Today’s News
Trump proposal would lower vehicle mileage rules for automobile industry
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump last week announced a proposal to change vehicle mileage rules for the auto industry, loosening regulatory pressure on automakers to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and trucks. The plan, if finalized next year, would reduce fuel economy requirements, which set rules on how far new vehicles need to travel on a gallon of gasoline, through the 2031 model year. The rules will increase Americans’ access to the full range [...]
Shutdown cost Delta $200M, but CEO expects ‘really strong’ upcoming holiday travel season
The longest federal government shutdown on record cost Delta Air Lines an estimated $200 million, CEO Ed Bastian said last week in the first disclosure by a United States airline regarding the shutdown’s financial impact. Bastian told investors that refunds “grew significantly” as bookings also slowed amid the uncertainty in air travel caused by the 43-day shutdown, contributing to Delta’s loss of about 25 cents per share. The shutdown, which began Oct. 1, led to [...]
Filings for jobless benefits fall to the lowest level in more than 3 years
WASHINGTON (AP) — Applications for unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level in more than three years two weeks ago, potentially complicating the Federal Reserve’s decision this week on interest rates. The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits for the week ending Nov. 29 fell to 191,000 from the previous week’s 218,000, according to the Labor Department. That’s the lowest level since Sept. 24, 2022, when claims came in at 189,000. Analysts surveyed by [...]
Salesforce revenue climbs 9 percent; tech firm raises outlook for the current quarter
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — After riding the artificial-intelligence craze to new heights, business software maker Salesforce has been hit by a wave of investor skepticism that’s intensified the pressure on its CEO Marc Benioff to reverse the tide. Benioff, who helped spearhead the transition to cloud computing after founding Salesforce in 1999, got a chance to try to change the AI narrative last week with the release of his company’s latest quarterly results. The key [...]
Trump administration pauses immigration applications for people from 19 countries
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is pausing all immigration applications, such as requests for green cards, for people from 19 countries banned from travel earlier this year, as part of immigration changes in the wake of the shooting of two National Guard troops last week. The changes were outlined in a policy memo posted this week on the website of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency tasked with processing and approving all requests [...]
Legal News
Meta prevails in historic FTC antitrust case
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Meta has prevailed over an existential challenge to its business that could have forced the tech giant to spin off Instagram [...]
Judge approves opioid settlement for Purdue Pharma and Sackler family members
A federal bankruptcy court judge earlier this week formally approved OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s plan to settle thousands of lawsuits over the harms of opioids. [...]
Judge set to OK Purdue Pharma settlement deal
A judge last week said that he planned to approve a deal for OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler family who own [...]
Business News
Dells donate $6.25B to encourage families to claim ‘Trump Accounts’
NEW YORK (AP) — Billionaires Michael and Susan Dell have pledged $6.25 billion to provide 25 million American children 10 and under an incentive to [...]
Cyber Monday spending rises 4.5 percent
NEW YORK (AP) — Shoppers scoured for deals online on Cyber Monday, delivering strong sales for retailers and capping a five-day spending spree that kicked [...]
OECD predicts U.S. economy to grow 2 percent this year
WASHINGTON (AP) — The world economy has proven surprisingly durable in the face of President Donald Trump’s trade policies, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and [...]
Real Estate
National Association of Realtors economist forecasts home sales to increase 14% in 2026
Existing-home sales are projected to rise by around 14 percent in 2026, according to National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. Yun earlier this [...]
Mortgage rate falls to 6.23 percent
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage ended a three-week streak of increases, reflecting a pullback in long-term U.S. Treasury bond yields. The average long-term [...]
New limits set for RealPage rent algorithm
Landlords no longer could rely on rent-pricing software to quietly track each other’s moves and push rents higher using confidential data under a settlement between [...]
Politics
Growing exotic pet trade drives illegal online sales and a push for tighter rules
A growing exotic pet trade has conservationists calling for stronger regulations to protect the reptiles, birds and other animals in the wild that are increasingly [...]
National Park Service to raise fees for international tourists starting on Jan. 1
WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Park Service last week said it is going to start charging the millions of international tourists who visit United States [...]
Future of the federal government’s health-care plan remains unsettled
WASHINGTON (AP) — A health-care proposal circulated by the White House last week is running into the reality of Republican divisions on the issue — [...]