>>199,000 Jobs Added In November

(Washington, DC) -- The latest jobs report shows the economy added 199-thousand jobs in November. Figures from the Labor Department also show the unemployment rate dipped to three-point-seven percent last month. The report was slightly stronger than expected raising concerns the Federal Reserve may hold interest rates steady for longer. Consumer Sentiment

 

>>Consumer Sentiment Jumps 13% In December

(Ann Arbor, MI) -- Consumer sentiment is sharply higher this month as inflation fears ease. The University of Michigan's early reading for December jumped 13 percent after four months of declines. The survey noted improved sentiment across all age and income groups, with inflation expectations for the year ahead plunging to their lowest level since March 2021. Consumer sentiment is now nearly 40 percent above its all-time low measured in June of 2022.

 

>>Mortgage Refinance Applications Increasing

(New York, NY) -- Mortgage rates are falling back toward seven-percent after surging over eight-percent in October and that's jump-starting the refinance market. Applications to refinance a home loan increased 14% from the previous week and were ten-percent higher than the same week one year ago. However, applications for a mortgage to purchase a home were 17-percent lower than a year earlier. Slower inflation and financial markets anticipating the potential end of the Fed's hiking cycle are both behind the recent decline in rates. Mortgage rates continued to move lower this week. The government's monthly employment report will be released Friday, which could either continue that trend or reverse it, depending on what it says about the economy.

 

>>AMD Shares Jump After Launch Of AI Chip To Rival Nvidia

(Santa Clara, CA) -- AMD shares jumped on Thursday, for the stock's best day since May and its highest close since June. Shares of the Silicon Valley-based semiconductor company closed at 128-37 one day launching new artificial intelligence chips that will compete against Nvidia [[ nih-VID-ee-uh ]] to power AI applications. CEO Lisa Su said Microsoft and Meta have committed to using AMD's new chip. Nvidia has dominated the AI chip market for the past year, but cloud providers and tech companies have been searching for an alternative to lower costs and provide flexibility.

 

>>CEO Says 10M Signed Up For X In December

(San Francisco, CA) -- The CEO of X says over ten-million people signed up for the social media platform in December. CEO Linda Yaccarino made the claim Thursday in a post on X. The platform does not normally release user data, and it's not clear how the December sign-ups compare to the monthly average. The New York Times recently reported that X could lose as much as 75-million dollars in advertising revenue by the end of the year as major brands including Apple and Disney suspend their marketing campaigns on the platform, which has been accused of placing ads next to posts supporting antisemitism.

 

>>Post Pandemic Travel Boom Continues In 2024

(New York, NY) -- Airlines expect record traveler numbers and revenues in 2024, but the high cost of capital continues to plague the industry. The airline industry expects net profits to reach 25-point-seven billion in 2024 on a two-point-seven percent profit margin. Around four-point-seven billion people expected to travel in 2024; that number tops pre-pandemic levels of four-point-five billion travelers in 2019. While the speed of the recovery has been extraordinary; it also appears that the pandemic cost the aviation industry about four years of growth. However next year's outlook shows more normal growth patterns for both passenger and cargo.

 

>>Top 1% Of Earners Own More Wealth Than Entire Middle Class

(Washington, DC) -- The richest Americans are richer than ever. New figures from the Federal Reserve show that the top one-percent of earners in the U.S. own more wealth than all middle class Americans combined. According to statistics through the middle of this year, 26-and-a-half percent of all household wealth, 38-point-seven trillion dollars, belongs to those whose income puts them in the top one-percent. Middle class households own about 26-percent of the nation's wealth.