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U.Va. continues presidential search, despite Spanberger’s call for pause

SUMMARY:

  • presidential search committee held interviews with candidates despite Gov.-elect Spanberger’s call for them to pause process
  • Faculty, staff groups have urged rector, vice rector to resign from board
  • Former president Jim Ryan’s Nov. 14 letter has led to intensified criticism of U.Va.’s board

The University of Virginia’s presidential search committee has continued its work in a successor for former President Jim Ryan, despite calls from and groups of faculty and staff to pause the process.

In a Nov. 21 statement, the U.Va. ‘ special committee — a body that includes U.Va. board members and others with ties to the state’s flagship university — said that it had “just completed the first round of interviews” with candidates for the presidency last week. “However, we are not yet at the point of selecting finalists. To responsibly narrow this exceptional pool, we must conduct additional due diligence, hold further interviews and continue our internal deliberations.”

The committee’s unsigned statement does not provide a timeline for further interviews or clarify whether they are now taking the pause Spanberger requested in a Nov. 12 letter to U.Va. Rector Rachel Sheridan and Vice Rector Porter Wilkinson, or moving full speed ahead.

U.Va.’s Faculty Senate also called for Sheridan and Wilkinson to immediately resign from the board in a Nov. 14 resolution released the same day that Ryan wrote a bombshell 12-page letter to the Faculty Senate that was then made public. In the days before his late June resignation, Ryan wrote that Sheridan, Wilkinson and board member Paul Manning exerted pressure on Ryan to resign the presidency by asserting that the Trump administration’s required him to step down for the university to reach a resolution of alleged civil rights violations.

However, Ryan wrote, the three board members may have misrepresented the DOJ’s orders, adding that the true pressure for him to resign might have originated with , board members and conservative attorneys hired by the board, or a combination of those individuals. Ryan also alleged that Manning, along with Sheridan and Wilkinson, who were not yet serving as rector and vice rector, failed to keep the rest of the board of visitors informed of their negotiations with Justice Department attorneys and prevented Ryan from directly speaking with them.

Spanberger, who previously asked Sheridan and Wilkinson to hold off hiring or deciding presidential finalists until she could fill five vacant board seats as governor, has ramped up her own criticism of Youngkin and the board following Ryan’s letter.

The governor-elect accused Youngkin of “overstepping” by naming politically motivated board members and seeking to influence universities via those appointments in an interview last week with The Washington Post, and she said naming appointees to the five U.Va. board vacancies will be a day one priority when she takes office in January 2026.

Meanwhile, the United Campus Workers of Virginia, a local chapter of the Communications Workers of America, and hundreds of current and retired faculty members have backed the U.Va. Faculty Senate resolution calling for a pause in the hiring process as well as Sheridan and Wilkinson’s resignations.

However, as of Monday, the rector and vice rector had not yet responded to the Nov. 14 resolution, U.Va. Faculty Senate Chair Jeri Seidman wrote in an email to fellow faculty senators, and on Tuesday, a U.Va. spokesperson said that the university did not have a comment beyond Sheridan’s previous letter to the Faculty Senate — which Ryan called “inaccurate” in his letter — and the search committee’s Nov. 21 report on its recent candidate interviews.

Meanwhile, U.Va.’s presidential search might be completed before Spanberger takes office.

Seidman, an associate professor of commerce, wrote that she’s received mixed responses from faculty members. Some say they’re “reassured” by the committee’s statement that it has not yet selected finalists, but others are “unsure if a pause has even occurred. … Whichever way you interpret it, I’m sure we will all continue to watch the search with intense interest.”

Layoffs are piling up, raising worker anxiety. Here are some companies that have cut jobs recently

Summary:

  • Companies from HP to and announce mass layoffs
  • slows amid “no-hire, no-fire” and shutdown fallout
  • rises to 4.4% as revised data shows August job losses
  • Firms cite tariffs, restructuring and AI investments for reductions

NEW YORK (AP) — It’s a tough time to be looking for a job.

Amid wider economic uncertainty, some analysts have said that businesses are at a “no-hire, no fire” standstill. That’s caused many to limit new work to only a few specific roles, if not pause openings entirely. At the same time, sizable layoffs have continued to pile up — raising worker anxieties across sectors.

Some companies have pointed to rising operational costs spanning from U.S. President Donald Trump’s barrage of new tariffs and shifts in consumer spending. Others cite corporate restructuring more broadly — or are redirecting money to .

