Stocks showed signs of life as U.S. financial markets opened on Friday, stabilizing after a steep selloff the previous day driven by concerns over a potential slowdown in data center construction. In early trading, the S&P 500 climbed 72 points, or nearly 1%, erasing losses after it suffered its worst day since April 2025 on Thursday….
Next week’s midterm elections could prove momentous for Social Security, with time running out to put the program on solid financial ground. Social Security trustees’ most recent report projects that the program’s main trust fund is on course to be depleted by late 2032, after which Social Security recipients would face a more than 20%…
Some Americans are choosing to stay put instead of traveling for Thanksgiving, typically the busiest time of year for airlines, due to the high cost of airline tickets. Average fares for the Thanksgiving holiday were up 31% in August, compared to the same period last year, according to an analysis of the latest available data from…
Employers across the U.S. added 29,000 jobs in September, below economists’ forecasts and signaling that some businesses are holding off on hiring amid headwinds such as surging energy prices and higher inflation. Economists had forecast the economy would add 90,000 new jobs last month, according to financial data firm FactSet. The unemployment rate stood at…
Democratic congressional members and candidates are already planning to use any midterm election gains to expand health coverage, including boosting Affordable Care Act subsidies, reversing Medicaid cuts, and lowering the Medicare eligibility age. But Democratic strongholds across the country — including Oregon, California, New York, and Washington — have more ambitious goals: single-payer, universal healthcare…
Among the various proposals for bolstering Security is raising the retirement age at which Americans can claim full benefits. One lawmaker instead wants to lower it. Rep. Haley Stevens, a Michigan Democrat, on Thursday introduced the Blue Collar Social Security Fairness Act, which would reduce the retirement age for workers in construction, nursing, manufacturing and other physically…
Eliminating the funding shortfall in Social Security solely by raising payroll taxes could cost the typical U.S. worker and their employer thousands of dollars — a “financially impossible” burden for many Americans, according to an economist with the Cato Institute. Payroll taxes are the primary funding source for Social Security, although the program now pays…
Kansas City, Missouri — Vice President JD Vance announced Monday the Trump administration will suspend roughly 870,000 people suspected of defrauding pandemic-era small business programs from receiving future federal loans. The vice president contended that borrowers who stole taxpayer money should no longer be eligible to receive loans from government-backed programs. “If you screwed the…
The U.S. has many economies, not just one. Consider how much the gains in worker pay can vary from city to city. Nationwide, workers in August got a 4.7% bump in gross pay compared to a year ago, while their base pay rose by an average of 3.2%, according to ADP Pay Insights. Yet wages…
U.S. employers added 162,000 jobs in August, more than double economists’ forecasts and signaling a sharp acceleration from hiring in July. By the numbers Economists polled by FactSet forecast employers added 65,000 jobs in August. The unemployment rate was 4.1% in August, unchanged from the previous month. Hiring in August was boosted by job gains…
