___
US inflation eased slightly last month as price increases extend slow descent
WASHINGTON (AP) — Measures of U.S. inflation barely declined in September, evidence that consumer price increases are grinding lower at a gradual pace. Consumer prices rose 0.4% from August to September, below the previous month’s 0.6% pace. Year-over-year inflation was unchanged last month from a 3.7% rise in August. And underlying inflation declined a bit: So-called core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy costs, climbed 4.1% in September from a year earlier, down from a 4.3% pace in August. That is the smallest such increase in two years. Economists pay particularly close attention to core prices because they provide a good signal of inflation’s likely future path.
___
Social Security benefits will increase by 3.2% in 2024 as inflation moderates
WASHINGTON (AP) — The acting Social Security commissioner says a 3.2% increase in benefits next year “will help millions of people keep up with expenses.” The increase announced Thursday is far less than this year’s historic boost and reflects moderating consumer prices. The Social Security Administration says the average recipient will get more than $50 more per month. The AARP estimates $59 per month. About 71 million people including retirees, disabled people and children receive Social Security benefits. This year’s cost-of-living adjustment was 8.7%, triggered by record-high inflation pushing up costs of consumer goods. The cost-of-living adjustments have a big impact for people like 83-year-old Louisiana resident Alfred Mason, who says “any increase is welcomed.”
___
EU asks Musk’s X for information on hate speech and ‘illegal content’ related to Israel-Hamas war
LONDON (AP) — The European Commission has made a formal, legally binding request for information from Elon Musk’s social media platform X over its handling of hate speech, misinformation and violent terrorist content related to the Israel-Hamas war. It is the first step in what could become the EU’s inaugural investigation under the Digital Services Act. The aim would be to determine if the site formerly known as Twitter is in compliance with the tough new rules meant to keep users safe online and stop the spread of harmful content. Based on its assessment of X’s replies, the commission says it will assess its next steps, which could include the opening of formal proceedings and penalties.
___
Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyer struggles in cross-examination of the government’s key witness
NEW YORK (AP) — Sam Bankman-Fried’s defense lawyer has struggled through a meandering cross-examination of the FTX founder’s former girlfriend Thursday, keeping both the judge and the public guessing as to his strategy in countering the testimony of the government’s key witness. Caroline Ellison had testified over the two previous days that Bankman-Fried directed her at several times over the years to pull money from FTX customer accounts to fund investments and trading strategies at Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency hedge fund, Alameda Research. Ellison was the CEO of Alameda when it and FTX collapsed in November of last year.
___
Stock market today: Wall Street falls as the vise tightens from rising yields in the bond market
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks slipped as the clamps tightened on Wall Street from rising yields in the bond market. The S&P 500 fell 0.6% Thursday to break a four-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 173 points, and the Nasdaq composite gave back 0.6%. A weak auction for long-term Treasury bonds drove up yields across the bond market. Yields had already been climbing before the auction, following a report showing inflation was a touch higher last month than expected. Higher yields can knock down stock prices, all else equal. Oil prices were mixed after zigzagging through the day.
___
Ford says it’s at the limit on how much it can spend to get new contract with striking autoworkers
DETROIT (AP) — A top Ford executive says the company has reached the limit of how much money it will spend to get a contract agreement with the striking United Auto Workers union. Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford Blue, the company’s internal combustion engine business, told reporters Thursday that Ford stretched to get to the offer it now has on the table. His comments are starkly different from those made by UAW President Shawn Fain Wednesday when he announced an escalation of the union’s strike by walking out at Ford’s largest and most profitable factory. About 33,700 workers are now on strike against Ford and Detroit competitors General Motors and Stellantis.
___
The average long-term US mortgage rate surges to 7.57%, holding at highest level since 2000
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Home loan borrowing costs rose for the fifth straight week, keeping the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate at its highest level in more than two decades and taking another bite out of prospective homebuyers’ purchasing power. The average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan rose to 7.57% from 7.49% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.92%. High rates can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting how much they can afford in a market already out of reach for many Americans.
___
Ex-IRS contractor pleads guilty in leak of tax return information of Trump, wealthy people
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former contractor for the Internal Revenue Service charged with leaking tax information to news outlets about former President Donald Trump and thousands of the country’s wealthiest people pleaded guilty Thursday in an agreement with prosecutors. The Justice Department charged 38-year-old Charles Edward Littlejohn of Washington D.C. with stealing tax return information and giving it to two news outlets between 2018 and 2020. His sentence on one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax information will be decided in January by U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, who said she was deeply troubled by the leak.
___
Sony’s Access controller for the PlayStation aims to make gaming easier for people with disabilities
SAN MATEO, Calif. (AP) — Playing video games has long been a challenge for many people with disabilities, since the traditional controllers for the PlayStation, Xbox or Nintendo can be difficult or even impossible to maneuver when a person has limited mobility. Losing the ability to play doesn’t just mean the loss of a favorite pastime — it can also exacerbate social isolation for a community that already experiences it at far higher rates than the general population. Sony’s new Access Controller, developed with input from accessibility consultants, aims to change that.
___
The S&P 500 dropped 27.34 points, or 0.6%, to 4,349.61. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 173.73 points, or 0.5%, to 33,631.14. The Nasdaq composite eased 85.46 points, or 0.6%, to 13,574.22. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies shed 39.04 points, or 2.2% to 1,734.25.
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
