Is slight rise in Virginia unemployment ‘calm before storm?’
Virginia’s unemployment rate numbers are on a slight rise, according to data from the state’s Department of Workforce Development and Advancement, also known as Virginia Works. The state agency reports that Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in March rose a tenth of a percentage point to 3.2 % compared to 3.1% in February and 2.8% […]
The Dow sinks nearly 1,000 points
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street weakened Monday as investors worldwide get more skeptical about U.S. investments because of President Donald Trump’s trade war and his criticism of the Federal Reserve, which are shaking the traditional order. The S&P 500 sank 2.4% in another wipeout. That yanked the index that’s at the center of many 401(k) accounts 16% below […]
Trump official urges criminal probe of NY AG over Virginia home purchase
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — In the summer of 2023, New York Attorney General Letitia James helped her niece buy a modest house in Norfolk, Virginia, by becoming a co-borrower on the mortgage loan. A top housing official in the Trump administration has now seized on a document in that transaction to argue that James should […]
Trump administration issues order to stop construction on New York offshore wind project
The Trump administration has issued an order to stop construction on a major offshore wind project to power more than 500,000 New York homes, the latest in a series of moves targeting the industry. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Wednesday directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to halt construction on Empire Wind, a fully-permitted […]
Federal ‘uncertainty’ delays start of $1.3B Microporous project in Pittsylvania
Construction on Microporous’ $1.3 billion lithium-ion battery separator plant at the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill will be delayed from April until June or July, following uncertainty regarding its federal funding, according to a Pittsylvania County official. Matt Rowe, Pittsylvania’s economic development director, said Thursday he feels that the Tennessee company’s $1[...]
Mitre-backed cybersecurity program gets last minute save
Federal contractor Mitre, which has dual headquarters in McLean and Massachusetts, expected Wednesday to lose the federal funding needed to operate and maintain its nearly 26-year-old Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) program, but a last-minute reprieve from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has prevented that from happening. Established in September 1999, the CV[...]
Supreme Court blocks order requiring Trump administration to reinstate thousands of federal workers
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked an order for the Trump administration to return to work thousands of federal employees who were let go in mass firings aimed at dramatically downsizing the federal government. The justices acted in the administration’s emergency appeal of a ruling by a federal judge in California ordering that 16,000 probationary employees [&hellip[...]
Trump says high tariffs may have prevented the Great Depression. History says different
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the early days of the Great Depression, Rep. Willis Hawley, a Republican from Oregon, and Utah Republican Sen. Reed Smoot thought they had landed on a way to protect American farmers and manufacturers from foreign competition: tariffs. President Herbert Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act in 1930, even as many economists […]
Wall Street points to gains as global markets rebound on tariff roller coaster
World shares and U.S. futures advanced Tuesday, led by gains in Tokyo where the Nikkei 225 shot up just over 6% as markets settled after the shocks from President Donald Trump ‘s tariff hikes. Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported Tuesday that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent would lead trade negotiations with the country, which as been buffeted by […]
China says it will ‘fight to the end’ after Trump threatens to impose still more tariffs
BEIJING (AP) — China said Tuesday it would “fight to the end” and take countermeasures against the United States to safeguard its own interests after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports. The Commerce Ministry said the U.S.‘s imposition of “so-called ‘reciprocal tariffs’” on China is “completely groundless and is a typical unilateral[...]
In conservative Alabama, Republicans are cheering for Trump – with some quiet concerns and caveats
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — On a day when stock markets around the world dropped precipitously, Alabama Republican Party Chairman John Wahl led a celebration of the president whose global tariffs sparked the selloff. With no mention of the Wall Street rollercoaster and global economic uncertainty, Wahl declared his state GOP’s “Trump Victory Dinner” — and the broader […]
As markets implode, US trading partners puzzle over whether there’s room for negotiations
BRUSSELS (AP) — America’s trading partners wrestled with responses to U.S. President Donald Trump‘s blast of tariff hikes and some planned to send negotiators to Washington, while the head of the European Union’s executive commission offered mutual reduction of tariffs – while warning that retaliation was an option too. “We stand ready to negotiate with the United [&h[...]