A $70 million furniture manufacturing plant planned by SBA Home, a Lithuanian company that produces furniture for IKEA, will bring 250 new jobs to Mocksville, North Carolina, thanks to significant state and local incentives. The North Carolina Economic Investment Committee approved a $1.4 million job development investment grant, to be distributed over the next 12 years, while Mocksville and Davie County contributed $800,000 in incentives to support the project.
The Federal Reserve made its third consecutive interest rate cut on Wednesday, reducing its benchmark rate by a quarter of a percentage point. The move, widely anticipated by investors and financial markets, brings the federal funds rate to a target range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent. Since beginning its rate cuts in September, the Fed has now lowered rates by a total of 100 basis points, or one percentage point.
The prosecution concluded its case on Wednesday in the federal corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, setting the stage for closing arguments in the coming days.
Uber Technologies and its CEO Dara Khosrowshahi each donated $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, a company spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday.
A few years ago, the Buffalo Bills threatened to leave New York State unless a new stadium deal was secured. This kind of relocation bluff is common in the NFL, with only the Green Bay Packers standing out as a team with a municipally owned facility and a market too small to seriously consider relocation. Despite the ever-present threat of the Bills moving to a more lucrative market, Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul ultimately signed a deal providing $600 million in state funding for a new $2.1 billion stadium for the Bills, with Erie County contributing an additional $250 million. This was after team owner Terry Pegula threatened to move the franchise to Austin, Texas, where he would privately finance a stadium.
California lost 156,300 jobs in the first half of 2024, according to the latest federal quarterly payroll data, contradicting Governor Gavin Newsom’s optimistic claims about job growth in the state. While Newsom’s office had highlighted preliminary job survey data, which often overestimates employment numbers, the finalized payroll data shows a starkly different picture. In January, California’s payroll data counted 18,037,900 jobs, but by June, that number had dropped to 17,881,600, reflecting a significant job loss.
Incoming trade advisor Peter Navarro has reassured Americans that the tariffs planned for President-Elect Donald Trump's next term will not lead to inflationary pressures. Speaking with CNBC, Navarro pointed to the significant tariffs imposed on Chinese imports during Trump’s previous term, such as steel, aluminum, dishwashers, and solar panels. Despite fears that these tariffs would drive up prices, Navarro emphasized that they had no discernible impact on inflation. He also dismissed past warnings about inflation, recalling how critics had predicted economic chaos during Trump’s first term, only to see those fears prove unfounded.