Federal employees have encountered additional doses of uncertainty, impacting worker sentiment around the overall. Shortly after Trump returned to office at the start of the year, federal jobs were cut by the thousands. And the record 43-day government shutdown also left many without paychecks.

The impasse put key economic data on hold, too. In a delayed report released last week, the said U.S. employers added a surprising 119,000 jobs in September. But unemployment rose to 4.4% — and other troubling details emerged, including revisions showing the economy actually lost 4,000 jobs in August. The shutdown also resulted in holes for more recent hiring numbers. The government says it won’t release a full jobs report for October.

Here are some of the largest job cuts announced recently:

HP

In November, HP said this week it expected to lay off between 4,000 and 6,000 employees. The cuts are part of a wider initiative from the computer maker to streamline operations, which includes adopting AI to increase productivity. The company aims to complete these actions by the end of the 2028 fiscal year.

Verizon

Also in November, Verizon began laying off more than 13,000 employees. In a staff memo announcing the cuts, CEO Dan Schulman said that the telecommunications giant needed to simplify operations and “reorient” the entire company.

General Motors

General Motors will lay off about 1,700 workers across manufacturing sites in Michigan and Ohio in late October, as the auto giant adjusts to slowing demand for electric vehicles. Hundreds of additional employees are reportedly slated for “temporary layoffs” at the start of next year.

Paramount

In long-awaited cuts just months after completing its $8 billion merger with Skydance, Paramount plans to lay off about 2,000 employees — about 10% of its workforce. Paramount initiated roughly 1,000 of those layoffs in late October, according to a source familiar with the matter.

In November, Paramount also announced plans to eliminate 1,600 positions as part of divestitures of Televisión Federal in Argentina and Chilevision in Chile. And the company said another 600 employees had chosen voluntary severance packages as part of a coming push to return to the office full-time.

Amazon

Amazon said in October that it will cut about 14,000 corporate jobs, close to 4% of its workforce, as the online giant ramps up spending on AI while trimming costs elsewhere. A letter to employees said most workers would be given 90 days to look for a new position internally.

UPS

United Parcel Service has disclosed about 48,000 job cuts this year as part of turnaround efforts, which arrive amid wider shifts in the company’s shipping outputs. UPS also closed daily operations at 93 leased and owned buildings during the first nine months of this year.

Target

Target in October said it would eliminate about 1,800 corporate positions, or about 8% of its corporate workforce globally. The retailer said the cuts were part of wider streamlining efforts.

Nestlé

In mid-October, Nestlé said it would be cutting 16,000 jobs globally — as part of wider cost cutting aimed at reviving its financial performance amid headwinds like rising commodity costs and U.S. imposed tariffs. The Swiss food giant said the layoffs would take place over the next two years.

Lufthansa Group

In September, Lufthansa Group said it would shed 4,000 jobs by 2030 — pointing to the adoption of artificial intelligence, digitalization and consolidating work among member airlines.

Novo Nordisk

Also in September, Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk said it would cut 9,000 jobs, about 11% of its workforce. The company — which makes drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy — said the layoffs were part of wider restructuring, as it works to sell more obesity and diabetes medications amid rising competition.

ConocoPhillips

Oil giant ConocoPhillips announced plans in September to lay off up to a quarter of its workforce, as part of broader efforts from the company to cut costs. Between 2,600 and 3,250 workers were expected to be impacted, with most layoffs set to take place before the end of 2025.

Intel

Intel has moved to shed thousands of jobs — with the struggling chipmaker working to revive its business. In July, CEO Lip-Bu Tan said Intel expected to end the year with 75,000 “core” workers, excluding subsidiaries, through layoffs and attrition. That’s down from 99,500 core employees reported the end of last year. The company previously announced a 15% workforce reduction.

Microsoft

In May, Microsoft began laying off about 6,000 workers across its workforce. And just months later, the tech giant said it would be cutting 9,000 positions — marking its biggest round of layoffs seen in more than two years. The company has cited “organizational changes,” but the reductions also arrive as the company spends heavily on AI.

Procter & Gamble

In June, Procter & Gamble said it would cut up to 7,000 jobs over the next two years, 6% of the company’s global workforce. The maker of Tide detergent and Pampers diapers said the cuts were part of a wider restructuring — also arriving amid tariff pressures.

