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Inflation indicator shows falling prices

WASHINGTON — A price indicator closely watched by the Federal Reserve Bank suggests that inflationary pressures in the U.S. economy are continuing to ease.

The Commerce Department’s report on Friday showed that consumer prices remained unchanged from April to May, the weakest such trend in more than four years. Compared to a year ago, prices rose 2.6 percent last month, slightly less than in April.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation rose 0.1 percent from April to May, the smallest increase since spring 2020, when the pandemic broke out and paralyzed the economy. And compared to a year earlier, core prices rose 2.6 percent in May, the lowest increase in more than three years.

Prices for physical goods actually fell by 0.4 percent from April to May. Gasoline prices, for example, fell by 3.4 percent, furniture prices by 1 percent, and prices for leisure goods and vehicles by 1.6 percent. On the other hand, prices for services, which include restaurant meals and airfares, rose by 0.2 percent.

The latest figures are likely to be met with great approval by Fed policymakers, who have said they must first be confident that inflation will fall sustainably toward the 2 percent target before they can begin cutting interest rates.

Tractor Supply ends DEI efforts

NEW YORK — Tractor Supply is ending a number of its efforts to promote diversity and climate action, a move that comes after weeks of online backlash against the rural retailer from conservatives.

Tractor Supply announced that it would eliminate all of its diversity, equity and inclusion roles while also abandoning current DEI goals. It did not elaborate on what eliminating the DEI roles would entail.

The company added that it would stop “sponsoring non-commercial activities” such as Pride festivals or election campaigns – and would no longer provide data to the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ+ rights advocacy group in the US.

The Brentwood, Tennessee-based retailer, which sells products ranging from farm equipment to pet supplies, also said in a statement that it would move away from its carbon emissions targets to instead “focus on our land and water conservation efforts.”

These changes mark a stunning shift in policy and messaging at Tractor Supply, which once boasted about its diversity and inclusion efforts. Just earlier this month, Tractor Supply President and CEO Hal Lawton reiterated that the company has been “very consistent” in the way it approaches its own DEI and ESG (environmental, social and governance) programs for several years.

EU takes a closer look at AI industry

LONDON — The European Union is stepping up its scrutiny of the artificial intelligence industry, including taking a new look at the multi-billion dollar partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI, a senior EU official said Friday.

The European Commission, the Union’s executive body, had begun examining the deal last year to check whether it violated EU merger control rules, but it dropped the deal after concluding that Microsoft had not gained control of OpenAI, Margrethe Vestager, the Commission’s executive vice-president for competition policy, said in a speech.

“Microsoft has invested $13 billion in OpenAI over the years,” she said. “But we need to ensure that partnerships like this are not used to mask a controlling influence of one partner over the other.”

She indicated that the Commission would take a closer look at the deal and the wider industry, using the bloc’s antitrust rules, which target abusive behaviour by companies with a dominant market position.

The Commission sent requests for information to major AI players such as Microsoft, Google, Facebook and TikTok in March, reviewed those responses and is “now sending a follow-up request for information on the agreement between Microsoft and OpenAI,” Vestager said.

Türkiye removed from money laundering list

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey on Friday welcomed an international regulator’s decision to remove the country from the so-called “grey list” of countries that have not fully implemented anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures.

The announcement by Singapore’s Financial Action Task Force could boost foreign investment in Turkey, which is currently trying to recover from a severe economic crisis.

“We succeeded,” Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek wrote on the social media platform X when the decision was announced.

Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said: “With this development, international investors’ confidence in our country’s financial system has become even stronger. The decision will have extremely positive consequences for the financial sector and the economy.”

Being on the regulator’s grey list can deter investors and creditors and affect exports, production and consumption. It can also make international banks reluctant to do business with a country.