Latest news with #labor
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Dollar Falls to 3-1/4 Year Low as President Trump Looks to Fast-Track His Pick for New Fed Chair
The dollar index (DXY00) on Thursday fell by -0.54%, reaching a 3-1/4 year low. The dollar retreated following a Wall Street Journal report that said President Trump is considering accelerating the announcement of the next Fed Chair. The dollar remained lower on Thursday's US economic news of a downward revision in Q1 GDP and a wider-than-expected May trade deficit report, which was a negative factor for Q2 GDP. The dollar received underlying support from stronger-than-expected initial unemployment claims, core capital goods orders, and pending home sales reports. Also, hawkish comments from Richmond Fed President Barkin were supportive of the dollar when he said he favors waiting for more clarity before adjusting interest rates. Dollar Falls to 3-1/4 Year Low as President Trump Looks to Fast-Track His Pick for New Fed Chair Dollar Falls as President Trump Looks to Fast-Track His Pick for New Fed Chair Stop Missing Market Moves: Get the FREE Barchart Brief – your midday dose of stock movers, trending sectors, and actionable trade ideas, delivered right to your inbox. Sign Up Now! US weekly initial unemployment claims fell -7,000 to 236,000, showing a stronger labor market than expectations of 243,000. However, weekly continuing claims rose +37,000 to a 3-1/2 year high of 1.974 million, above expectations of 1.950 million, signaling more people are staying out of work for longer. US Q1 GDP was revised lower to -0.5% (q/q annualized), weaker than expectations of no change at -0.2% as Q1 personal consumption was revised downward to +0.5% from +1.2%. The Q1 core PCE price index was revised higher to +3.5% (q/q annualized), stronger than expectations of unchanged at +3.4%. US May capital goods new orders nondefense ex-aircraft and parts rose +1.7% m/m, stronger than expectations of +0.1% m/m and the largest increase in 4 months. The US May trade deficit of -$96.6 billion was wider than expectations of -$86.1 billion, a negative factor for Q2 GDP. US May pending home sales rose +1.8% m/m, stronger than expectations of +0.1% m/m. Richmond Fed President Barkin said he expects tariffs will put upward pressure on prices, and with so much still uncertain, he favors waiting for more clarity before adjusting interest rates. The dollar retreated Thursday after the Wall Street Journal reported that President Trump may announce Fed Chair Powell's replacement as soon as September, an unusually early appointment. That reinforced expectations of a more dovish-leaning Fed, after Trump criticized Powell for holding interest rates steady. Because Powell's term expires in May 2026, announcing a new Fed chair far earlier than the traditional three-to-four-month transition period could allow the chair-in-waiting to influence expectations about the likely path for interest rates. An overly dovish Fed would likely produce higher inflation, which depreciates the value of the dollar. The markets are discounting a 25% chance of a -25 bp rate cut at the July 29-30 FOMC meeting. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) rose +0.43% and posted a 3-3/4 year high. The euro moved higher after the dollar fell on the report that President Trump may name Fed Chair Powell's successor as soon as September. The euro was undercut after the German Jun GfK consumer confidence index unexpectedly declined. The German Jun GfK consumer confidence index unexpectedly fell -0.3 to -20.3, weaker than expectations of an increase to -19.2. Swaps are pricing in a 9% chance of a -25 bp rate cut by the ECB at the July 24 policy meeting. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) fell by -0.63%. The yen climbed to a 1-1/2 week high against the dollar as the dollar tumbled on the Wall Street Journal report that President Trump would name a successor to Fed Chair Powell sooner than expected. Thursday's slide in the 10-year T-note yield to a 7-week low was also bearish for the dollar and bullish for the yen. August gold (GCQ25) on Thursday rose by +4.90 (+0.15%), and July silver (SIN25) rose by +0.481 (+1.33%). Precious metals closed higher on Thursday on the report that President Trump might announce his new Fed pick early, which could result in inflation and increased demand for precious metals as a store of value. The slump in the dollar index to a new 3-1/4 year low was also a bullish factor for precious metals. Silver prices had carryover support from Thursday's rally in copper prices to a 2-3/4 month high. Precious metals prices were undercut by reduced safe-haven demand with the rally in stocks. Also, hawkish comments from Richmond Fed President Barkin weighed on gold prices when he said he favors waiting for more clarity before adjusting interest rates. In addition, reduced geopolitical risks in the Middle East curbed safe-haven demand for precious metals as the ceasefire between Israel and Iran continues to hold. Thursday's downward revision to US Q1 GDP was negative for industrial metals demand and was bearish for silver prices. On the date of publication, Rich Asplund did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on