Fewer Americans sought unemployment benefits last week as job cuts stay low

Summary:

  • fall to 216,000, below forecasts
  • Continuing claims rise to 1.96 million as job hunts lengthen
  • market remains “low-hire, low-fire” despite big-name layoffs
  • Cooling sales and confidence fuel Fed rate-cut expectations

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for benefits declined last week in a sign that overall layoffs remain low, even as several high-profile companies have announced job cuts.

U.S. applications for unemployment benefits in the week ending Nov. 22 dropped 6,000 from the previous week to 216,000, the  reported Wednesday. The figure is below the 230,000 forecast by economists, according to a survey by data provider FactSet.

Applications for unemployment aid are seen as a proxy for layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market. The job cuts announced recently by large companies such as UPS and typically take weeks or months to fully implement and may not yet be reflected in the claims data.

The four-week average of claims, which softens some of the week-to-week volatility, dropped 1,000 to 223,750.

For now, the U.S. job market appears stuck in a “low-hire, low-fire” state that has kept the unemployment rate historically low, but has left those out of work struggling to find a new job.

The total number of Americans filing for jobless benefits for the week ending Nov. 15 rose 7,000 to 1.96 million, the government said. The increase is a sign that the unemployed are taking longer to find new work.

Last week, the government said that  picked up a bit in September, when employers added 119,000 new jobs. Yet the report also showed employers had shed jobs in August. And the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4%, its highest level in four years, as more Americans came off the sidelines to look for work but did not all immediately find jobs.

On Tuesday, the government reported that retail sales slowed in September after three months of healthy increases.  plunged to its second-lowest level in five years, while wholesale eased a bit.

The data suggests that both the economy and inflation are slowing, which boosted financial markets’ expectations that the will reduce its key interest rate at its next meeting Dec. 9-10.

JLARC: Data centers received $2.7B in state tax cuts

SUMMARY: 

  • Virginia avoided $2.7B in Virginia sales and use taxes from FY 2015 to FY 2024
  • Exemption accounts for 53% of state economic incentive spending
  • In FY 2024, the tax exemption for data centers reached $1B

In Virginia, data centers are often exempt from paying sales and use taxes. The exemption adds up.

From fiscal 2015 to fiscal 2024, data center tax exemptions totaled $2.7 billion, according to an annual report on Virginia’s spending on that the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission released earlier this month.

Overall, Virginia gave $5.2 billion in tax incentives and grants during that time period to woo companies to locate in Virginia or expand operations already based in the commonwealth. The exemption for data centers accounted for 53% of that total.

Since 2010, Virginia has offered an exemption to the state’s and use tax as a way of attracting large data centers. The exemption isn’t set to expire until 2035.

“The data center exemption … has become the largest economic development incentive that the state is supporting,” Kimberly Sarte, associate director for ongoing oversight and fiscal analysis at , said Tuesday.

And, it seems likely to grow.

In fiscal 2024, Virginia exempted data centers from $1 billion in tax. That’s up from $685 million in fiscal 2023. The growth, JLARC explains, is due to the rapid pace that new data centers are being built along with data center expansions.

“The size of the exemption will just continue to increase as data centers continue to grow and continue replenishing equipment that is exempted,” Sarte said.

In an Oct. 29 response to the JLARC report, Jason El Koubi, president and CEO of the , noted that in a 2024 report on data centers in Virginia, JLARC included an analysis of how data centers impact Virginia’s .

“Notably, the analysis estimated that the data center industry supports an impressive 74,000 jobs, $5.5 billion in income, and $9.1 billion in Virginia [Gross Domestic Product] overall to the state economy annually,” he wrote.

The same report found that in fiscal 2023, capital investment in Virginia data centers, exceeded $24 billion and that data center investment represented 84% of the total capital investment across all economic development projects announced by  VEDP between fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2024.

In his letter to JLARC, El Koubi highlights that the JLARC report on incentive spending states that incentives on data centers are rising in proportion to capital investment.

“Virginia – and the nation – are experiencing the highest levels of infrastructure-related capital expenditure, as a share of GDP, since the railroad boom of the 1880s,” El Koubi wrote in the letter.  “These investments are driving critical economic activity and generating substantial tax revenues across the commonwealth at a time when federal workforce reductions and spending cuts are exerting temporary pressure on Virginia’s economy.”

Of the state’s incentives from fiscal 2015 to fiscal 2024, sales and use tax exemptions made up 66% of spending, while tax credits and other measures accounted for 13%. The remaining spending went to grants like the Commonwealth’s Development Opportunity Fund, which is considered a “deal-closing” fund that’s employed at the governor’s discretion.

