Select a category

The job market likely slowed down in October, partly because of the impacts of hurricanes Helene and Milton.A highly anticipated report on the job market from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday will likely show U.S. employers added 110,000 jobs in October, a sharp slowdown from 254,000 in September, according to a survey of economists by and . The median forecast calls for the unemployment rate to hold steady at 4.1%, not a high level by historical standards but above the 50-year lows reached last year.

The deceleration in job growth could represent the impact of hurricanes Helene and Milton, which temporarily threw many people out of work. This could make it more challenging than usual for experts to determine what the monthly report says about the longer-term health of the job market and the economy.Just ahead of the report, other data hinted the effect of the hurricanes could be smaller than previously thought. The number of new unemployment claims dipped last week, falling to 216,000 from 228,000 the week before, hitting its lowest since May, the Department of Labor said Thursday. The dropoff suggested the impact of the storms on the job market faded quickly, Oliver Allen, senior U.S. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said in a commentary.The October report comes at a crucial time: it will be the last major economic report before the general election and the Federal Reserve policy committee's next meeting in November. At that meeting, officials must decide whether and how much to cut the central bank's key fed funds rate to help boost the economy and prevent a spike in unemployment.Fed officials cut the influential fed funds rate at their last meeting in September after months of economic data showed inflation is cooling while the job market is slowing down. The Fed had held the rate at a two-decade high, pushing up borrowing costs on all kinds of loans to subdue the surge of inflation that welled up in 2021 as the economy reopened from the pandemic. The Fed cut rates partly out of concern that a recent hiring slowdown could worsen and lead to severe layoffs.

Official reports of the job market are a crucial barometer for the Fed, which seeks to keep employment at a high level while also keeping a lid on inflation.

Should job creation grind to a halt or reverse itself, the Fed could cut the fed funds rate faster and further. Steep rate cuts would push down interest rates on all kinds of loans, including mortgages, credit cards, and car loans, possibly boosting the economy and the job market.Should the report match expectations, the slowdown wouldn't be enough to spur faster rate cuts, several economists said. Financial markets are pricing in a 94.8% chance the Fed will cut the fed funds rate by 0.25 percentage points at their next meeting to a range of 4.5% to 4.75%, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, which forecasts rate movements based on fed funds futures trading data.In addition to the hurricanes, a strike at Boeing throws another wild card into the data, potentially reducing the hiring figures further. Given all the noise, it might take a major deviation from expectations to shift Fed officials from the path of slow-and-steady rate cuts that markets currently anticipate."We expect policymakers will look past modest surprises in this report," David Seif, chief economist for developed markets at Nomura, wrote in a commentary.If forecasts are accurate, October would be one of the slowest months of job creation in the last three years. The U.S. economy has added jobs every month since January 2021, and only one month (April 2024) gained fewer than 110,000 since then.

Read more on Investopedia

After months of campaigning, the 2024 presidential election is right around the corner, and many voters are looking at the economy before casting their vote.

Perhaps no economic issue has attracted more attention than inflation, as voters have experienced some of the highest price levels in the last 30 years. 

In a Gallup survey on election issues, 14% of Americans said inflation was the biggest issue facing the country, and another 21% said the economy in general presented the biggest challenge for the nation.

This is one of a series of articles Investopedia is doing around important economic indicators heading into the 2024 election. You can read more here:

According to the September measurement of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, inflation has cooled to 2.1% over the year. However, prices haven't come down, and many voters still remember the recent spike in inflation, which hit 7.2% in June 2022.

Voters have faced varying degrees of price pressures as they have gone to the polls in recent years. Here are some of the inflation rates that voters experienced in recent elections.

For voters, the September print of the PCE is usually the last inflation reading they get before heading to the ballot box. When voters went to the polls in 2020, the inflation rate was 1.3%, up a tick from the prior month.

While inflation was low during the period, it also occurred during the backdrop of the global COVID-19 pandemic, which created several economic issues for voters that ultimately helped Joe Biden defeat incumbent Donald Trump in that election. 

In 2016, Trump was able to win during a period of similarly low inflation, with the September inflation rate at 1.2%. The favorable inflation rate came during President Barack Obama's administration, but voters didn’t reward his party, as Trump defeated Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. 

In the 2012 presidential election, President Barack Obama won reelection against the backdrop of a September inflation rate of 1.7%, up slightly from the prior month. Obama won the 2008 election against the backdrop of that year’s financial crisis when inflation was at 3.7% after hitting 4% the month earlier. 

Inflation was near the current level when former President George W. Bush won his first presidential election. Voters faced an inflation rate of 2.5% in September 2000. Four years later, inflation was slightly better at 2.3% in September 2004. While these readings were higher than the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%, that goal wasn’t formally established until 2012.

While inflation hasn’t been much of an issue for voters over the past 40 years, the 1980 presidential election happened during a much different economic environment.

During that election, the annual inflation rate was 10.7% going into voting day, the highest during any presidential campaign in the PCE's 64-year history. Former President Ronald Reagan defeated incumbent President Jimmy Carter in that election. Four years later, Reagan won reelection behind an inflation rate that had dropped to 3.3%.

Read more on Investopedia

Amazon (AMZN) reports earnings after the bell Thursday, with investors likely to be watching the tech giant's margins amid concerns consumer weakness, growing labor costs, and higher spending on artificial intelligence (AI) could squeeze profits.

