Blackstone said it has reached a deal to buy PS Business for about $7.6 billion, including debt. PSB, a real-estate investment trust, owns and operates industrial and low-rise suburban offices and business parks, mostly in California, Miami, Texas and Northern Virginia. As of March 30, the company owned 96 properties with 4,900 tenants. The company’s portfolio also includes 800 residential units.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled the central bank was likely to raise interest rates by a half percentage point at its meeting next month and indicated similar rate rises could be warranted after that to lower inflation.

Blackstone’s assets under management rose to $915.5 billion, up from $880.9 billion in the prior quarter and $648.8 billion a year earlier. The firm raised nearly $50 billion during the quarter, pushing it closer to its goal of reaching $1 trillion in assets by 2026.

Interest on the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage climbed from 4.72% a week ago to over 5%, its highest level since early 2011. Fifteen months ago, mortgage rates were at all-time lows.

U.S. inflation accelerated to 8.5% in March, a new four-decade high, as surging energy prices and higher food costs hit consumers.

Economists put the probability of the economy being in recession sometime in the next 12 months at 28%, up from 18% in January and just 13% a year ago.

Compared to pre-pandemic levels, hotel development costs have increased between 15% and 23%.

Average hourly earnings were up a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in March, following February’s relatively weak 0.1% rise. In the previous six months, by contrast, monthly wage gains averaged 0.5%.

Drivers are snatching up available vehicles as soon as they hit the lot. In the first quarter, 41% of all new vehicles were sold within the first week of sitting on a dealer lot, compared with 20% in the first quarter of 2021.

The Dow dropped about 550 points, wrapping up stocks’ worst quarter in two years as investors juggled war, inflation and rising interest rates.