Collectively, the state’s grant programs awarded $2 billion to 5,000 projects during the time period captured in the report. Completed projects receiving grant funds, the JLARC report stated, created about 59,000 jobs and $16 billion in capital investment or other spending.

Of companies that received grants, the majority (63%) made the investments they promised. However, only 28% met job goals, and only 41% met wage goals.

Between fiscal 2015 and fiscal 2024, grant awards totaling $258 million were canceled, reduced or recaptured because the projects did not move forward or meet their goals, according to JLARC, which is the oversight agency of the Virginia General Assembly.

Of completed individual projects that received a Commonwealth’s Development Opportunity Fund grant only 38% met their capital investment goals. However, other projects that received the grant exceeded their capital investment goals. As a collective, all of the projects that received Commonwealth’s Development Opportunity Fund grants created 83% of the total capital investment expected and achieved 52% of their job creation goals and 136% of average wage goals.

“When you look across grant programs collectively, they tended to do a better job,” Sarte said.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated

Virginia SCC approves Dominion gas plant in Chesterfield

SUMMARY:

‘s $1.47 billion natural gas power plant in received the Virginia ‘s approval Tuesday, despite opposition from neighbors and environmental groups.

Dubbed the Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center, or CERC, the project was filed for SCC approval in March. Dominion submitted an application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to construct a 944-megawatt natural gas plant, which would provide electricity at peak demand hours. It’s projected to be in operation by June 1, 2029, according to the SCC’s decision.

The Sierra Club, Appalachian Voices, the NAACP, Advanced Energy United and other organizations, as well as individual Chesterfield residents, advocated against the building of the peaker plant, citing increased costs to residential power customers and potential environmental impacts.

However, the Fortune 500 utility argued that the plant is needed “to provide system reliability,” as power demand has increased substantially due to greater artificial intelligence and overall internet use in recent years. Meanwhile, Dominion is required by the Virginia Clean Act, signed into in 2020, to produce almost all power via renewable sources by 2045, although fossil fuel plants can be used under the law as backup resources as authorized by the SCC.

According to the SCC, this is the first new natural gas plant submitted for evaluation since the passage of the VCEA. “Since that time the commission has approved [Dominion’s] requests to build or purchase energy from approximately 3,500 megawatts of solar and 2,500 megawatts of offshore wind assets,” the decision says. “This case … is not about choosing CERC over compliance with the VCEA. Instead, the commission is called upon to determine whether a ‘threat to the reliability or security of electric service to the utility’s customers’ exists, such that the CERC project is required to obviate such threat.”

Ultimately, the commission found in Dominion’s favor, noting that data center development and load growth in the PJM regional power grid, which includes Virginia, has created a need for more power generation. According to the ruling, load forecasts in Dominion’s territory are the highest in the PJM grid, with about 5% growth in energy demand expected yearly over the next 15 years.

“There is little doubt that Dominion’s need for additional generation assets is urgent,” the opinion says. “The near-term reliability concerns motivating the CERC project … cannot be addressed by non-carbon-emitting resources.”

Dominion next seeks approval from the state Department of Environmental Quality to build the plant.

“This is good news for our customers, Virginia’s economy and the reliability of the grid,” the utility said in a statement Tuesday. “This project will provide reliable power for hundreds of thousands of homes, businesses, schools and hospitals in Chesterfield and beyond. As part of our all of the above energy strategy, it will ensure our region has the reliable power we need to continue growing and thriving. We look forward to concluding the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s permitting process next month and getting to work on this important project next year.”

Advanced Energy United, a national organization that opposed the plant, called the SCC’s decision a “step backward” in a statement Tuesday.

“Virginians need low-cost energy, but this approval allows Dominion to move forward with one of the most expensive options on the table,” said Shawn Kelly, Advanced Energy’s regulatory director. “Utilities across the country are using proven tools like battery storage, demand flexibility and modern grid management to meet peak needs at lower cost. This approval embraces none of these lower-cost options.”

Glen Besa, board chair of anti-plant Friends of Chesterfield, said in a statement that the SCC “just gutted the Virginia Clean Economy Act and gave Dominion Energy a blank check to build new gas plants and raise our electric bills. This decision only benefits Dominion shareholders and Big Tech, the richest corporations in the world, to power their at our expense.”

