- Much of Biden’s Vaccine Mandate for Large Private Employers Takes Effect Despite Ongoing Supreme Court Battle
By Katabella Roberts
Much of the Biden administration’s vaccination mandate pertaining to large private employers went into effect Monday, despite the rule facing legal challenges in the Supreme Court, ...
- GOP Will Look Into Democratic Missteps On Jan. 6 If They Take Majority: McCarthy
By Joseph Lord
GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced during a Sunday appearance on Fox News that if his party takes back the majority in 2022, the GOP will use ...
- Over 28,000 Pounds of Ground Beef Recalled for Possible E. Coli Contamination
By Lorenz Dechamps
Nearly 13 tons of packaged ground beef shipped to retailers in at least seven U.S. states are being recalled over possible E. coli contamination, ...
- Supplies Still Limited More Than a Year After Monoclonal Antibodies Authorized for Treating COVID-19
By Meiling Lee
Despite being the only authorized outpatient medical therapy for preventing the worsening of COVID-19 symptoms in high-risk patients, there remains no steady ...
- Stocks of Trump SPAC Digital World Acquisition Corp Soar After Social Media App Sets Launch Date
By Katabella Roberts
Shares of the company which is taking former President Donald Trump’s social media platform public rose nearly 20 percent on Thursday after a listing on Apple’s ...
- CBP Seizes Shipment Containing 50,000 Fake Apple AirPods, 920 Nintendo Video Game Consoles From China
By Katabella Roberts
Customs agents working at the Port of Houston seized a shipment containing 50,000 fake Apple AirPods and 920 Nintendo video game consoles early last ...
- Judge Gives FDA Just Over 8 Months to Produce Pfizer’s Safety Data
By Mimi Nguyen Ly
A federal judge on Thursday ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to produce, at a rate of 55,000 pages per ...
- Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking conviction in jeopardy over juror’s behavior, say experts
By Barnini Chakraborty, Senior Investigations Reporter
Legal experts say the conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell on sex trafficking charges could be tossed following revelations that a juror admitted ...
- New York Protesters Rally Against Vaccine Bills in Albany: ‘We Need Civil Disobedience in This Country’
By Bill Pan
ALBANY, New York—New York state lawmakers returning for the 2022 legislative session were met with hundreds of demonstrators who gathered outside the state ...
- Georgia Begins Probe of Illegal 2020 Ballot Harvesting
By Matthew Vadum
State officials in Georgia are now investigating allegations that ballot harvesting–a practice that is unlawful in the state—was used widely during the November 2020 general ...
- New York Hit With Class-Action Lawsuit Over Private Employer Vaccine Mandate
By Zachary Stieber
A real estate firm in New York has lodged a class-action lawsuit over the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private employers, alleging that it ...
- Georgia Governor Unveils Push for Expanded Gun-Carry Rights
By Zachary Stieber
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said on Jan. 5 that he would push for a state law to loosen requirements for state residents to carry ...
![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 7")
