- Trump-Backed Candidate Leads Challenger in Montana GOP Primary
By Allan Stein
MISSOULA, Mont.—Five percentage points separate former U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and his closest Republican rival, former Montana Sen. Al Olszewski in a hotly ...
- Pro-Trump Candidate Leads California Election to Fill Seat Vacated by Devin Nunes
By Brad Jones
Connie Conway leads the congressional seat previously held by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) who resigned in January to lead former President Donald ...
- San Francisco Voters Oust Progressive Soros-Backed Prosecutor in Recall Vote
By Brad Jones
Voters have ousted Chesa Boudin (D) as San Francisco’s district attorney.
Unlike California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent recall election, Boudin didn’t face any opponents. On June 7, San ...
- How Fake Is Twitter’s User Data?
By Jeffrey A. Tucker
Over the last several weeks, the perception has grown that Elon Musk will not be the emancipator of Twitter, freeing it finally from its ...
- Energy Transition to Wind and Solar Is More Expensive and Environmentally Nonviable: Study
By Harry Lee
Environmentalists, the Biden administration, and some states have been pushing for a drastic energy transition to renewable energies such as wind and solar, saying ...
- Judge Agrees to Toss Charge Against Jan. 6 Defendant
By Zachary Stieber
A federal judge on June 7 agreed to dismiss a charge against a defendant in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the ...
- Only 28 Percent of Americans Approve of Biden’s Handling of Inflation: Poll
By Hannah Ng
Less than 30 percent of American voters are content with President Joe Biden’s handling of inflation, a new poll shows.
According to the ABCNews/ ...
- Obama Approved Accusing Russia of DNC Hack Before FBI Received DNC Server Images
By Ivan Pentchoukov
President Barack Obama approved a statement by the U.S. intelligence community in October 2016 accusing Russia of stealing emails from the Democratic National Committee ...
- 10 Underreported Revelations From Trial of Former Clinton Lawyer
By Zachary Stieber
While former Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann was acquitted of lying to the FBI, a number of new details came to light during his trial. ...
- GOP House Lawmakers Criticize Biden Admin for ‘Unlawfully Expanding’ Obamacare
By Frank Fang
Two House Republicans have criticized the Biden administration for what they view as an unlawful expansion of Obamacare subsidies.
“The Internal Revenue Service ...
- More Than 8,000 Double-Registered Voters Found on New Jersey Rolls
By Mark Tapscott
New Jersey voter registration records contain more than 8,200 duplicate names, making it possible for one person to cast two ballots, plus another ...
- Biden Invokes Defense Production Act to Push Green Agenda
By Andrew Moran
President Joe Biden will authorize the Defense Production Act (DPA) to advance his clean energy and climate change agenda, a senior administration official said ...
![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")