Although Dominion came out the winner with CERC’s approval, the SCC rejected its requests for base-rate increases of $822 million in 2026 and $345 million for 2027, instead ruling that the utility should raise rates by $565.7 million next year and $209.9 million in 2027. The commission also created a new rate class for the biggest users of electricity — 25 megawatts or more — effective Jan. 1, 2027.

Certain large-scale customers, such as data center developers, will be required to pay a minimum of 85% of contracted distribution and transmission demand, as well as 60% of generation demand.

Chantilly’s VTG makes sixth acquisition of 2025

Chantilly engineering firm and government contractor announced Tuesday that it has acquired Fairfax tech company Inc., its sixth this year.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, and VTG did not immediately return requests for comment.

Founded in 1993, is known for delivering full software lifecycle development, cloud services, cybersecurity, data science and systems engineering to programs. VTG says that MSI’s workforce will bring “deep technical expertise” to the company.

In a statement, VTG President and CEO John Hassoun said the acquisition was “another strategic milestone in our growth journey.” MSI has been 100% employee-owned since 2015, and its culture supports practices like open-book management and consensus-driven decision-making

“Their collaborative spirit and commitment to mission success make them an ideal fit for VTG,” he said. “Together, we will accelerate innovation, strengthen our partnerships, and deliver transformative outcomes for our customers across the intelligence community.”

VTG did not specify what will happen to MSI’s leadership or how many employees will be joining VTG. It is also unknown what will become of the company’s employee-owned status.

However, MSI President Roland Burdett, in a statement, said, “All of the employee-owners of MSI are excited about the acquisition. We are looking forward to joining VTG, and working together on future opportunities.”

VTG said the acquisition reflects its shared vision with its majority investor, Connecticut-based private equity firm A&M Capital Partners, to deepen its technical capabilities and scale.

The firm has also this year acquired Loki Solutions, , , , and .

Headquartered in , and with company roots dating back to 1866, VTG provides engineering services for naval, aerospace, network and digital systems. It performs work in 40 U.S. states and more than 20 countries and has over 1,600 employees.

Federal agency boosts size of most single-family loans the government can guarantee to $832,750

Summary:

  • lifts 2026 conforming loan limit to $832,750
  • Increase reflects a 3.3% rise in US
  • High-cost areas like LA and NYC will see limits above $1.24 million
  • and guarantee conforming loans, not jumbos

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is increasing the size of home loans that the government can guarantee against default as it takes into account rising housing prices.

Beginning next year, mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be able to acquire loans of up to $832,750 on single-family homes in most of the country, the agency said Tuesday.

The new conforming loan limit is a 3.3% increase from its 2025 level.

FHFA oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which buy home loans from banks and other lenders, guaranteeing them against default. The loans are then bundled into securities sold to investors.

But FHFA sets limits to the size of the loans that Fannie and Freddie can buy. Such loans are known as conforming loans, while mortgages above the conforming loan limit are known as .

FHFA adjusts the limits of a confirming loan annually to reflect changes in U.S. home values, which have been rising this year, albeit more slowly.

The U.S. has been in a slump since 2022, when began climbing from historic lows. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes sank last year to their lowest level in nearly 30 years.

Sales have remained sluggish this year, running essentially flat compared to last year through the first 10 months of 2025, even after getting a boost this fall as the average rate on a 30-year mortgage declined to its lowest level in more than a year.

The FHFA’s House Price Index showed that, on average, U.S. home prices climbed 3.3% in the July-September quarter compared to a year earlier.

The 2026 single-family home conforming loan limit will apply to most of the country, though the FHFA allows higher loan limits for certain states, such as Alaska and Hawaii, and in counties where the local median home value is more than double the conforming loan limit.

For example, the conforming loan limit for single-family homes in Los Angeles and New York counties will be $1,249,125 starting next year.

New limits for a rent algorithm that prosecutors say let landlords drive up prices

Summary:

  • settles DOJ case over rent-pricing software
  • Company barred from using real-time confidential data for pricing
  • Critics say algorithm enabled to coordinate and raise rents
  • States and cities nationwide are cracking down on rent-setting tools

Landlords could no longer rely on rent-pricing software to quietly track each other’s moves and push rents higher using confidential data, under a settlement between RealPage Inc. and federal prosecutors to end what critics said was illegal “algorithmic collusion.”

