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An annual report card Wednesday from the trustees of both programs showed that the long-term deficits associated with the two largest benefit programs would be slightly smaller than forecast last year. The report also offered the latest warning that the Social Security disability-insurance program will exhaust its reserves late next year, which would trigger a 19% cut in benefit payments.

When the Census Bureau began calculating poverty a half-century ago – as a “war on poverty” became a hot issue in Washington – it devised a rather simple formula. The formula defined income that would be counted – excluding non-cash income such as food stamps and housing subsidies – and applied it to a narrow “market basket” of food and other living necessities.

China and its swooning stock market pose a growing risk to the global economy, say economists surveyed this month by The Wall Street Journal. But healthier U.S. consumer spending and a stronger housing market will provide enough domestic power to offset any drag coming from the world’s No. 2 economy.

U. S. consumer prices rose in June—and for the first time in 2015 this broad measure of inflation is in positive territory when compared with a year ago.

Nearly a third of California’s households “struggle each month to meet basic needs,” largely because of the state’s high cost of living, a new study by United Ways of California concludes.

Productivity growth is central to a range of economic questions from the slowdown in middleclass incomes in recent decades to the outperformance of employment over output in the current recovery. Looking forward, productivity growth is essential to understanding how quickly wages can grow, how fast the economy can grow, and the magnitude—and potentially even the existence—of a long-term fiscal gap.

This week’s map shows the real value of $100 in each state. Prices for the same goods are often much cheaper in states like Missouri or Ohio than they are in states like New York or California. As a result, the same amount of cash can buy you comparatively more in a low-price state than in a high-price state.

A stronger dollar and international turmoil are weighing on overseas consumers, meaning trade is unlikely to provide much support to the U.S expansion this year.

The extent of income inequality in any region such as the Bay Area is a result of local, state and national policies, and is exacerbated by economic factors such as technological progress and globalization. And, while local policies alone are largely inadequate to address the issue of extreme inequality, there are a variety of options that can ameliorate the effects. This report includes data on Bay Area income inequality, comparisons to the state and nation, a discussion of the root causes of inequality, and a set of local policy options.

Policymakers often consider temporarily redistributing income from rich to poor households to stimulate the economy. This is based in part on the idea that poor households spend a larger share of their income than rich ones do. However, ample evidence suggests that the difference in spending between these groups is significantly smaller than commonly assumed. A second assumption is that redistribution through policy is more efficient than through capital markets. Whether this is true is important to consider when proposing this type of stimulus policy.

Just last month, new figures from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis appeared to reaffirm the state’s seventh place standing. But on Wednesday, revised estimates from the World Bank showed that Brazil had in fact ticked upward and pushed closer to the front of the line.

The latest figures for 2014 from the World Bank show that Brazil claimed seventh place with a gross domestic product of $2.346 trillion. California’s gross state product, which is comparable to GDP, was $2.312 trillion, according to a report released last month by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Wages for the typical worker in California — those who earn $19.18 an hour, or about $39,800 a year — are still 1.8% lower than they were in 2011, when the state’s unemployment rate hovered around 11.5%. The current unemployment rate is 6.4%

Real personal income across all regions rose by an average of 0.8 percent in 2013. This growth rate reflects the year-over-year change in nominal personal income across all regions adjusted by the change in the national personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index. On a nominal basis, personal income across all regions grew an average of 2.0 percent in 2013. In 2013, the U.S. PCE price index grew 1.2 percent.

A report released Tuesday by the University of San Diego still points to gains in the job market, new residential construction and an overall improving national economy as factors behind the region’s expansion. However, local publicly traded companies did not fare well in May and consumer confidence dipped locally for the first time in 15 months.