consumers in the Phoenix area have been seeing even sharper increases. Read more»

The Fed’s low-interest-rate policies have stabilized the economy and turbocharged the stock market but those policies have accelerated the decades-long increase in economic inequality by helping increase the wealth of people at the top far more than it has increased the wealth of working-class Americans. Read more»

Time has run out for Congress to stop interest rates on federally subsidized student loans from doubling. Rates are expected to shoot up from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent now that Congress has failed to act. Read more»

Unless Congress acts before July 1, interest rates on subsidized student loans, for which students must demonstrate financial need, will rise from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. Students don’t have to pay interest on subsidized loans while in school. Unsubsidized loans, which currently have a 6.8 percent interest rate, require students to pay interest on loans from the start. Read more»

The House of Representatives voted on Friday for a Republican-backed plan to extend low student loan rates. Read more» 1

Interest rates on student loans are set to double in July if Congress fails to act. At a time when tuition is rising at 8.3 percent a year and median wages for young people are falling, young Americans and their families can ill afford more Washington inaction. Read more»

U.S. stock markets reacted wildly Tuesday to the U.S. Federal Reserve's statement that it will keep short-term interest rates low through 2013. Read more»