>>In The Business Week Ahead
(Undated) -- Coming up in the business week ahead, the first notable economic report comes down today with the home builder confidence index. Housing starts and building permits follow on Tuesday, with existing home sales on Wednesday. Weekly jobless claims are due Thursday with most analysts expecting just a slight increase from 220-thousand to 221-thousand initial requests for unemployment benefits. Revised gross domestic product figures will also be out that day. Friday brings data on personal income and spending along with new home sales and consumer sentiment.
>>Chicago Fed Reserve Bank President: Making Progress
(Chicago, IL) -- The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago says a recession can be avoided, but it's too early to declare victory. Austan Goolsbee said on CBS' Face the Nation the U.S. economy has made "a lot of progress." Goolsbee said the U.S. is succeeding in one-half of what he calls a "dual mandate" of maximizing employment and stabilizing prices. He noted the U.S. has done "very well" with employment and "pretty badly" with inflation over the last several years.
>>Georgia Woman Pleads Guilty To Stealing From Facebook
(Menlo Park, CA) -- A former Facebook employee is pleading guilty to stealing more than four-million dollars from the company. According to the Department of Justice, Barbara Furlow-Smiles ran the tech giant's diversity, equity and inclusion programs between 2017 and 2021. She embezzled the money through fraudulent credit card charges and expense reports. A federal prosecutor accused the Georgia woman of abusing a position of trust as a global diversity executive for Facebook to defraud the company of millions of dollars.
>>New California Employment Laws Include Pay Raise For Fast Food Workers
(Sacramento, CA) -- 2024 is right around the corner and that means a pay increase for fast food workers in California. AB-1228 will increase the minimum wage to 20-dollars an hour. The law only applies to restaurants with more than 60 locations. Another new law going into effect in 2024 will prohibit employers from testing an applicant for cannabis use and discriminate against a worker based on their cannabis use off the job.
>>More Than Half Of High School Students Will Take Personal Finance Class
(Undated) -- More than half of U.S. high school students will soon be required to take a personal finance course before graduation. This, after Pennsylvania became the 25th state to guarantee a personal finance course for high school students when its governor signed a bill into law earlier this week. Personal finance courses generally teach high school students real-world lessons on topics including spending and savings, credit and credit scores, investing and managing risk. An official with the nonprofit Next Gen Personal Finance says as a result of the Pennsylvania legislation, 53-percent of high school students will have a mandatory financial education course.
