>>U.S. Jobless Claims Are Up
(Washington, DC) -- Weekly U.S. jobless claims are up. The Department of Labor says the number of Americans filing unemployment insurance claims for the week ending April 8th was up eleven-thousand from the previous week to 239-thousand. The increase was bigger than expected, and is the highest level for initial claims since January 15th.
>>Elon Musk: Twitter Is "Roughly Breaking Even"
(San Francisco, CA) -- Elon Musk says Twitter is "roughly breaking even" since he acquired it in October. In an interview with the BBC, the CEO said he sometimes sleeps in the office and that the workload and stress levels have been high. He called it "quite a roller coaster." Lawmakers and regulators have pushed back against various decisions from Musk, including his changing the social media platform's rules to curb misinformation spread. Most recently, his plan to change Twitter's verification process has faced criticism. The blue check used to mean the account was proven to be a public figure's official social media, but now anyone who purchases a subscription to Twitter Blue will have the symbol.
>>Pandemic Related Tax Breaks May Not Apply this year.
(New York, NY) -- Many tax credits and deductions related to the pandemic will not be available this year and there are some changes related to the Standard deduction. CPA John Lieberman says the standard deduction has increased, but the tax rates stay the same which means more of your money is taxed at a lower rate than last year. The child tax credit is also going back to pre-pandemic levels to a max of two-thousand-dollars per child under age 17 for 20-22. That's down from 36-hundred for children under age six and three- thousand-dollars for kids under age 18. The biggest news this year is you don't have file your taxes until April 18th, because the 15th is a Saturday and the 17th is a holiday.
>>Anheuser-Busch Loses Five Billion In Anger Over Transgender Spokesperson
(St. Louis, MO) -- Beer giant Anheuser-Busch is down an estimated five billion dollars in value after announcing a partnership with transgender social media star Dylan Mulvaney. Shares fell four percent since March 31st after conservatives criticized Mulvaney, who has more than ten million followers. Mulvaney has said on Rosie O'Donnell's podcast that she thinks she's so vulnerable to attacks from anti-trans voices because she's so new to the community.
>>Rutgers Faculty Enters Fourth Day Of Strike
(New Brunswick, NJ) -- Rutgers University faculty and staff enter the fourth day of their strike over better pay and job security today. Crowds gathered on all three campuses yesterday for eight hours of picketing. Meanwhile, negotiators for both sides say talks will probably take a long time. Negotiations have already lasted nearly a year. Some classes are still taking place while others are being cancelled for the 67-thousand impacted students across three campuses in the final weeks of the semester.
>>Apple Opening First Stores In India
(Delhi) -- Apple is opening its first brick-and-mortar stores in India next week as the tech giant is optimistic about the economic potential. The first store opens April 18th in Mumbai followed by one in Delhi two days later. iPhone shipments to India grew by 16 percent year over year in 2022.
