Axios

Move over, Stanley cups. Trader Joe's mini tote bags are the latest product to go viral and end up on the resale market for hugely marked-up prices.

The big picture: Trader Joe's confirmed to Axios on Wednesday that the $2.99 mini canvas bags "sold more quickly than we anticipated" and before the retailer promoted them.

Dollar Tree shares plummeted over 14% today after the retailer announced plans to close about 970 Family Dollar stores and 30 Dollar Tree locations over the next several years.

Why it matters: The closures represent a reversal of the retailer's rapid expansion — which included buying Family Dollar in 2015 — and the following scrutiny over product safety issues in recent years, write Nathan and Axios' Kelly Tyko.

Neil Young's boycott of Spotify is over.

Why it matters: Young and several other artists removed their music from Spotify over two years ago to protest the company's handling of COVID-19 misinformation — particularly through Joe Rogan's podcast.

A surge in immigration last year helps explain the economy's striking resilience — and if sustained, could allow the job market to keep booming without stoking inflation in the years ahead.

Why it matters: Immigration policy is deeply politically contentious, but there is a strong consensus among economic policymakers that the immigration increase is a key part of the labor supply surge that helped bring down price pressures last year even amid the economy's robust growth.

Dollar Tree will close 1,000 stores with the majority being under its Family Dollar banner, the discount retailer announced Wednesday.

Why it matters: The store closings leave a void for consumers who have been turning to discount and dollar stores for groceries and essentials.

Boeing's troubles are starting to cause some turbulence for major airlines.

Why it matters: Carriers that were depending on new planes from Boeing to meet their growth plans are now scaling back expectations, or scrambling to find other options.

Gas prices are cheaper than this time last year, but they've been rising for the last several weeks — and that led to a higher-than-expected inflation jump in February, Nathan writes.

State of play: Gas prices were down 3.9% in February, compared with a year earlier, but up 3.8% from January.

• Overall, the Consumer Price Index posted a 3.2% uptick over the last 12 months and a 0.4% jump over the previous month.

The big picture: For the second straight month, the CPI flashed signals that the 2023 disinflation trend may have stalled out at the start of 2024, our Axios Macro colleagues write.

The House bill requiring Chinese-owned ByteDance to sell TikTok — or face a U.S. ban — will be voted on tomorrow morning.

• However that goes, it faces a murky path through the Senate, Axios' Stef W. Kight and Stephen Neukam write.

State of play: TikTok launched an aggressive lobbying effort this week that includes its CEO holding meetings in the Senate and a campaign urging users to call their representatives.

• Republicans and Democrats alike want to address the national security and data concerns posed by the Chinese Communist Party's control over ByteDance. But opinions vary on how best to do that.

"Dry promotions" are worthy of a raised eyebrow, Nathan writes.

The big picture: This is apparently the phrase to describe a promotion that doesn't come with a pay increase, according to the Wall Street Journal.

• Dry promotions "present a career dilemma," WSJ reports. "And some data suggest they're becoming more common as companies manage their talent with tighter budgets."

💭 Nathan's thought bubble: It's a risky endeavor for employers who don't want to lose people to the competition to give them a better title — which will make them more appealing to other companies — without the money to show for it.

"Most of them don't include adequate measures to prevent misuse and keep drivers from losing focus on what's happening on the road."

Egg prices are soaring again and increased 8.4% in February from January, according to the latest Consumer Price Index released Tuesday.

Why it matters: Elevated prices ahead of Easter are giving consumers flashbacks to the sky-high prices of 2023, which peaked at $4.82 for a dozen in January.

No one said getting inflation back to 2% would be easy. For the second straight month, the Consumer Price Index flashed signals that the 2023 disinflation trend may have stalled out at the start of 2024.

Why it matters: If elevated inflation readings in January and February persist through the spring, it will raise doubts about the economic narrative that has taken hold on Wall Street and in policymaking circles — that inflation has been quashed and interest rate cuts are on the near horizon.

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% in February, while the core measure that excludes food and energy prices increased by the same amount, the government said on Tuesday.

Why it matters: While inflation has plunged from its peak, the latest data shows that price increases, including for housing and insurance, remain difficult to stamp out.