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Solid US hiring lowers unemployment rate in latest sign of a still-sturdy job market

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:49:50 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. businesses and other employers added a healthy 199,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell, fresh signs that the economy could achieve an elusive “soft landing,” in which inflation would return to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target without causing a steep recession.Friday’s report from the Labor Department showed that the unemployment rate dropped from 3.9% to 3.7%, not far above a five-decade low of 3.4% in April. The jobless rate has now remained below 4% for nearly two years, the longest such streak since the late 1960s.Last month’s increase was inflated by the return of about 40,000 formerly striking auto workers and actors, who were not at work in October but were back on the job in November.The jobs report and other recent data portray an economy and a labor market that, while still sturdy, are downshifting back to pre-pandemic norms. Businesses are hiring but are less desperate to fill huge numbers of jobs. More Americans have come off the sidel...

Gov. Wes Moore to Maryland county leaders: ‘I know that our trust is being tested’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:49:50 GMT

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Annapolis, Md., Thursday, March 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)(AP/Susan Walsh) Maryland Gov. Wes Moore speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Annapolis, Md., Thursday, March 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)(AP/Susan Walsh) Gov. Wes Moore (D) told a gathering of county leaders still reeling from news of deep cuts in transportation projects that he backs the proposal, describing it as hard medicine.For two days, officials from around the state have grumbled about $3.3 billion in cuts including deep reductions to highway user revenues, the primary source of local road repair funding for counties.“I know that our t...

Tentáculos de mafias criminales están tocando el fútbol y medios en Ecuador, advierte embajador de EE.UU.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:49:50 GMT

(CNN Español) — El embajador de Estados Unidos en Ecuador, Michael Fitzpatrick, arremetió este jueves con dureza sobre la situación del crimen organizado en el país, la debilidad del sistema de justicia y la presunta infiltración de mafias asociadas al lavado de dinero y el narcotráfico en equipos de fútbol y en los que denominó “medios sociales”.Las declaraciones del embajador se registraron durante un evento en la Universidad de las Américas de Quito para conmemorar el vigésimo aniversario de la Convención de las Naciones Unidas contra la Corrupción.“Están lavando su plata y los bienes reales en cuentas bancarias, en empresas ficticias. Sus testaferros ahora están metidos en hasta la pasión nacional, el fútbol, usando algunos equipos para lavar su cara y su plata”, dijo Fitzpatrick en declaraciones recogidas por Ecuavisa, afiliada de CNN. El embajador estadounidense no mencionó cuáles serían estos equipos de fútbol.El mayor reto de Daniel Noboa, presidente electo de Ecuador,...

The year in review: Influential people who died in 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:49:50 GMT

Yevgeny Prigozhin rose from being an ex-con and hot dog vendor to winning lucrative Kremlin contracts and heading a formidable mercenary army. But it all came to a sudden end when the private plane carrying him and others mysteriously exploded over Russia.Prigozhin’s Aug. 23 death put an exclamation point on what had already been an eventful year for the brutal mercenary leader. His Wagner Group troops brought Russia a rare victory in its grinding war in Ukraine, capturing the city of Bakhmut. But internal friction with Russian military leaders later burst into the open, with Prigozhin briefly mounting an armed rebellion — the most severe challenge yet to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule.The rebellion was called off and a deal was struck in less than 24 hours. However, just two months later, Prigozhin joined the list of those who have run afoul of the Kremlin and died unexpectedly.He was just one of a number of noteworthy people who died in 2023.The world also said good...

Stock market today: Stocks drift up as Wall Street weighs whether economy is too warm or just right

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:49:50 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting higher Friday as Wall Street weighs how to read a report showing the U.S. job market isn’t slowing as much as expected.The S&P 500 was 0.4% higher in morning trading, close to extending its weekly winning streak to six. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 92 points, or 0.3%, as of 10:27 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.4% higher.Yields rose in the bond market following the report, which said U.S. employers added more jobs than economists expected last month. Workers’ wages also rose more than expected, and the unemployment rate unexpectedly improved.The strong data keep at bay worries about a possible recession, at least for a while longer, and stocks of some companies whose profits are closely tied to the strength of the economy were rising. Energy-related companies had the biggest gains, with those in the S&P 500 up 1.2% as oil prices rose amid hopes for more demand for fuel.Carrier Global gained 5.5% for one of the ...

