Economy

Axios reports: California’s economy has surpassed Japan’s, state Gov. Gavin Newsom announced, as he warned of potential impacts in the Golden State from President Trump’s sweeping tariffs. “CA just became the 4th largest economy in the WORLD,” Newsom said on X Thursday, after his office announced data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. …

Columbus’s NBC affiliate reports: Microsoft has confirmed that it is backing down on building data centers in Licking County. In a statement released Monday, the company did not give a reason for stopping the projects, only to say the decision was made “after careful consideration.” “After careful consideration, we will not be moving forward at this time with our plans …

CNBC reports: Stocks fell Tuesday as a relief rally proved short-lived and investor anxiety returned ahead of President Donald Trump’s next tariff deadline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 320 points, or 0.84 %, bringing its four-day loss on tariff angst to nearly 5,000 points. Apple led the losses with the iPhone maker’s costs set to surge with new China …

Investopedia reports: Stocks fell sharply in early trading Monday, extending last week’s massive sell-off, as the Trump administration showed no signs over the weekend of backing down from its plan to impose wide-ranging tariffs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 4.2%, or more than 1,600 points, about 10 minutes after the opening bell, while the S&P 500 and tech-heavy …

The Associated Press reports: Global stock markets extended a severe plunge Monday, fueled by fears that U.S. tariffs would lead to a global economic slowdown. European and Asian shares saw dramatic losses, the leading U.S. index flirted with bear market territory in pre-market trading, and oil prices sagged. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost nearly 8% shortly after the market opened …

The Associated Press reports: New York state officials have told the Trump administration that they will not comply with its demands to end diversity, equity and inclusion practices in public schools, despite the administration’s threats to terminate federal education funding. Daniel Morton-Bentley, counsel and deputy commissioner of the state Department of Education, said in a letter dated Friday to the …

The Hill reports: The U.S. economy added 228,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate stayed roughly even at 4.2 percent, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department. The monthly federal jobs report showed the labor market holding strong in March after another month of rising concern about the impact of President Trump’s economic agenda. March employment data …

The Hill reports: The Atlanta Federal Reserve is projecting a contraction of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) of 1.5 percent in the first quarter. The Atlanta Fed last week was predicting 2.3 percent positive growth for the first quarter. A month ago, it was registering 3.9 percent growth. The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow measure is not an official forecast but rather …

CNN reports: First-time applications for unemployment benefits rose much more than expected last week, a likely indication of some “noisy” data, but also a potential worrisome hint that cracks may be forming in America’s long-solid labor market. There were an estimated 242,000 jobless claims filed last week, according to seasonally adjusted data released Thursday by the Department of Labor. That’s …

The New York Times reports: As the price of eggs reaches record highs, the federal government is looking into importing more eggs from other countries and increasing funding for efforts to combat the spread of avian flu, the Agriculture Department said on Wednesday. The measures, announced by the department’s secretary, Brooke L. Rollins, in multiple news appearances, do not appear …

The Futurist reports: A professor and former Department of Labor economist is warning that unelected White House advisor and multi-hyphenate billionaire Elon Musk is sending the United States headlong into a huge recession. In a post on Bluesky, Jesse Rothstein, a University of California, Berkeley public policy professor who was the DOL’s chief economist at the start of the Obama …

Houston’s ABC affiliate reports: Major cuts appear to be coming for a huge Houston business. Chevron announced it’s planning to cut 20% of its workforce between now and the end of next year. The energy giant, which is headquartered in Houston, employs more than 40,000 people around the world, meaning cuts would be in the thousands. It’s unclear how many, …

The Associated Press reports: Egg prices hit a record high as the U.S. contends with an ongoing bird flu outbreak, but consumers didn’t need government figures released Wednesday to tell them eggs are terribly expensive and hard to find at times. The latest monthly consumer price index showed that the average price of a dozen Grade A eggs in U.S. …

CBS News reports: Inflation accelerated in January, rising 3% on an annual basis, indicating that the Federal Reserve’s push to drive inflation down to a 2% annual rate has stalled out, at least temporarily. The Consumer Price Index was forecast to rise 2.9% last month, according to economists polled by financial-data firm FactSet. The CPI, a basket of goods and …

The New York Times reports: Asian and European stock markets dropped on Monday as the global fallout from President Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China began. In the United States, shares were poised to open lower. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index and South Korea’s Kospi each fell more than 2.5 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange weighted index …

CNBC reports: Job growth was much stronger than expected in December, possibly providing the Federal Reserve less incentive to cut interest rates this year. Nonfarm payrolls surged by 256,000 for the month, up from 212,000 in November and above the 155,000 forecast from the Dow Jones consensus, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The unemployment rate edged down to …

The New York Times reports: In recent weeks, the bird flu outbreak has wiped out flocks of egg-laying hens, causing wholesale prices to surge just as many Americans are planning holiday recipes that call for more eggs, like cookies, eggnog and latkes. As of Thursday, the average wholesale price for a dozen eggs in the United States was up more …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The labor market remains in decent health. The latest nonfarm payrolls data shows 227,000 positions were created in November, topping expectations for 214,000 new jobs. Unemployment edged up to 4.2%, matching consensus forecasts. October’s figure, which was affected by hurricanes and strikes, was increased to 36,000 from an initial tally of 12,000, the Bureau of …

ABC News reports: The American economy expanded at a healthy 2.8% annual pace from July through September on strong consumer spending and a surge in exports, the government said Wednesday, leaving unchanged its initial estimate of third-quarter growth. U.S. gross domestic product — the economy’s output of goods and services — slowed from the April-July rate of 3%, the Commerce …

The Hill reports: Price increases have fallen to their lowest level in more than three years in the latest reading of the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, strengthening the outlook for more interest rate cuts to come. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index slid to a 2.1-percent annual increase in September, down from 2.3 percent in August and 2.5 …