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A surge of hiring in September defies predictions, pointing to US job market’s enduring resilience
WASHINGTON (AP) — An unforeseen burst of hiring last month has lifted hopes that the economy will prove durable once again, even as an array of threats lie ahead. Businesses across the U.S. economy ramped up their hiring in September, defying surging interest rates, financial market turmoil, the ongoing threat of a government shutdown and an uncertain outlook to add the most jobs in any month since January. The hiring binge confounded expectations for a slowdown and added one more layer of complexity to the Federal Reserve’s high-wire effort to defeat inflation without causing a recession. The 336,000 jobs that were added in September raised the average gain for the past three months to a robust 266,000.
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Auto workers stop expanding strikes against Detroit Three after GM makes battery plant concession
DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers union says it will not expand its strikes against Detroit’s three automakers after General Motors made a breakthrough concession on unionizing electric vehicle battery plants. Union President Shawn Fain told workers in a video appearance Friday that additional plants could be added later. The delay came shortly after GM agreed to bring electric vehicle battery plants into the UAW’s national contract, essentially assuring that they will be unionized. Fain said GM’s move will change the future of the union and the auto industry.
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Rising long-term interest rates are posing the latest threat to a US economic ‘soft landing’
WASHINGTON (AP) — Surging interest rates are intensifying the challenges for the U.S. economy and threatening to derail the Federal Reserve’s drive to tame inflation without causing a deep recession. Since mid-summer, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note has steadily climbed, causing a spillover rise in other borrowing costs. The costs of mortgages, auto loans and credit card debt have all risen in response. The collective impact of higher rates across the economy could also weaken the government’s own finances. The jump in longer-term rates coincides with other threats, from higher gas prices and this week’s resumption of student loan payments to autoworkers’ ongoing strike and the risk of a government shutdown next month.
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Stock market today: Wall Street leaps after eventually finding things to like in nuanced jobs report
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street rallied in a whipsaw Friday and erased its morning losses after looking deeper into the nuances of a surprisingly strong report on the U.S. job market. The S&P 500 rose 1.2% after erasing an earlier drop of 0.9%. The Dow added 288 points, and the Nasdaq composite flipped to a gain of 1.6%. Stocks initially tumbled after the strong jobs report raised worries about upward pressure on inflation and the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates high. But Treasury yields pared their gains as the report also included some more encouraging nuggets for the Fed’s inflation fighters.
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Sam Bankman-Fried stole customer funds from the beginning of FTX, exchange’s co-founder tells jury
NEW YORK (AP) — Sam Bankman-Fried authorized the illegal use of FTX customers’ funds and assets to plug financial gaps at an affiliated hedge fund from the exchange’s earliest days, FTX’s co-founder Gary Wang told a New York jury on Friday, as prosecutors pressed their case that Bankman-Fried was the mastermind behind one of the biggest frauds in U.S. history. Eventually, the losses at the hedge fund, Alameda Research, became so large that there was no way to hide them any longer, Wang said in his second day of testimony.
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The US government seems ready to order a recall of millions of air bag inflators for safety concerns
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government appears poised to order a recall of millions of air bag inflators due to a manufacturing flaw that could send metal shrapnel rocketing through a car interior. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration held a public hearing Thursday on air bags made by ARC Automotive of Tennessee. At least 25 million vehicles containing ARC-made air bags could be affected. ARC has refused to issue a full-scale recall, setting the stage for the possible court fight. Thursday’s hearing was one of the final steps before the agency can issue a formal recall order and take the case to court for enforcement. The company maintains that no safety defect exists.
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Eligible electric and plug-in vehicle buyers will get US tax credits immediately in 2024
DETROIT (AP) — Starting next year, people who want to buy a new or used electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle will be able to get U.S. income tax credits at the time of purchase. The Treasury Department says the near-instant credits of up to $7,500 for an eligible new vehicle and $4,000 for a qualifying used vehicle should lower purchasing costs for consumers. This year eligible buyers can receive the credits, but they have to wait until they file their 2023 federal income tax returns to get the money. Under the Inflation Reduction Act buyers can transfer the credits to dealers, which can apply them at the point of sale starting Jan. 1. The vehicles have to qualify under guidelines spelled out in the law, and buyers’ incomes have to fall below limits.
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Data breach at MGM Resorts expected to cost casino giant $100 million
NEW YORK (AP) — The data breach that MGM Resorts is calling a cyberattack is expected to cost the casino giant more than $100 million. The Las Vegas-based company’s CEO Bill Hornbuckle says no customer bank account numbers or payment card information was compromised in the incident. But hackers stole other personal information — including names, driver’s license numbers and social security numbers belonging to some customers who did business with MGM prior to March 2019. Beyond the casino world, Clorox also disclosed a cyberattack recently. The maker of bleach and other household products says the attack has caused large-scale disruption of operations — and predicts a significant fall in sales for the first quarter of 2024.
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The S&P 500 rose 50.31 points, or 1.2%, to 4,308.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 288.01 points, or 0.9%, to 33,407.58. The Nasdaq composite rose 211.51 points, or 1.6%, to 13,431.34 The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 14.05 points, or 0.8% to 1,745.56.
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