The deal announced Monday by the follows a yearlong federal antitrust lawsuit, launched during the Biden administration, against the Texas-based software company. RealPage would not have to pay any damages or admit any wrongdoing. The settlement must still be approved by a judge.

RealPage software provides daily recommendations to help landlords and their employees nationwide price their available apartments. The landlords do not have to follow the suggestions, but critics argue that because the software has access to a vast trove of confidential data, it helps RealPage’s clients charge the highest possible rent.

“RealPage was replacing competition with coordination, and renters paid the price,” said DOJ antitrust chief Gail Slater, who emphasized that the settlement avoided a costly, time-consuming trial.

Under the terms of the proposed settlement, RealPage can no longer use that real-time data to determine price recommendations. Instead, the only nonpublic data that can be used to train the software’s algorithm must be at least one year old.

“What does this mean for you and your family?” Slater said in a video statement. “It means more real competition in local housing markets. It means rents set by the market, not by a secret algorithm.”

RealPage attorney Stephen Weissman said the company is pleased the DOJ worked with them to settle the matter.

“There has been a great deal of misinformation about how RealPage’s software works and the value it provides for both housing providers and renters,” Weissman said in a statement. “We believe that RealPage’s historical use of aggregated and anonymized nonpublic data, which include rents that are typically lower than advertised rents, has led to lower rents, less vacancies, and more procompetitive effects.”

Over the past few months, more than two dozen property management companies have reached various settlements over their use of RealPage, including Greystar, the nation’s largest landlord, which agreed to pay $50 million to settle a class action lawsuit, and $7 million to settle a separate lawsuit filed by nine states.

The governors of California and New York signed laws last month to crack down on rent-setting software, and a growing list of cities, including Philadelphia and Seattle, have passed ordinances against the practice.

Ten states — California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington — had joined the DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit. Those states were not part of Monday’s settlement.

Stocks climb on hopes for lower interest rates as Dow rallies 660 points

Summary:

  • rises 0.9% and nears record high
  • Traders see ~83% chance of December Fed rate cut
  • Mixed data shows soft , weaker
  • Retailers including Abercrombie, Kohl’s and report strong profits

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S.  climbed again Tuesday on hopes for a coming cut to .

The S&P 500 rose 0.9% after breaking out of a morning lull and is back within 1.8% of its all-time high. The Industrial Average rallied 664 points, or 1.4%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.7%.

Stocks got a boost from easing yields in the bond market. Lower interest rates can cover up many sins in financial markets, including prices going too high, and hopes are strong that the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate at its next meeting to juice the further.

A raft of mixed economic data on Tuesday left traders betting on a nearly 83% probability that the Fed will cut in December, according to data from CME Group. That’s roughly the same as a day before and up sharply from the coin flip’s chance that they saw just a week ago.

One of Tuesday’s reports said that shoppers bought less at U.S. retailers in September than economists expected. Another said confidence among U.S. consumers worsened by more in November than expected, a second signal that the economy could potentially use the help of lower interest rates.

Easier rates can boost the economy by encouraging households and companies to borrow more and investors to pay higher prices for investments than they would otherwise.

A third report, meanwhile, said at the wholesale level was a touch worse in September than economists expected, but a closely tracked underlying trend was slightly better. That’s important because lower interest rates can make inflation worse, and high inflation is the main deterrent that could keep the Fed from cutting rates.

After taking all the data together, economists suggested the Fed and its chair, Jerome Powell, could be leaning toward cutting rates on Dec. 10. The Fed has already cut rates twice this year in hopes of shoring up the slowing job market.

“Taking a pause on rate cuts would probably do more damage to sentiment than a cut would help,” according to Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management, who also said “Powell doesn’t need to be the Grinch that stole Christmas.”

Easier interest rates can give particularly big boosts to smaller companies, because many of them need to borrow to grow. The Russell 2000 index of the smallest U.S. stocks jumped 2.1% to lead the market.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, several retailers leaped after delivering stronger profits for the summer than analysts expected.

Abercrombie & Fitch soared 37.5% after the apparel seller reported a better profit than expected. It also raised the bottom end of its forecasted range for revenue and profit over the full year.

Kohl’s surged 42.5% after reporting a profit for the latest quarter, when analysts were expecting a loss. Best Buy rose 5.3% after boosting its profit forecast for the full year following a better-than-expected third quarter, citing strength across computing, gaming and mobile phones.

