Initial jobless claims in the United States reached 232,000 for the week ending October 18, according to data from the US Department of Labor website. This represents a slight increase compared to the previous week. Meanwhile, continuing claims, which indicate the number of people still receiving unemployment benefits, reached 1.957 million in the same week, slightly higher than the 1.947 million the previous week. However, the jobless claims figures released this week are incomplete due to the government shutdown. Some unadjusted state-level jobless claims data is posted on the Department...
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday called for a single federal framework to regulate artificial intelligence, warning that differing state-level rules could impede investment and allow China to gain an edge. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said AI investment was helping make the U.S. economy the "hottest" in the world, but argued that state regulations risked weakening the sector. He criticised efforts by some states to embed diversity and inclusion standards into AI systems, claiming they would produce what he called "woke AI." "We MUST have one Federal Standard instead...
U.S. President Donald Trump is considering an executive order that would seek to preempt state laws on artificial intelligence through lawsuits and by withholding federal funding, according to a draft of the order seen by Reuters on Wednesday. The move, which is likely to face pushback from states, shows how far Trump is willing to go to help AI companies overcome a patchwork of laws they say stifle innovation. A White House official told Reuters that until officially announced, discussion of potential executive orders was speculation. The order would task Attorney General Pam Bondi with...
US job growth accelerated in September and the unemployment rate rose slightly, suggesting the labor market was showing signs of stabilization before the government shutdown. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 119,000 after declining the previous month, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Thursday. The unemployment rate rose to 4.4%. Hourly earnings rose 0.2% from the previous month. The September jobs report, originally scheduled for October 3, was the first important data point missed during the government shutdown. However, because the BLS had completed data collection by...
President Donald Trump's tariff increases on imports from foreign countries will reduce U.S. deficits by $3 trillion if they are maintained through 2035, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated on Thursday, instead of the $4 trillion the agency projected in August. The CBO based its latest estimate on tariffs imposed by Trump between January 6 and November 15. It said that primary deficits would be reduced by $2.5 trillion over 11 years, with government borrowing costs falling by around $500 billion as a result. The August estimate was $3.3 trillion and $700 billion,...