Economic losses from wildfires burning in Los Angeles County for the past week could reach between $250 billion and $275 billion, according to forecasting firm AccuWeather.

Fires that killed at least 25 and burned more than 10,000 structures destroyed whole neighborhoods in places like Pacific Palisades and Altadena. The two worst fires remained far from contained as of Wednesday, with overall damages to the region already surpassing that of California’s entire 2020 wildfire season.

“These fast-moving, wind-driven infernos have created one of the costliest wildfire disasters in modern U.S. history,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said in a statement. Fire authorities have yet to determine the exact cause of the fires, which were fueled by high winds and dry conditions.

Total economic losses include all costs to governments, residents and businesses, some of which will be covered by federal recovery aid. Other analysts have predicted that insured losses for personal property are likely to surpass $30 billion.

Thousands of residents remained displaced or without electricity as of Wednesday. About 17 million residents were under health advisories related to windblown dust and ash, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District. 

Housing costs such as rents remained a big contributor in December as U.S. annual inflation posted at 2.9%, up from 2.7% in November, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.

The government’s consumer price report showed shelter cost inflation — which accounts for about one-third of total inflation — has been slowing for the past year, but expenses in that category still rose 4.6% on an annual basis.

Other categories rose less sharply from a year earlier, with healthcare costs up 3.4% and food costs increasing 2.5%. Overall energy costs declined 0.5%, aided by a 3.4% drop in gasoline prices.

Consumer price inflation ticked up in the final months of 2024 but stayed well below the peak of 9.1% reached in mid-2022. Inflation remains close to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target for optimal inflation “and keeps a potential rate cut in the first half of this year on the table,” Ryan Sweet, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, said in a statement.

“It’s hard to have strong conviction in the timing of cuts, where we believe the next occurs in March, because the labor market has improved and inflation will likely move lower early this year,” Sweet said. “Rate cuts remain reasonable but ultimately the decision could be determined by whether the Fed believes they’re critical to manage the downside risks to the economy.”

Also this week, the Labor Department reported that producer prices, which include costs to provide goods and services and can affect consumer prices, rose at an annual rate of 3.3% in December, up from 3% in November. Overall construction costs rose 0.9% from a year earlier, as inflation for that category continued to slow from the pandemic-era level.

Supermarket giant Albertsons plans to cut an undetermined number of corporate jobs across the country, the latest cost-reduction moves since regulators blocked its attempted $24.6 billion merger with rival Kroger.

Formal state notifications had not been filed as of Wednesday, but regional news reports and online posts by affected employees noted cuts are planned in Boise, Idaho, where the company has its headquarters, along with other offices in Arizona, California, Oregon and Texas.

“After many years of productivity efforts across several parts of our company, we recently turned our attention to our general and administrative expenses and made the difficult decision to reduce the size of our corporate and division support workforce,” a company statement said. “No store-level associates were impacted.”

A federal judge last month rejected the planned Kroger-Albertsons merger, siding with regulators in opposing the deal based on antitrust concerns. Executives of Albertsons, which has about 2,300 stores, said this month the grocer would be streamlining its fleet through closings and other cost cuts expected to total $1.5 billion over the next three years. But new store openings and remodelings are also in the works.