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US applications for jobless claims inch back down as companies hold on to their employees

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:26 GMT

U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell slightly last week as companies held on to employees in an economy that has largely withstood rapidly rising interest rates, intended to cool hiring and spending, for more than a year.The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits last fell week by 4,000, to 228,000 the week ending August 26, the Labor Department reported Thursday.The four-week moving average of claims, which evens out some of the weekly volatility, rose by 250 to 237,500.Jobless claim applications are seen as representative of the number of layoffs in a given week.The Federal Reserve, in its now year-and-a-half battle against inflation, has raised interest rates 11 times to 5.4%, the highest level in 22 years.Part of the Fed’s intent was to cool the job market and bring down wages, which many economists believe suppresses price growth. Though some measures of inflation have come down significantly — from as much as 9% down closer to 3% — since the Fed starting...

Elderly man critically injured in east-end Toronto highrise fire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:26 GMT

One person has been rushed to hospital after a two-alarm fire at a highrise in Scarborough.Firefighters responded to the residential building at Brimley and Kingston roads around 7:30 a.m.Paramedics say a man in his 70s is in critical condition.It is not yet known what caused the fire.More to come. Developing story.

UN-backed panel says Italy can do more to fight racism, discrimination in sports and society

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:26 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — U.N.-backed human rights experts focusing on racial discrimination urged Italy’s government to do more to eliminate violence, hate speech, stigmatization and harassment against Africans and people of African descent, and expressed concern that no legal cases have been brought to punish fans and others for racist acts at sports events. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, a panel of independent experts that works with the U.N.’s human rights office, also said it regrets that Italy’s government hasn’t provided it with an updated number of complaints and cases of racial discrimination that have been investigated and prosecuted, among other concerns. The findings released Thursday were part of the committee’s periodic look at efforts by governments of U.N. member states to crack down on racial hatred and discrimination. Other countries under the panel’s scrutiny in this round were Croatia, Namibia, Senegal, Turkmeni...

Niger’s military regime orders police to expel French ambassador and revokes his diplomatic immunity

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:26 GMT

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Niger’s military junta has revoked the diplomatic immunity of France’s ambassador and ordered police to expel him from the country, according to a statement from the military regime.The mutinous soldiers who ousted Niger’s president more than a month ago gave French Ambassador Sylvain Itte 48 hours to leave the country last week. The deadline expired on August 28 without France recalling Itte. The French government says it doesn’t recognize the coup-plotters as the country’s legitimate leaders. The communique sent by Niger’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier this week and seen by The Associated Press on Thursday said Itte “no longer enjoys the privileges and immunities attached to his status as a member of the diplomatic staff of the embassy.” The document also says the diplomatic cards and visas of the ambassador’s families have been canceled. France’s government didn’t immediately respond to a request for comme...

A Palestinian kills an Israeli soldier in a West Bank truck ramming attack and is fatally shot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:26 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A Palestinian driver slammed his truck into soldiers at a busy checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, killing one of them before being shot dead, Israeli authorities said, in the latest bloodshed in a relentless cycle of violence to roil the region.The violence came a day after Israeli police shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy who stabbed a man in a Jerusalem light-rail station and after Palestinian militants detonated a bomb near a convoy of Israeli troops escorting Jewish worshippers to a holy site in the West Bank, wounding four Israeli troops. The unrest is part of more than a yearlong wave of violence that has surged to levels unseen in the West Bank in some two decades. According to Israeli authorities, the driver, identified as a 41-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank, was moving east toward the crossing when he spotted the soldiers near a bagel stand. He made a U-turn and slammed into the soldiers, who were in uniform. An Isr...