Daily Mail
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' Jen Affleck goes into labor with 3rd child while getting her nails done
Secret Lives of Mormon Lives star Jen Affleck went into labor with her third child while getting a manicure at a nail salon. The 26-year-old reality TV star took to TikTok on June 27 to share the news. 'POV: you start having contractions at your nail appointment,' the influencer wrote on the video. In the video a friend asks Jen how she's feeling, and she replies, 'I'm feeling great!' And it didn't phase the Mom Tok member at all. She began to time her contractions, did squats and showed off her new pink manicure. Jen made a call, likely to her husband Zac Affleck, to tell him she's in labor before doing squats and having the baby's heartbeat checked with a portable ultrasound device. Jen looked darling in a green and white striped tube top and matching flowy cotton pants. She laid on the ground and a woman did a check on her cervix while the soon-to-be mom of three did breathing exercises. The Salt Lake City-based couple are already mom and dad to Nora, three, and son Lucas, one. Jen revealed she was expecting her third child in February 2025 revealing that the child was 'a surprise' but nonetheless everyone was 'excited.' But all wasn't rosy for Jen as she broke down in tears on an episode of season two of The Secret Lives of Mormon Lives. She said she was 'stressed out of [her] mind' because she and Zac weren't 'on the best of terms' after they separated for awhile due to how Zac was treating Jen. The couple have been working on their relationship and are cautiously moving forward. Jen and Zac split at the end of season one of the popular reality TV show and went to therapy to work on things. 'Just because of everything that we went through last year and because of everything we've had to do so much therapy,' she explained to People. As for living apart, the soon-to-be mom of three said, 'It's all a blessing in disguise, but I definitely think it is daunting coming back to MomTok because we have gone through so much being a part of it,' Jen said. 'But again, we're learning so much on the way, so only taking the positives right now.' Zac and Jen are still figuring out their marriage and for the moment and Zac has put medical school in Arizona on the back burner. 'He still hasn't officially decided,' she said of whether he'll continue down that path. 'He still has about five months to decide, but as of right now, I think his priority is just supporting me and so I guess we'll see,' she told the outlet. While in therapy, the couple tried ketamine and Jen called it a 'life changer.' 'Definitely life changing — and I never thought I would try ketamine,' she told Us Weekly. 'But when you're looking for anything to help you try anything.' After she and Zac moved from Utah to Arizona, she wasn't feeling well and checked into a wellness center. 'Spent 11 days away from my loved ones, focusing on healing and working through my trauma,' Jen wrote via her Instagram Story in March. 'It was definitely one of the most challenging and impactful experiences I've ever had. Not the pregnancy journey I expected, but definitely what baby and I needed.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
California Democrats stage internal war over Gavin Newsom's late push to build more housing
SACRAMENTO, California — Gavin Newsom thought he could push an ambitious housing proposal through California's Democratic-controlled Legislature. Instead, he ran into a wall of resistance from should-be allies angrily comparing his plans to Jim Crow, slavery and immigration raids. Hours of explosive state budget hearings on Wednesday revealed deepening rifts within the Legislature's Democratic supermajority over how to ease California's prohibitively high cost of living. Labor advocates determined to sink one of Newsom's proposals over wage standards for construction workers filled a hearing room at the state Capitol mocking, yelling, and storming out at points while lawmakers went over the details of Newsom's plan to address the state's affordability crisis and sew up a $12 billion budget deficit. Lawmakers for months have been bracing for a fight with Newsom over his proposed cuts to safety net programs in the state budget. Instead, Democrats are throwing up heavy resistance to his last-minute stand on housing development — a proposal that has drawn outrage from labor and environmental groups in heavily-Democratic California. 