>>Job Openings Fall To 2 Year Low In October
(Washington, DC) -- The number of job openings hit a two-year low in October. The Labor Department reported just over eight-point-seven million vacancies for the month. That's a decline of more than 600--thousand openings and a far bigger drop than expected. It's also a sign the tight labor market could be loosening. The total number of people being hired or quitting their jobs in October was little changed.
>>Supreme Court Hears Purdue Pharma Case
(Washington, DC) -- The liability of the OxyContin maker and its role in the U.S. opioid crisis is being scrutinized by the Supreme Court. The High Court heard a challenge today from the Justice Department to last year's six-billion-dollar settlement agreed by Purdue Pharma. The bankruptcy ruling by a New York court shielded the Sackler family, which controlled the company, from future litigation. Families of Oxycontin victims say they deserve to sue the Sacklers. Most of the money from the original deal would go to states, and Native American tribes to help fight the epidemic.
>>President Biden Received Recurring Payment From Son's Firm: House Panel
(Washington, DC) -- Financial records released by House Republicans show President Biden received monthly payments from his son Hunter's business in 2018. Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said Hunter's firm Owasco PC received payments from Chinese companies and other foreign entities, and claimed the payments of nearly 14-hundred dollars to Biden show the president participated and benefited from an alleged "influence peddling scheme." But leaked emails from Hunter Biden's infamous laptop suggest the payments were for a truck Joe Biden helped his son purchase. Hunter's lawyer in a statement also confirmed this, saying Joe Biden helped his son buy the truck when he was struggling financially due to his addiction. This comes as House Republicans are expected to ramp up their impeachment investigation into the president.
>>SpaceX To Launch Experimental Spacecraft This Weekend
(Cape Canaveral, FL) -- SpaceX is gearing up for an experimental spacecraft in Florida later this week. The company says its Falcon Heavy rocket will send a national security payload for the U.S. Space Force into orbit. The mission is part of the agency's National Security Space Launch program. The goal is to try out technology for an unmanned space platform. Liftoff is scheduled for this Sunday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. An exact time will come out closer to launch day.
>>Spotify Announces Layoffs
(New York, NY) -- Music streaming giant Spotify is announcing layoffs. CEO Daniel Ek announced Monday the company is letting go 17-percent of its employees. In an email to staff, Ek said Spotify had hired too many employees over 2020 and 2021 and they're taking "substantial action to rightsize" costs. This round of layoffs follows the company cutting six-percent of its workers at the beginning of the year and another two-percent in June. Spotify raised subscription prices earlier this year and reported a third quarter profit of almost 71-million dollars.
>>Striking Nurses, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Reach Deal
(New Brunswick, NJ) -- Union nurses and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital have hammered out a tentative agreement that would end the four-month-old strike. The deal between the 17-hundred nurses and the hospital was reached Friday but no details have been disclosed. Union members are attending informational meetings this week ahead of the ratification vote. No potential date when nurses would return to work has been announced. Nurses have been on the picket line in New Jersey since early August, demanding better staffing ratios, better pay and a cap on health insurance costs.
