It has been an unusually busy week in personal finance news. The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady at what may be the final meeting of the Powell era, the April jobs report blew past forecasts, gas prices crossed $4 a gallon, US credit card debt hit a new record, mortgage rates held near 6.5%, and the Department of Education set a hard timeline for unwinding the SAVE student loan plan. Here is a quick recap of the six stories that mattered most this week and links to our full coverage of each.
The FOMC voted to keep its policy rate at 3.50% to 3.75%, marking the third straight meeting without a cut. Chair Jerome Powell is expected to step down in mid-May, with Kevin Warsh taking the helm. The committee’s decision reflects an unusually divided central bank trying to balance sticky inflation against a cooling labor market. Read the full story in our coverage of the Fed’s May rate decision and what Warsh inherits.
The US economy added 115,000 nonfarm payrolls in April, more than double the consensus forecast. Unemployment held at 4.3%, but wage growth slowed to 3.6% year over year, and labor force participation dipped to its lowest level since 2021. The big takeaway: the labor market is stabilizing rather than booming. See our full breakdown of the April 2026 jobs report.
The national average price of gasoline hit $4.06 last week as Brent crude held above $100 per barrel. The Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz are at the center of the spike, and households are now paying $40 to $80 more per month at the pump. See our practical guide to surviving the energy crunch in our piece on $4 gas prices and the Iran war squeeze.
US credit card balances reached a record $1.33 trillion on May 9, with the average APR near 21% and individual balances averaging a record $6,580. The savings rate has slipped to 4.0%, and more than half of cardholders are now carrying a balance month to month. Read our full guide to attacking high-APR debt in our coverage of the record credit card debt milestone.
The 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 6.52% on May 11, while the 15-year fixed sat at 5.91%. Most forecasters expect rates to drift in the 6.1% to 6.4% range through the summer. The bigger story is that the housing market itself is friendlier than the rate alone suggests, with inventory at multi-year highs and new-home prices at four-year lows. Full coverage in our update on mortgage rates and the May 2026 housing market.
The Department of Education will begin notifying 7.5 million SAVE plan borrowers on July 1, kicking off a 90-day window to choose a new repayment plan. Two new options launch the same day: the Repayment Assistance Plan and the Tiered Standard Plan. As of January 1, 2026, IDR forgiveness is also now federally taxable. See our deep dive on what every SAVE borrower must do before the cutoff.
The April Consumer Price Index report drops Tuesday, May 12, and is widely expected to show another acceleration in headline inflation driven by energy prices. Retail sales data follows on Thursday, with consumer sentiment readings closing out the week. Earnings season continues with major retailers reporting, which will give a fresh read on how households are absorbing higher gasoline and grocery prices. For more context on the macro picture, revisit our recent piece on understanding household economics in 2026.
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