- Columbia University Agrees to Pay $200 Million to Restore Federal Funding
By Joseph Lord
Columbia University will pay $200 million to resolve allegations that it discriminated against Jewish students, in exchange for the restoration of federal ...
- Supreme Court Allows Trump to Fire Consumer Safety Officials for Now
By Matthew Vadum
The Supreme Court on July 23 allowed President Donald Trump to fire three Biden appointees at the Consumer Product Safety Commission for ...
- 5 Men Sentenced in America’s Largest Internet Piracy Case: DOJ
By Naveen Athrappully
Final judgments for five men accused of operating “one of the largest illegal television streaming services” in the United States were issued ...
- Man Accused of Striking Crowd in Los Angeles Charged With 37 Counts of Attempted Murder
By Katabella Roberts
A 29-year-old man accused of crashing his vehicle into a crowd outside a nightclub in East Hollywood over the weekend, injuring dozens, ...
- Senators Weigh Canceling August Recess to Confirm Trump Nominees
By Joseph Lord and Nathan Worcester
WASHINGTON—Senators are considering whether or not to cancel the August recess in order to confirm President Donald Trump’s judicial ...
- Hackers Targeting Microsoft SharePoint Servers
By Naveen Athrappully
Hackers are attacking on-premises Microsoft SharePoint server vulnerabilities, the U.S. Cyber Security and Infrastructure Defense Agency (CISA) announced in a July 20 ...
- Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill to Increase Deficit by $3.4 Trillion, CBO Projects
By Lawrence Wilson
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act will increase the U.S. deficit by $3.4 trillion over the next 10 years, the Congressional Budget ...
- Off-Duty Border Patrol Agent Shot in NYC in Apparent Robbery Gone Wrong
By Joseph Lord
An off-duty agent of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) was shot on Saturday in a Manhattan park during what officials are ...
- Texas GOP Set to Redraw State’s Congressional Map During Special Session
By Jacob Burg
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called for a July 21 special session of the state Legislature to discuss efforts to redraw the state’s ...
- Trump Admin Greenlights Gold Mine in Nevada
By Naveen Athrappully
The Bureau of Land Management has approved the Spring Valley Gold Mine project in Nevada. The project, located in Pershing County, is ...
- Duplicate Medicaid Enrollees Cost Taxpayers $14 Billion a Year: Report
By Lawrence Wilson
Millions of people are enrolled in government health-care programs in more than one state or signed up concurrently in multiple programs that ...
- FBI and NSA Had Low Confidence That Russia Was Behind the DNC Hack
By Ivan Pentchoukov
The FBI and the National Security Agency, in the heat of the 2016 election, dissented from an intelligence community assessment, which judged ...
![Strong labor data and positive expectations about the incoming Trump administration pushed the U.S. dollar to a two-year high on Thursday. The U.S. dollar iIndex hit a high of 109.53 on Jan. 2, the first trading day of the year, and the highest since November 2022. The jump came as data released on Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor showed that initial jobless claims hit an eight-month low, suggesting a robust labor market, which is a positive sign for the overall economy. The dollar index was trading slightly lower on Friday at 108.96 as of 08:30 a.m. EST. The dollar index increase is also supported by investor confidence in the upcoming Trump administration, which assumes power this month. According to a recent survey by consulting company Teneo, “global CEOs and investors are optimistic about the economic impact of a second Trump administration, outweighing concerns about tariffs, geopolitical tensions, and trade barriers.” Story continues below advertisement In fact, “50 percent of global CEOs are accelerating activities in areas such as domestic and international investment and hiring based on the outcome of the 2024 U.S. election,” it said. While the dollar strengthened, the euro and sterling declined on Thursday. The euro fell to its lowest level in more than two years while the sterling declined to its lowest in eight months. A Dec. 17 report from JP Morgan predicts the U.S. dollar to reach even new highs over the coming months. Related Stories How Major US Stock Indexes Fared Jan. 2 1/2/2025 How Major US Stock Indexes Fared Jan. 2 Americans Have Hopes Trump Will Deliver on Immigration, Economy, Safety: Gallup 1/2/2025 Americans Have Hopes Trump Will Deliver on Immigration, Economy, Safety: Gallup “November’s election outcome has given way to lower global growth expectations, wider growth gaps between the U.S. and the rest of the world, and higher terminal federal funds rate forecasts for 2025—the perfect trifecta of bullish U.S. dollar cyclical impulse,” said Meera Chandan, co-head of Global FX Strategy at the company. “These are early first-order reactions that may give way to deeper rethinks once the full set of Trump administration policies are known next year [2025], but for now, they constitute a solid economic rationale for carrying a long U.S. dollar stance into the first quarter of 2025.” JP Morgan sees the euro’s outlook as bearish, noting the eurozone is especially vulnerable to trade conflicts. And while sterling was the best-performing currency against the dollar last year, such an outperformance is not expected this year, it said. US Economy Performance in 2025 With President-elect Donald Trump set to take power in less than three weeks, there are mixed views about how things could shape up for the American economy. According to a Dec. 9 post by Morgan Stanley, markets are “bullish on Trump’s second term, hoping for tax cuts and better growth.” “We expect no net stimulus and a decent size hit from tariffs and immigration. This should be bullish for bonds as the Fed continues cutting, but could be a disappointment for frothy stocks,” it said. Regarding tariffs, the most likely outcome is a 20 percent hike on Chinese imports and on vehicles from Mexico and the European Union, Morgan Stanley said. Story continues below advertisement It predicts the U.S. Federal Reserve to continue cutting interest rates to a range of 3 percent 3.5 percent by the end of 2025. S&P Global is forecasting the U.S. economy to grow by 2 percent in 2025 and 2026, following an estimated growth of 2.7 percent last year. The company sees inflation to likely remain above the 2 percent level for “longer than we previously thought.” Goldman Sachs predicts the U.S. economy to “beat expectations” this year. “The U.S. economy is in a good place,” said David Mericle, an economist with the company. “Recession fears have diminished, inflation is trending back toward 2 percent, and the labor market has rebalanced but remains strong.” While Trump’s policy changes are likely to be “significant,” Mericle does not see these actions changing the trajectory of the economy substantially. Goldman foresees the Fed reducing interest rates to a range of 3.25–3.50 percent, with the U.S. GDP predicted to grow by 2.5 percent. There have been three consecutive quarters of economic growth in the first nine months of 2024—1.6 percent in the first quarter, 3 percent in the second, and 3.1 percent in the third.](https://www.usnn.news/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/US-Dollar-Index-Hits-Highest-Level-in-2-Years-Euro-Falls-jpg.webp "US Dollar Index Hits Highest Level in 2 Years, Euro Falls | USNN World News")