Stock market today: Wall Street higher as it tries to claw back losses from a brutal August

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:26 GMT

BEIJING — Wall Street pushed higher Thursday ahead of new inflation and jobs data that could influence the Federal Reserve and its policy decisions regarding benchmark interest rates. Futures for the Dow Jones industrials rose 0.5% and the S&P 500 advanced 0.2% as more corporate earnings reports trickled in after the bell Wednesday. Markets are trying to claw back losses on the last day of what’s been a brutal month. Even with a hot streak the past two weeks, the Dow, S&P and Nasdaq are all still down close to 2% in August. It would be just the second down month for the Nasdaq this year.The U.S. issues an inflation update early Thursday as part of its report on personal consumption and expenditures — the measure of prices most closely watched by the Fed. It eased to 3% in July from last year’s peak of 7%.The Fed has raised interest rates 11 times since March of 2021 in an attempt to stifle inflation. Higher rates help to cool the economy and slow price growth, but anal...

Fed’s preferred inflation gauge shows a modest rise in latest sign of slowing price increases

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:26 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — An inflation gauge closely tracked by the Federal Reserve remained low last month, adding to signs of cooling price increases and raising the likelihood that the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged when it next meets in late September. Thursday’s report from the Commerce Department showed that prices rose just 0.2% from June to July, the third straight modest increase. Compared with a year earlier, prices rose 3.3% in July, up from a 3% annual increase in June. The year-over-year figure, though, is down sharply from the 7% peak it reached a year ago, though still above the Fed’s 2% inflation target. The latest data follows other recent reports that suggest the economy and the job market may be slowing enough to cool inflation pressures. The number of advertised job openings, for example, tumbled in July, and fewer Americans are quitting their jobs to seek better opportunities. Both trends ease the pressure on companies to raise pay to find and keep ...

MDA signs deal to buy digital payload division of SatixFy Communications

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:26 GMT

BRAMPTON, Ont. — MDA Ltd. has signed an agreement to buy the digital payload division of SatixFy Communications Ltd. in a deal valued at US$40 million.MDA chief executive Mike Greenley says the deal for SatixFy Space Systems UK Ltd. (SSS) helps the company’s strategy to invest and expand in next generation satellite technology.Greenley says MDA and SatixFy have worked together and the acquisition is a natural next step in solidifying and strengthening the company’s market position and addressing customer demand.The deal will see the business, based in the United Kingdom, integrated into MDA UK, the company’s existing subsidiary in the country. The SSS team will also collaborate with MDA’s satellite systems business in Montreal.The agreement is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 31, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:MDA)The Canadian Press

'Skip-the-Line' program kicks off Friday at Illinois DMVs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:26 GMT

CHICAGO — Starting Friday, most DMV facilities will require an appointment to get drivers licenses, Real ID's and driving tests.It part of a move to modernize Illinois' Department of Motor Vehicles.The appointments will be required at the states 44 busiest DMV locations throughout the states, including all Chicago locations — except the Loop location.The Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced the "Skip-the-Line" program back in July.The idea is to cut the unpredicability of wait times at DMV's where people can wait hours or just a few minutes depending on the lines.Starting Friday, you will need to book your appointment online.A few more changes coming to the DMV are the hours. Instead of Tuesday through Saturday, the facility will be open Monday through Friday — however, about a dozen will remain open on Saturday.You will also not need appointments for titles to register your vehicle or get license plate stickers.The secretary of state says a number of service...

Tropical Storm Jose forms in Atlantic, 2 other disturbances being monitored

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:26 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The Atlantic basin is ending August on a busy note. Tropical Storm Jose formed Thursday and the National Hurricane Center is monitoring two other disturbances.Tropical Storm Jose Tropical Storm Jose formed overnight. It is located about 785 miles east-southeast of Bermuda. PHOTOS: Hurricane Idalia impacts on the Tampa Bay area The storm has 40 mph winds and is moving north at 5 mph.Forecasters said the system is expected to be absorbed by Hurricane Franklin.2 disturbances in the AtlanticThe NHC is watching two disturbances in the Atlantic, including one with a 70% chance of development.Meteorologists said the system with a high chance of development is located just west of Cape Verde. The tropical wave continues to produce showers and thunderstorms that are gradually becoming better organized, the NHC said.Forecasters believe the system will likely become a tropical depression over the next few days.The NHC is also watching what was once Tropical Storm Gert. M...