Dick’s Sporting Goods erased an early drop of 4% to add 0.2%. It raised its forecast for results at its Dick’s stores, though its purchase of Foot Locker is requiring some work. Executive Chairman Ed Stack said the company is “cleaning out the garage” at Foot Locker by clearing inventory, closing poorly performing stores and making other moves.

Swings also continued in the artificial-intelligence industry, which has battled concerns that too many dollars are pouring into data centers and may not produce the revolution of bigger profits and productivity that proponents are predicting.

rose another 1.5%, continuing a strong run on excitement about its recently released Gemini AI model. Chinese giant Alibaba, meanwhile, saw its stock that trades in the United States fall 2.3% after losing an early gain. It reported stronger revenue than analysts expected for the latest quarter thanks in part to the AI boom, but its overall profit fell short of forecasts.

Some chip companies dropped sharply following a report from The Information that Meta Platforms is in talks to spend billions of dollars on AI chips from Alphabet instead of them. Nvidia sank 2.6% and Advanced Micro Devices dropped 4.1%.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 60.76 points to 6,765.88. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 664.18 to 47,112.45, and the Nasdaq composite gained 153.59 to 23,025.59.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.00% from 4.04% late Monday.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across Europe and Asia. Germany’s DAX returned 1%, and stocks in Shanghai climbed 0.9% for two of the world’s bigger moves.

___

AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Best Buy ups sales outlook heading into holiday shopping ramp-up

Summary:

  • ‘s comparable sales rose 2.7% in Q3, the strongest gain in four years
  • CEO says deal-focused shoppers are still spending on innovation
  • Company lifts full-year profit and revenue outlook despite tariff pressures

Best Buy raised its profit and sales expectations ahead of the ramp-up on Black Friday after a strong third quarter.

Comparable-store sales at the nation’s largest chain rose 2.7%, fueled by computing, gaming and mobile phones. It was the biggest gain in four years for the Minnesota retailer.

Shares rose nearly 6% in early afternoon trading.

Best Buy’s CEO Corie Barry told reporters on a call Tuesday that the chain is making sure that it has a broad range of products across all price points. That breadth of assortment has helped the chain pick up more lower income shoppers, she said.

“The consumer is not a monolith,” Barry told reporters. “Generally, what we are seeing remains a generally resilient consumer. They are deal focused, so definitely looking for those predictable sales events.”

But Barry said that doesn’t mean shoppers are looking for the lowest prices but rather ones that offer the best value.

“And they’re willing to spend when they need to or when there’s innovation,” she said.

The strong quarter is an encouraging sign for Best Buy, which like almost all U.S. companies, has spent months navigating an uncertain economic environment as President Donald Trump imposes wide-ranging tariffs on imports. The electronics industry can be particularly hard hit by because so many good are imported.

Consumer sentiment has sagged and the just ended 43-day federal shutdown did not help.

Shoppers seemingly continue to spend, though there are broad signs that they have grown more cautious and often are lured only by discounts.

is still stubborn, yet the consumer impact is not as bad as originally feared because Best Buy and other retailers have absorbed some of those increases. They have also diversified supply networks to dodge tariffs. And so price increases have only been applied to a small amount of products, Best Buy executives said.

Barry told reporters that many shoppers are buying gadgets like computers to replace their older ones, or they’re looking for innovative products like getting their hands on new gaming consoles.

Barry estimates that the top 40% of all U.S. consumers are driving two-thirds of all consumption, but while the remaining 60% of U.S. consumers are spending less freely, it’s not “dire” because the has held up. This group is focusing on need or getting the best deals, she said.

“One of the things we’re watching closely is how does employment continue to evolve for particularly that cohort of people who are living more paycheck to paycheck,” she added.

Best Buy reported net income of $140 million, or 66 cents per share, for the three-month period ended Nov. 1, or $1.40 when adjusted for one-time charges and benefits.

That was 9 cents better than Wall Street had expected, according to a survey by FactSet, though far below last year’s $273 million, or $1.26 per share.

Sales rose to $9.67 billion from $9.45 billion, also beating expectations.

The company raised its per share forecast for the current year to between $6.25 and $6.35 per share. That’s up from the previous range of between $6.15 and $6.30 per share.

It also now expects sales of $41.65 billion to $41.95 billion for the year, up from its original forecast of $41.1 billion to $41.9 billion.

Best Buy also forecasts that comparable sales will be up anywhere from 0.5% to 1.2% for the year. Its earlier forecast called for a 1% decline to an increase of 1%.