- Michigan Senate Passes Legislation to Add Voter ID Requirements: ‘Overwhelmingly Popular’
By Jack Phillips
Michigan’s GOP-led Senate on Wednesday passed several bills that, if signed into law, would implement more voter identification requirements for in-person voters ...
- Biden’s Oil and Gas Lease Ban Blocked by Federal Judge
By Tom Ozimek
A federal judge in Louisiana has blocked President Joe Biden’s suspension of new oil and gas leases on federal land and water, delivering ...
- Newsom Insists California’s Pending COVID-19 Verification System Not a ‘Vaccine Passport’
By Zachary Stieber
California is developing a COVID-19 vaccine verification system that will enable people who have gotten a jab to show proof of the shot to businesses, ...
- McConnell: GOP Would Likely Block Biden Supreme Court Pick in 2024
By Jack Phillips
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) suggested that Republicans, if they controlled the Senate in 2024, wouldn’t advance President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee due ...
- Arizona Senate Audit Liaison Disputes Report Claiming Hundreds of Thousands of Ballots Missing
By Zachary Stieber
Spokespersons for the audit taking place in Arizona’s largest county are pushing back on a report that claimed auditors have discovered hundreds of thousands ...
- GOP Mayor-Elect of Town That Is 85 Percent Latino Says Latinos Are ‘Opening Their Eyes’
By Jack Phillips
The mayor-elect of a Texas border city with a population that is around 85 percent Latino claimed that Latino voters are switching from Democrat ...
- Election Assessment in Pennsylvania County Uncovers Five ‘Issues of Note’
By Zachary Stieber
An election assessment conducted in a Pennsylvania county months ago and quietly released to the public in recent weeks uncovered five errors, including three linked to ...
- California Woman Who Got Both Moderna Vaccine Shots Dies of COVID-19: Officials
By Jack Phillips
An elderly woman in Napa County, California, who had received both Moderna vaccine shots died from COVID-19, county health officials said.
While scant details ...
- Report: Zuckerberg-Backed Grants, Which Were Irregularly Distributed, Increased Voter Turnout for Democrats in Wisconsin 2020 Election
By Li Hai
A Wisconsin-based think tank analyzed the impact of private election administration grants on the 2020 presidential election in Wisconsin, claiming in its newly released ...
- Lawmakers From Other States Descend on Arizona to See Election Audit
By Zachary Stieber
Lawmakers from multiple states have visited the 2020 election audit in Arizona’s largest county in recent days, with more visits planned.
Delegations from Pennsylvania, ...
- Election Workers Set to Be Deposed in Georgia Ballot Case
By Zachary Stieber
Several election workers in Fulton County, Georgia are scheduled to be deposed in the coming days in a lawsuit that alleges thousands of fraudulent ballots ...
- Vernon Jones, GOP Gubernatorial Candidate, Headed to Arizona to Observe Election Audit
By Zachary Stieber
Georgia gubernatorial candidate Vernon Jones is heading to Arizona this week to tour the 2020 election audit taking place there.
Jones, a Republican who is challenging Georgia ...
![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")
