Costco Wholesale Corp. reported a fall in gross margins on Thursday, hit by soaring freight and labor costs across the United States, sending shares of the membership-only retailer down 2 percent and overshadowing an otherwise upbeat quarterly report.
U.S. companies across the board have been struggling with higher costs due to supply chain disruptions, exacerbated by fresh COVID-19 lockdowns in China and the Russia-Ukraine war which came on top of “massive” government stimulus and unusually accommodative monetary policy from the U.S. central bank.
