Business Highlights: Low jobless claims signal healthy economy; Bankman-Fried fate in hands of jury
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US applications for jobless benefits remain at historically healthy levels
The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits inched up last week but remains low by historical standards, even with the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes meant to cool the economy and taper lingering inflation. Unemployment claims rose by 5,000 to 217,000 for the week ending Oct. 28, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Jobless claim applications are seen as representative of the number of layoffs in a given week. Overall, 1.82 million people were collecting unemployment benefits the week that ended Oct. 21, about 35,000 more than the previous week.
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Jury begins deliberating fate of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York jury has begun deliberating whether FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was guilty of fraud in the disappearance of billions of dollars from his customers’ accounts on the cryptocurrency exchange. The jury began deliberating in Manhattan federal court on Thursday afternoon after a judge explained the law that will steer them through seven charges lodged against the 31-year-old California man. Bankman-Fried testified during the monthlong trial that he did not defraud thousands of investors worldwide. He was extradited to New York from the Bahamas last December to face the charges. He’s been jailed since August.
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Stock market today: Wall Street leaps toward its best week of 2023 on hopes for a halt to rate hikes
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street roared higher, adding to its rally from the day before on hopes the Federal Reserve may finally be done with its market-rattling hikes to interest rates. The S&P 500 jumped 1.9% Thursday. The Dow added 564 points, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.8%. Stocks around the world leaped after the Federal Reserve late Wednesday hinted that a recent jump in Treasury yields may be acting like a rate-hike substitute. The 10-year yield fell further Thursday, releasing pressure that had built on Wall Street. Reports on the U.S. economy also offered hope for momentum pulling down on inflation.
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Cedar Fair and Six Flags will merge to create a playtime powerhouse in North America
Cedar Fair and Six Flags are merging, creating an expansive amusement park operator with operations spread across 17 U.S. states and three countries. The combined company will include 27 amusement parks, 15 water parks and nine resort properties in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The company’s newly formed board will include six directors from Cedar Fair and six directors from Six Flags. The business will be headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and will keep significant finance and administrative operations in Sandusky, Ohio, where Cedar Fair is based.
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UAW members at the first Ford plant to go on strike overwhelmingly approve the new contract
DETROIT (AP) — Autoworkers at the first Ford factory to go on strike have voted overwhelmingly in favor of a tentative contract agreement reached with the company. Members of Local 900 at the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan, west of Detroit voted 81% in favor of the four year-and-eight month deal. That’s according to Facebook postings by local members on Thursday. Two union officials confirmed the accuracy of the percentage. Neither wanted to be identified because the vote totals had not been made public. About 3,300 UAW members went on strike at the plant Sept. 15 after the union’s contract with Ford expired. They remained on the picket lines until Oct. 25, when the union announced the tentative deal with Ford. Voting at Ford will continue until Nov. 17.
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Retail trade group: holiday sales expected to slow to 3% to 4%, compared with 5.4% growth a year ago
NEW YORK (AP) — The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, expect shoppers will spend more this year than last year, but their pace will slow given all the economic uncertainty. The group said Thursday that it expects holiday sales to be 3% to 4% for November through December, compared with 5.4% growth of a year ago. Sales for the two-month period will increase to between $957.3 billion and $966.6 billion. The pace is consistent with the average annual holiday increase of 3.6% from 2010 to pre-pandemic 2019. Americans ramped up spending during the pandemic, which accounted for some outsized sales numbers. For the holiday 2021 season, sales for the two-month period surged 12.7%.
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The average long-term US mortgage rate slips to 7.76% in first drop after climbing 7 weeks in a row
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan fell slightly this week, ending a seven-week climb —- modest relief for prospective homebuyers grappling with an increasingly unaffordable housing market. The average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan fell to 7.76% from 7.79% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.95%. High rates can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting how much they can afford in a market already out of reach for many Americans. They also discourage homeowners who locked in rock-bottom rates in recent years from selling.
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Uber and Lyft will pay $328 million to settle wage theft claims in New York
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft will pay a combined $328 million to settle wage theft claims in New York. Attorney General Letitia James announced the settlement Thursday. She says the companies were improperly deducting sales taxes and other fees from drivers when the costs should have been paid by customers. Uber will pay $290 million and Lyft will pay $38 million. The money will be distributed to current and former drivers. The companies have also agreed to provide drivers with paid sick leave and give drivers outside of New York City a minimum wage of $26 per hour.
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The S&P 500 rose 79.92 points, or 1.9%, to 4,317.78. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 564.50 points, or 1.7%, to 33,839.08. The Nasdaq composite rose 232.72 points, or 1.8%, to 13,294.19. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 44.51 points, or 2.7% to 1,714.21.