The Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced that it will leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged as policymakers continue to assess uncertainty around inflation and economic conditions in light of federal policy shifts.

The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged Wednesday while noting increased economic uncertainty and slashing growth forecasts, at a time when trade and other policy areas are in extreme flux.

U.S. retail sales rebounded in February, suggesting that the economy continued to grow in the first quarter, though at a moderate pace as tariffs on imports and mass firings of federal government workers weigh on sentiment.

U.S. shoppers stepped up their spending just a bit in February after a sharp pullback the previous month, signaling that Americans are shopping more cautiously as concerns about the direction of the economy mount.

Amid all the talk of tariffs, something far bigger is happening in the United States. Donald Trump’s current trade war is just one part of his team’s radical plan to realign the entire global economy and the dollar’s relationship in it — the biggest shift since Bretton Woods.

In 2018 a former deputy governor of Sweden’s central bank predicted that by 2025 the country would probably be cashless.

Seven years on, that prediction has turned out to be pretty much true. Just one in 10 purchases are made with cash, and card is the most common form of payment, followed by the Swedish mobile payment system Swish, launched by six banks in 2012 and now ubiquitous. Other mobile phone payment services are also growing quickly.

Vice President JD Vance acknowledged Friday that Elon Musk has made “mistakes” while executing mass firings of federal employees and emphasized that he believes there are “a lot of good people who work in the government.”

Tariff whiplash is roiling supermarket produce aisles.

Companies that import and distribute tomatoes, broccoli and other fruits and vegetables are canceling orders and sometimes replacing them within days as they navigate equally rapid shifts in President Trump’s trade policy. Supermarkets and retailers are monitoring consumers’ tolerance for higher prices, while considering bigger changes in their supply chains.

Two US judges have ordered several federal government agencies to reinstate the jobs of probationary employees fired en masse by the Trump administration last month.

In California, District Judge William Alsup called the sacking of these employees part of a "sham" strategy that aimed to circumvent proper procedures for reducing the federal workforce.

His order - which was followed by another from Maryland - applies to thousands of probationary workers who were fired at a range of departments, including defence, energy, treasury, and veterans affairs.

Consumer sentiment took another hit in March as worries intensified over inflation and a slumping stock market, according to the University of Michigan’s latest sentiment survey released Friday.