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By Zachary Stieber
Officials in Arizona’s largest county and Dominion Voting Systems on Monday announced their defiance of the state Senate’s latest round of subpoenas, continuing ...
- Newsom Recall Backers Sue to Block Framing of Effort as ‘Republican Takeover’ of California
By Tom Ozimek
Key backers of the recall election against California Gov. Gavin Newsom have filed a lawsuit to prevent the Democrat governor from framing the contest as a Trump-aligned Republican ...
- GOP Report Says Wuhan Lab Leak Source of CCP Virus
By Tom Ozimek
House Republicans have released an addendum to their Origins of COVID-19 (pdf) report released last year, concluding that evidence points to a leak from ...
- Trump Amends Big Tech Lawsuit as 65,000 Americans Submit Censorship Stories
By Tom Ozimek
Former President Donald Trump’s legal team has amended his class action lawsuit against Big Tech to incorporate additional class representatives and more censorship stories provided by ...
- Most Georgia Voters Did Not Sufficiently Check Their Paper Ballots in 2020 Election: Study
By Zachary Stieber
A majority of voters in Georgia either did not check or only briefly glanced at paper ballots after they chose who to vote for ...
- Nearly 2 Million US Households Owe $15 Billion in Back Rent: Report
By GQ Pan
An estimated 1.95 million U.S. renter households owed more than $15.3 billion in back rent when the federal eviction moratorium expired on July 31, ...
- Ocasio-Cortez: Democrats Cannot Blame Republicans for Eviction Moratorium Expiration
By Jack Phillips
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said on Sunday that one cannot “blame the Republican Party” for the federal eviction moratorium expiring because Democrats hold ...
- ‘Special Counsel’ Named to Investigate 2020 Election in Wisconsin: House Speaker
By Jack Phillips
The top Republican in the Wisconsin Assembly said Friday that his office is expanding a probe into the 2020 presidential election, adding that more ...
- Arizona Town Facing ‘Nightmare’ Migrant Influx
By Allan Stein
In the normally peaceful desert town of Gila Bend, nestled 100 miles north of Arizona’s border with Mexico, illegal aliens have been arriving daily since ...
- New Mexico House Majority Leader Under Criminal Investigation, Racketeering, Money Laundering
By Jack Phillips
New Mexico House Majority Leader Sheryl Williams Stapleton, a Democrat, is under criminal investigation by the Attorney General’s Office on allegations of racketeering, money laundering, receiving ...
- Outside Groups Contributed $5.7 Million for Arizona Election Audit
By Zachary Stieber
Outside groups have contributed approximately $5.7 million to the 2020 election audit taking place in Arizona’s largest county, auditors said late Wednesday.
Five nonprofits have taken ...
- North Carolina Lt. Governor Opposes Critical Race Theory: ‘Teach the Real Story’
By Matt McGregor
As legislation prohibiting the teaching of critical race theory (CRT) in K-12 classrooms circulates in the North Carolina General Assembly, a critic of the ...
![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")
