Makhlouf Says Ireland's Budget Plan Risks Overheating Economy
'There's a risk that we're in the wrong place,' Gabriel Makhlouf said in an interview with the Business Post Sunday.
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Long-Term Unemployment Rises In Worrying Sign For U.S. Labor Market
WASHINGTON – Signals of labor market weakness go beyond the headline numbers that prompted President Donald Trump to fire the government's head statistician last week. The jobs report released Friday showed a slowdown in hiring, a slight uptick in the national unemployment rate, and a few other clues that the economy is softening — including an increase in long-term unemployment. The number of people jobless for six months or more increased from 1.6 million to 1.8 million in July, representing 24% of the unemployed. It's the most people experiencing long-term joblessness since the end of 2021 and the highest percentage since February 2022, when the economy was still recovering from coronavirus lockdowns. Valerie Wilson, a labor economist at the liberal Economic Policy Institute, said the modest rise in long-term joblessness could reflect employers getting pickier about hiring as President Donald Trump's tariff regime changes the cost of doing business. 'People who have been unemployed for longer have clearly had some challenges in getting back into the labor market,' Wilson told HuffPost. 'I think that as things have softened, and employers are facing more uncertainty given the sort of chaotic nature of economic policy in this country, that it would be harder for those people to find new jobs.' The president's tariffs on goods imported from other countries are tantamount to a $1,219 tax increase on American households this year, according to an estimate by the conservative Tax Foundation. HuffPost readers: Dealing with long-term unemployment? Tell us about it – email arthur@ Please include your phone number if you're willing to be interviewed. Persistently high long-term joblessness was a hallmark of slow recovery from the Great Recession that officially ended in 2009. It disproportionately affected older workers, becoming a self-perpetuating problem as employers sought job applicants with minimal or no gaps on their resumes. Some economists worry another recession could be around the corner. The overall unemployment rate remained low in July, at just 4.2%, and the economy has continued to add jobs, albeit at a slower pace than previously estimated. Bureau of Labor Statistics data suggest the last three months were the weakest for job growth since the pandemic. Trump fired the BLS commissioner on Friday, claiming without evidence that the numbers were somehow 'rigged' to make him look bad. The labor force shrank slightly in July, helping hold down the unemployment rate even as the number of employed workers declined. Wilson noted the unemployment rate for Black Americans rose to 7.2%, up from a recent historical low of 4.8% in April 2023. 'Over the last two months, we're seeing the black unemployment rate pick up, which is another one that as that starts to rise, we start to look for signals of a broader slowing in the economy,' Wilson said.
Yahoo
an hour ago
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Wall Street stocks end lower as rally peters out
Wall Street stocks fell Tuesday as a rally ran out of steam following lackluster economic data, while investors monitor ongoing trade talks ahead of new tariff hikes set to take effect later this week. US President Donald Trump told CNBC he plans fresh tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. Trump also said he expects to raise the US tariff on Indian imports due to the country's purchases of Russian oil. The statements come before a separate set of tariff hikes goes into force on dozens of economies later this week. Swiss officials traveled to Washington Tuesday to try to strike a last-minute deal. Investors also digested an index of US services activity that came in at 50.1 percent, just barely in growth mode as companies contend with weaker hiring conditions and increased pricing pressure. The report comes on the heels of jobs data last Friday that pointed to slowing in the labor market. On the positive side, "a weaker economy could mean more rate cuts from the Fed," said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments. After opening higher, US indices fell into negative territory, with the S&P 500 ending down 0.5 percent. European markets ended mixed, with Paris dipping into the red, while oil prices retreated further on worries about the demand outlook. Swiss leaders flew to Washington on Tuesday in a last-ditch effort to avoid a hefty 39-percent tariff. Meanwhile, the European Union on Tuesday announced the suspension of its retaliatory tariffs on US goods worth 93 billion euros ($107 billion) after Brussels struck a deal with Washington last month. Among individual companies, Palantir Technologies jumped 7.9 percent after reporting its first quarter with more than $1 billion in revenues. The data analysis and artificial intelligence company also raised its full-year revenues forecast. Pfizer was another big winner after earnings as the drugmaker reported a big increase in profits to $2.9 billion behind higher sales of Covid-19 products and lower expenses. Shares jumped 5.2 percent. Diageo, the maker of Guinness stout and Smirnoff Vodka, rose 4.9 percent after raising its cost-savings targets following a sharp drop profits to the hit from US tariffs. - Key figures at around 2100 GMT - New York - Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 44,111.74 (close) New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.5 percent at 6,299.19 (close) New York - Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.7 percent at 20,916.55 (close) London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 9,142.73 (close) Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.1 percent at 7,621.04 (close) Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.4 percent at 23,846.07 (close) Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.6 percent at 40,549.54 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.7 percent at 24,902.53 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.0 percent at 3,617.60 (close) Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1582 from $1.1571 on Monday Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3294 from $1.3285 Dollar/yen: UP at 147.55 yen from 147.09 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 87.01 pence from 87.10 pence West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.7 percent at $65.16 per barrel Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.7 percent at $67.64 per barrel burs-jmb/st Sign in to access your portfolio
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an hour ago
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Redding council decides Tuesday night if voters go to polls for sales tax increase
Redding City Council members will decide Tuesday if voters will go to the polls in November to approve or reject a citywide 1% sales tax increase. The council will vote to go forward or not with a resolution to declare a special election to decide the new tax measure's outcome. If it lands on the Redding ballot and voters pass the measure, sales tax in Redding would increase to 8.25% — up from 7.25%. That 1% would generate an estimated $30 million revenue bump per year, according to the city. The money is intended to cover public safety services, parks and infrastructure, the resolution said. That new revenue would go a long way to plug the city's approximately $5-million budget deficit hole, opened because current revenue streams have yet to catch up with repairs and maintenance costs for Redding's streets, buildings, parks and airports, City Manager Barry Tippin reported last April. The council meets at 6 p.m. in council chambers at city hall, 777 Cypress Ave. Note to readers: If you appreciate the work we do here at the Redding Record Searchlight, please consider subscribing yourself or giving the gift of a subscription to someone you know. The council added the issue to Tuesday's agenda after a citizens' group collected enough signatures to put the measure on the ballot last July. Shasta County elections officials counted 9,073 signatures in favor of placing the measure on the ballot. They'd validated 6,120 of those signatures as of July 21, City Clerk Sharlene Tipton said at the council's July 22 meeting; 304 more signatures than the 10% of registered voters proponents needed to put the measure on a Redding ballot. 'We live and work in the community and we are concerned about the shortfalls facing the city,' Redding Rancheria CEO and measure supporter Tracy Edwards said in April. We obviously want public safety and all the things the tax initiative is going to support.' If the city council approves putting the measure on the ballot, and Redding voters turn it down, it will be the third time a city sales tax increase fizzled at the polls in 11 years. Redding voters rejected similar tax increases in 2014 and 2016. Shasta County voters also passed on a public safety measure in 2020. California cities with 8.25% sales tax rates include Gridley in Butte County, Orland in Glenn County and Crescent City in Del Norte County. Chico (9.25%) to the south and Yreka (8.75%) to the north both have higher sales tax rates, according to the state. Record Searchlight reporter David Benda contributed to this story. Jessica Skropanic is a features reporter for the Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. She covers science, arts, social issues and news stories. Follow her on Twitter @RS_JSkropanic and on Facebook. Join Jessica on Record Searchlight Facebook groups Get Out! Nor Cal , Today in Shasta County and Shaping Redding's Future. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. Thank you. This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Redding council considers 1% sales tax hike on November 2025 ballot Solve the daily Crossword