'Anyone who believed this would not cause a giant explosion — they were living in la-la-land,' said Todd David, a San Francisco political consultant who has worked for state Sen. Scott Wiener and housing-focused groups. For Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential contender, it was a striking show of resistance from a flank of his own party over housing. A priority of the Democratic governor, Newsom had put his political capital behind an attempt to strong-arm the Legislature by making the entire state budget contingent on passing a bill to speed housing development by relaxing environmental protection rules. A spokesperson for Newsom pointed to a statement Tuesday night emphasizing partnership with lawmakers in reaching a budget deal while noting that 'it is contingent on finalizing legislation to cut red tape and unleash housing and infrastructure development across the state — to build more, faster.' The fault lines on display this week run deep. Construction unions and the statewide California Labor Federation have long resisted housing bills they see as eroding wage standards, often packing hearing rooms with members who urge lawmakers to vote no. Democrats have at times decried their union allies' hardball tactics. But Newsom's unprecedented intervention — and the forceful response from union foes — pushed the conflict into a whole new realm. 'To have legislation that is this large and this significant be forced through at the 11th hour … seems pretty absurd to me,' Democratic state Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez said at the hearing. 'I just cannot begin to explain how incredibly inappropriate and hurtful this is.' Scott Wetch, a lobbyist representing the trade unions, contended that this could be the first time since the Jim Crow era that California is 'contemplating a law to suppress wages.' Pérez, who represents a Los Angeles district, said the proposal was 'incredibly insensitive' amid immigration raids targeting mostly 'blue-collar workers who are Latino.' And Kevin Ferreira, executive director of the Sacramento-Sierra's Building and Construction Trades Council, told lawmakers the bill 'will compel our workers to be shackled and start singing chain gang songs.' In a sign of the stakes, the fight quickly spilled beyond California as North America's Building Trades Unions — an umbrella group covering millions of workers across the United States in Canada that rarely intercedes in state politics — sent Newsom a blistering letter warning the bill would 'create a race to the bottom.' Environmental groups piled on late Wednesday, with around 60 of them, including the Sierra Club and Earthjustice, blasting the proposal in a letter as a 'backroom Budget Trailer Bill deal that would kill community and environmental protections, even as the people of California are faced with unprecedented federal attacks to their lives and livelihoods.' Unions warned the governor was betraying his Democratic base. Gretchen Newsom, a representative of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said Newsom's stance was baffling to people 'looking at the Democratic Party and wondering what comes next for the governor.' 'I see this as a complete debacle and devastating to workers all across California,' said Newsom, who is not related to the governor. Labor leaders were once again at one another's throats, with many opponents faulting carpenters' unions who have backed streamlining efforts. Danny Curtin, director of the California Conference of Carpenters, said the scale of housing woes in California, where the price for the median home now tops $900,000, demanded an aggressive solution. 'The housing crisis is the most politically, socially, economically destabilizing crisis in California,' Curtin said. 'I would give the governor credit for trying to cut through another year of arguing.' In the broader budget negotiations, Newsom had largely capitulated to pushback from lawmakers over the steepest cuts he had proposed making to the state's Medicaid program, particularly for undocumented immigrants. Now, he is putting his political capital behind affordability proposals. But in a sign that Newsom's influence may be waning, lawmakers on Wednesday delayed a vote over wage provisions tucked into a separate budget bill. The proposal would allow developers to set a minimum wage standard for construction workers on certain affordable housing projects that could be lower than what union workers currently command. 'It's not a simple thing around the edges,' said state Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, a Los Angeles Democrat. 'It is a massive change. It challenges the role of collective bargaining in this state that has never been done before.' Wiener, a state budget negotiator who for years has fought to remove obstacles to denser housing development in California, defended the proposal at the hearing as setting a 'floor, not a ceiling' for wages. But he admitted that the swift and ferocious opposition led him to delay the vote. 