Amazon shares took a hit after the company released its second-quarter report in July, as its quarterly sales and outlook missed expectations. Since then, shares have largely recovered to their level before the report, leaving them about 23% higher for the year so far at $186.68 in Thursday afternoon trading.

Analysts expect Amazon's third-quarter revenue to come in at $157.27 billion, up from the prior quarter and year-ago period. However, profits are projected to fall sequentially to $12.38 billion as expenses climb, despite rising roughly 25% year-over-year.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and a growing advertising business for showing ads on Prime Video have been key sources of revenue growth so far this year. A migration to cloud storage and growing use of AI products have helped boost AWS revenue. Jefferies analysts said recently their checks suggest growing AWS revenue in the third quarter.

The analysts also said they have seen "solid & improving" demand for ad spending with Amazon. Wedbush analysts said they believe high-margin ad revenue could help offset big spending from Amazon to fuel its AI efforts, along with things like Project Kuiper, its planned satellite broadband project.

A number of big tech companies including Amazon face pressure from investors to show that their spending on AI is paying off. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in the company's first-quarter earnings call that it wouldn't be spending so much on AI if it didn't see "very clear signals" that Amazon could monetize it.

JPMorgan analysts told clients earlier this month it will be important for Amazon, along with other tech giants, to "highlight their early returns on AI spending" in their earnings calls.

Read more on Investopedia

The Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Adeoye Aribasoye Babajide Agbeyo, has stated that the Ekiti lawmakers traveling to Canada for a leadership retreat are using their own funds for the trip.

Speaking in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media on Thursday, the Speaker said the foreign trip is for those who can finance their journey, adding that it would be for value addition.

“This exchange offers our legislators invaluable insights into best practices and innovative governance strategies that will ultimately benefit the people of Ekiti State. By investing in their own growth, these members are investing in the future of our state.

This is not the first of such trip and I don’t pray it’ll be the last. We shall continue to equip ourselves with local and international retreats and events within affordable range and without heaping burden on state resources.

A legislature that is not exposed couldn’t have clinched our recent feat as the best state assembly in ICT integration,” he said.

Also, one of the lawmakers who spoke to SaharaReporters stated that: “It is a self-sponsored trip on inter-parliamentary capacity building and leadership training in Canada. Its open to honourable members and parliamentarians that are ready to sponsor themselves across the 36 states, it’s not limited to Ekiti State alone.

The document circulating has 27 names and in Ekiti, we have 26 members. Six or seven names on the list are not honourable members. We are not complete on the document because it’s a self-sponsored trip. Some of us are willing to attend, key into the opportunity for the training from our personal purse.

We are to also use the opportunity to woe Ekiti Kete in Canada to come back home and invest.”

Continue reading on Instablog

Microsoft (MSFT) delivered fiscal first-quarter earnings that topped Street expectations, but shares fell after a warning its cloud growth could slow.

The tech titan's third-quarter revenue rose 16% year-over-year to $65.59 billion, above the analyst consensus from Visible Alpha. Net income at $24.67 billion or $3.30 per share was up from $22.29 billion or $2.99 per share a year earlier and higher than expectations. 

Microsoft's Intelligent Cloud segment, which includes its Azure cloud computing platform, led growth with revenue of $24.09 billion, up 20% as revenue from Azure and other cloud services climbed 33%. However, executives warned in the tech giant's earnings call that cloud growth could slow to between 31% and 32% in the second quarter, before picking up in the back half of the fiscal year. 

Shares of Microsoft tumbled over 5% in early trading Thursday, a day after the company's earnings call.

Microsoft's results Wednesday came a day after Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) beat analysts’ expectations and CEO Sundar Pichai said the company’s investments in artificial intelligence (AI) are “paying off and driving success.”

Microsoft, like Alphabet and other tech giants, has boosted its investments in AI this year to secure its position as a leader in the space, raising concerns about higher spending and whether its AI efforts will be worth the cost.

Read more on Investopedia

Members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly are preparing to travel to Brampton, Ontario, Canada, for a leadership retreat focused on executive and legislative collaboration.

According to a letter signed by the Clerk of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Titilope Agbede, the purpose of this trip, billed for November 2024, is to bolster legislators’ skills in navigating policy complexities and to engage with the Ekiti Kete Association in Canada.

The letter dated October 18, 2024, and addressed to Barrister Adesina, President of Ekiti Kete Canada, clarified that the retreat aims to equip the legislators with the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively navigate the complexities of policy implementation challenges.

According to the letter, “This is to inform you that Members of Ekiti State House of Assembly and Officials led by the Rt. Hon. Speaker, Honourable Adeoye Stephen Aribasoye will be leading to attend an Executive Legislative Leadership Retreat scheduled to hold in November, 2024 in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.

The retreat aims to equip the legislators with the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively navigate the complexities of policy implementation challenges.

As part of our visit, the House intends to have a courtesy visit to the Ekiti Kete Association, Canada to meet with the members of Ekiti Kete in diaspora. This will be able to foster cultural development and share experience that can promote Ekiti State and good governance for the benefit of our people.

We kindly request that you give us a date and time between 13th November, 2024 and 20th November, 2024.

We look forward to a positive response and the opportunity to have an exclusive meeting with Ekiti Kete to promote and sustain Ekiti Cultural Heritage through educational and socio-cultural programmes.”

#Instablog9jaNews #TrendingStory #Awareness #StayUpdated

Continue reading on Instablog