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By Zachary Stieber
A trio of scientists at Pfizer were recorded speaking to undercover reporters about the existence of natural immunity to the virus that causes COVID-19, ...
- Households Brace for Higher Winter Heating Costs as Natural Gas Prices Vault
By Tom Ozimek
The relentless rise in natural gas prices continued on Wednesday, highlighting the looming threat to American households bracing for higher heating costs in the ...
- Zuckerberg Responds to Facebook Whistleblower’s Testimony, Says Claims ‘Don’t Make Sense’
By Katabella Roberts
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has responded to claims made by former employee and whistleblower Frances Haugen in testimony before Congress on Oct. 5.
Hague, who used to work as a lead ...
- Six Key Takeaways From Senate Hearing With Facebook Whistleblower
By Joseph Lord
The Senate heard testimony Tuesday from former Facebook employee Frances Haugen, who came before the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security to ...
- Constitution Focus Groups Form in North Carolina to Question Local Governments’ Authority
By Matt McGregor
‘School boards being misled’ into making draconian mandates, says legal expert.
Amid a climate of tightening restrictions, mandates, and dwindling freedoms, U.S. Constitution ...
- Vermont Woman Fired, Denied Unemployment for Refusing Vaccine, Becomes Homeless and Flees to Florida
By Patricia Tolson
‘It Was Simply Because I Stood Up to This Vaccine Thing’.
Karen “Kay Sea” Skau is a single mother of two adult children, ...
- Abbott Calls for Tougher Penalties for Illegal Voting
By Tom Ozimek
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has called on the state’s lawmakers to impose harsher penalties for illegal voting, building on earlier efforts that ...
- Lawmakers Grill Facebook Over Leaked Internal Research on Instagram’s Harmful Impact on Teens
By Katabella Roberts
Facebook was heavily criticized by members of Congress on Thursday during a hearing examining how the social network giant handled internal research relating to its Instagram ...
- Democrats ‘Reach Agreement’ to Raise $600 Cap on Biden’s Proposal on IRS Reporting and Surveillance
By Katabella Roberts
Democrats have said they plan to raise the threshold of President Joe Biden’s radical proposal that all bank transactions of more than $600 be ...
- Texas Attorney General Leads 10-State Coalition Supporting Florida Ban on Big Tech Censorship
By Katabella Roberts
Texas Attorney General Paxton announced on Sept. 20 that he is leading a coalition of 10 states in filing an amicus brief ...
- Arizona Senate Hears of Multiple Inconsistencies Found by Election Audit
By Jack Phillips and Mimi Nguyen Ly
This article was updated with the findings presented during the Arizona Senate’s hearing and the auditors’ report provided to the Arizona Senate.
Arizona attorney general ...
- Wall Street Rally Fizzles out as Evergrande Worries Persist; Nike Drops
By Reuters
U.S. stock indexes fell on Friday following a two-day rally, as worries persisted about the spillover from debt-laden China Evergrande, while Nike tumbled after cutting its sales ...
![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")