'It's always appropriate for people to say, 'This needs to be changed, that needs to be changed. This wage is too low, that wage is too low,' Wiener said. 'That's always appropriate.' The governor was markedly less aggressive this year in his efforts to wring a budget deal out of lawmakers. Newsom did not attend caucus meetings in person to make his case for the housing legislation, as he has with previous proposals, although he has been in touch with some lawmakers via text message. Some of that was a matter of timing: Newsom has been preoccupied by the White House launching sweeping immigration raids and then deploying federal troops to Los Angeles, fomenting a standoff that overlapped with budget negotiations. Corey Jackson, a Democrat from Southern California who chairs an Assembly budget committee on human services, said that while he wasn't privy to Newsom's involvement in discussions, California needs a governor who is '24/7 going to be focused' on the state. 'Because our issues are that complicated,' Jackson said. 'And the number of crises that come up in California, as you've seen, will continue to happen every year.'
CTV News
2 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Tentative deal reached to end DHL Express lockout
Video The union says a tentative agreement has been reached to end the DHL Express lockout. Workers have been off the job since June 8.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Fourth-generation Puebloan announces run for Pueblo City Council District 3
Joseph Perko seeks to welcome progress while also preserving Pueblo's legacy if elected to Pueblo City Council's District 3 seat. The fourth-generation Pueblo resident and union member is running for council in 2025 with goals to clean up the city and champion labor, public outreach and urban improvement. As a candidate for District 3, Perko's bid for a council seat will be determined by residents of Aberdeen, the Mesa Junction, Regency, Sunset Park and other communities in the southwest quadrant of the city. Perko has a business degree and is an electrician by trade with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 12. "As a blue-collar union member, I am all too aware of the challenges our workers and unions face as well as the benefits they stand to gain if empowered," Perko said in a written campaign announcement. "There is growth, development and industry all over Pueblo and yet our workers continue to see wages be outpaced by the cost of living, watching laborers in our sister cities around Colorado enjoy far greater gains." Often an attendee of Pueblo City Council meetings, Perko told the Chieftain he's considered running for office for about six years. While he said he respects the current council's thoroughness in addressing and debating issues, he feels council members can be "needlessly contentious with one another." Perko said he does not fully understand why some current council members have disregarded community-led efforts to preserve the City Park Bathhouse and that there is no need to tear it down. He also opposed city government's funding cuts to nonprofits like the Mariposa Center for Safety, Pueblo Zoo and Sangre de Cristo Arts Center, which the city made before passing its 2025 city. "I strongly disagree with a lot of the ways that they are trying to get this new budget... just trying to cut everything that we view as essential," Perko said. "I think it takes away from a lot of the things that give people opportunities, which just furthers economic decline, reduces our tax base and makes it harder for people to want to stay here." In his campaign announcement, Perko advocated for training programs to grow the local labor pool, tidying up the city's most distressed areas to make Pueblo more welcoming, and work programs to employ unhoused and probationary individuals. "Give them a chance to work cutting overgrowth, picking up litter, simple things like that. In time, they could work their way up to full-time employment and obtain housing," Perko said in the announcement. "Investment could be made in networks of medical and mental health treatment so they can have the abilities to elevate themselves out of their situation with confidence, independence and compassion. Perko will host a mixer and formal campaign launch event at his brother Anthony Perko's law office, Perko Law, LLC, at 113 Broadway Ave., from 4 to 6 p.m. on June 28. Half-cent sales tax: Mayor proposes change to half-cent sales tax criteria. Could it bring a Costco to Pueblo? Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached at JBartolo@ Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Fourth-generation Puebloan announces 2025 bid for city council
