Business News

Federal Reserve minutes: Officials saw inflation cooling but were cautious about timing of rate cuts

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve’s policymakers concluded last month that inflationary pressures were easing and that the job market was cooling. In response, the officials chose to leave their key interest rate unchanged for the third straight time and signaled that they expected to cut rates three times in 2024. According to the minutes of their Dec. 12-13 meeting, Fed officials indicated in their own interest-rate forecasts that a lower benchmark rate “would be appropriate by the end of 2024″ given the steady progress toward taming inflation. But they ”stressed the importance″ of remaining vigilant and keeping rates high “until inflation was clearly moving down sustainably″ toward their 2% target.

US job openings fell slightly in November but remain high by historical standards

WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s employers posted 8.8 million job openings in November, down slightly from October and the fewest since March 2021. But demand for workers remains strong by historical standards. The number of job vacancies dipped from 8.9 million in October. And the number of people quitting their jobs — a sign of confidence in the labor market — fell to its lowest level since February 2021. The number of quits is now roughly where it stood before the pandemic erupted. Job openings dropped by 128,000 in transportation, warehousing and utilities and by 78,000 at hotels and restaurants. The federal government reduced job openings by 58,000. By contrast, openings in construction rose by 43,000 and in retail by 42,000.

US national debt hits record $34 trillion as Congress gears up for funding fight

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Treasury has announced that the nation’s gross national debt has surpassed $34 trillion. The record high comes after Republican lawmakers and the White House agreed to temporarily lift the nation’s $31.4 trillion debt limit last year after the government ran up against its legal borrowing capacity and needed to implement “extraordinary measures” to avoid a default. That agreement lasts until January 2025. Congress is gearing up for another funding fight.

Two large offshore wind sites are sending power to the US grid for the first time

For the first time in the United States, turbines are sending electricity to the grid from the sites of two large offshore wind farms. The joint owners of the Vineyard Wind project, Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, announced Wednesday the first electricity from one turbine at what will be a 62-turbine wind farm 15 miles (24 kilometers) off the coast of Massachusetts. Five turbines are installed there. One turbine delivered about five megawatts of power to the Massachusetts grid just before midnight Wednesday. Danish wind energy developer Ørsted and the utility Eversource announced last month that their first turbine was sending electricity from what will be a 12-turbine wind farm, South Fork Wind, 35 miles (56 kilometers) east of Montauk Point, New York.

The Empire State rings in the new year with a pay bump for minimum-wage workers

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s minimum-wage workers have more than just the new year to celebrate. A pay bump kicked in Monday as the clock ticked over to 2024. In the first of a series of annual increases slated for the Empire State, the minimum wage increased to $16 in New York City and some of its suburbs, up from $15. In the rest of the state, the new minimum wage is $15, up from $14.20. New York is one of 22 states getting minimum wage increases in the new year. In California, the minimum wage increased to $16, up from $15.50.

Stock market today: Wall Street slumps as its weak start to 2024 carries into another day

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell again as Wall Street’s slow start to 2024 carried into a second day. The S&P 500 lost 0.8% Wednesday, though it remains within 2% of its record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.2%. Some of last year’s biggest winners again weakened, and Tesla fell 4%. Treasury yields largely eased after reports showed a slowing economy, which economists hope will keep a lid on inflation but stop short of a recession. The minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting indicated rate cuts are likely this year but called the outlook unusually uncertain.

A jet’s carbon-composite fiber fuselage burned on a Tokyo runway. Is the material safe?

The runway fire in Tokyo is providing a key test of the safety of carbon-composite material on planes. Composite materials reinforced with carbon fibers make planes lighter, which helps them save fuel — a major cost consideration for airlines. But safety experts say there has always been concern about composite materials because if they catch fire the fumes are toxic. Another concern is the amount of time it can take to put out a fire involving composites.

China’s BYD is rivaling Tesla in size. Can it also match its global reach?

BEIJING (AP) — A less flashy Chinese electric vehicle maker is fast closing the gap with Tesla, the longtime, market-leading pioneer. BYD Co., based in the southern China tech hub of Shenzhen, dethroned Texas-based Tesla Inc. as the top seller of electric cars in the last three months of 2023, according to sales figures released by the companies this week. Tesla retained the crown for all of 2023, but BYD’s sales have skyrocketed on the back of a government-driven EV boom in China. The rise of BYD and other Chinese electric vehicle makers is a challenge not only for Tesla but also the world’s major automakers as Chinese competitors push into Europe, Southeast Asia and other overseas markets with a relatively affordable option for drivers who want to go green.

Brazil’s economy improves during President Lula’s first year back, but a political divide remains

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva likes to boast he had a good first year after returning to the job. The economy is improving, Congress passed a long overdue tax reform bill, rioters who wanted to oust him are now in jail and his predecessor and foe Jair Bolsonaro is barred from running for office until 2030. Still, the 78-year-old leader has struggled to boost his support on Main Street and among lawmakers, with some major setbacks included, in a sign his future could be less productive in a Brazil almost evenly split between his supporters and those of Bolsonaro.

Georgia agency awards contract to raise Savannah bridge to accommodate bigger cargo ships

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia state agency has chosen a general contractor to oversee a $189 million project to raise Savannah’s towering suspension bridge so that larger cargo ships can pass underneath and reach one of the nation’s busiest seaports. The Georgia Department of Transportation said Wednesday that construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2025 with Kiewit Infrastructure South Co. serving as general contractor. Officials with the Georgia Ports Authority have said for years that the Eugene Talmadge Memorial Bridge spanning the Savannah River is too low to accommodate future classes of larger ships can expected to call on the Port of Savannah. The DOT plans to raise the bridge up to 20 feet by replacing and shortening its massive support cables.