Chronic fatigue syndrome is more common than some past studies suggest, CDC says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:49:50 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials on Friday released the first nationally representative estimate of how many U.S. adults have chronic fatigue syndrome: 3.3 million.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s number is larger than previous studies have suggested, and is likely boosted by some of the patients with long COVID. The condition clearly “is not a rare illness,” said the CDC’s Dr. Elizabeth Unger, one of the report’s co-authors. Chronic fatigue is characterized by at least six months of severe exhaustion not helped by bed rest. Patients also report pain, brain fog and other symptoms that can get worse after exercise, work or other activity. There is no cure, and no blood test or scan to enable a quick diagnosis. Doctors have not been able to pin down a cause, although research suggests it is a body’s prolonged overreaction to an infection or other jolt to the immune system.The condition rose to prominence nearly 40 years ago, when clusters ...

Otra persona muere por el preocupante brote de salmonela en EEUU

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:49:50 GMT

Otra persona murió en Estados Unidos tras contraer salmonela aparentemente contraída al comer melón cantaloupe contaminado o algunas presentaciones de la fruta precortada, informaron este viernes los Centros para el Control y Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC, por su sigla en inglés).Con esta ya son tres las personas que han fallecido debido al preocupante brote de salmonela en 38 estados y que tiene en alerta a las autoridades sanitarias. El brote detectado hace semanas continúa en aumento y no ha sido posible erradicarlo. De hecho, los CDC actualizaron una alerta de seguridad alimentaria por las infecciones causadas por la salmonela.Hasta el momento, se han reportado 230 casos de salmonela, de los cuales 96 han terminado en hospitalizaciones y tres muertes. Mucho ojo: emiten alerta por brote de salmonela vinculado con melones Los estados más afectados y con mayor número de casos son: Minnesota: 20Wisconsin: 18Texas: 16Arizona: 15 Los CDC han retirado del m...

Watch Out: A financial aid error could result in students receiving less money

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:49:50 GMT

If you plan to apply for Federal Student Aid this year, better known as FAFSA, make sure to know about an accounting error on their part because it might leave you feeling ripped off. A new revised version of the application is set to launch by the end of this month but there is one problem: it is using old data from 2020 and it is not accounting for inflation. A federal law requires the Department of Education to update those numbers annually, but if left unchanged — millions of students may receive less aid.

Man wins $10 million lottery jackpot – for the second time

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:49:50 GMT

(CNN) — Wayne Murray clinched the $10 million prize this month in the New York Lottery’s 200X scratch-off game – just 16 months after he won the same amount in its Black Titanium scratch-off game, the state agency that runs the games said.For his latest jackpot – as with his first – Murray opted to take home a single lump payment of $6,122,400, it said. Both tickets were bought at the same H & A Gas & Convenience store in Brooklyn, the lottery said.“It feels very humbling and liberating,” Murray told lottery officials last year after his win.The odds of winning the 200X scratch-off game are 1 in 3.5 million, while the odds of winning the Black Titanium are 1 in 3.6 million, according to the agency.The New York Lottery’s scratch-off games raked in over $4.4 billion in sales this past fiscal year, during which school districts across New York City boroughs got over $1 billion in aid, it said.

Crews respond to sunken vessel near Government cut

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:49:50 GMT

A vessel that took on water off Government Cut Friday morning prompted a swift response by rescue crews. U.S. Coast Guard boats responded at the scene three miles off of Government Cut where crews rescued two boaters from the sunken vessel. 7Skyforce hovered over the scene where the vessel was submerged in the water. Good Samaritans also assisted in the rescue effort. No injuries were reported. Please check back on WSVN.com and 7News for more details on this developing story.