Walmart is reporting another quarter of strong results as its low prices pull in shoppers scouring for discounts with inflation stubbornly high.

Walmart reported strong first-quarter sales results as the nation’s largest retailer’s low-prices continue to draw budget conscious consumers in a challenging economic environment of stubbornly high inflation.

Americans cut their spending at retail stores and restaurants in March for the second straight month, a sign consumers are becoming more cautious after a burst of spending in January.

The American job market has once again confounded expectations.

The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge rose last month at its fastest pace since June, an alarming sign that price pressures remain entrenched in the U.S. economy and could lead the Fed to keep raising interest rates well into this year.

Walmart is taking a cautious approach to the holiday shopping season, announcing it will hire 40,000 U.S. workers for the holidays, a majority of them seasonal workers.

“Oh I wish I were an Oscar Mayer Wiener, that is what I’d truly like to be...”

Walmart is moving more of its workers to full time.

This July 2020 photo provided by Walmart shows the bright signage and Walmart logos from the parking lot outside the Walmart Supercenter in Springdale, Ark. Walmart is getting inspiration from the airport terminal as it revamps the layout and signage of its stores to speed up shopping and better cater to smartphone-armed customers. (Mark Steele + FITCH/Courtesy of Walmart via AP)NEW YORK – Walmart is getting inspiration from the airport terminal as it revamps the layout and signage of its stores to speed up shopping and better cater to smartphone-armed customers. Walmart says it was working on a new store layout a year ago. As customers enter the store, they will see colorful iconography and a store directory that encourages them to download and use the Walmart app while they shop.

On Friday, Jan. 31, 2020, the Labor Department reports on wages and benefits for U.S. workers during the Oct.-Dec. quarter. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)WASHINGTON Wages and benefits for U.S. workers rose at the slowest pace in three years in the April-June quarter, a sign that businesses are holding back on pay as well as cutting jobs in the coronavirus recession. Pay and benefits increased 0.5% in the second quarter, according to the government's Employment Cost Index, released Friday. That has left the unemployment rate at 11.1%, one of the highest rates since the Depression. Pay and benefits increased 2.7% in the year ending in June, the same as in June 2019.

U.S. consumer prices increased slightly last month, driven higher by more expensive food. The Labor Department said Wednesday, March 11, 2020, that the consumer price index ticked up 0.1% last month, matching its January increase. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)WASHINGTON U.S. consumer prices dropped in May for the third straight month as the coronavirus pandemic pushed the American economy into a recession. The Labor Department said Wednesday that its consumer price index fell 0.1% last month after tumbling 0.8% in April and 0.4% in March. Excluding food and energy prices, which bounce around from month to month, so-called core inflation fell 0.1%, falling for the third consecutive month for the first time ever.