Browsing: Business

WASHINGTON: The U.S. national debt is projected to climb to about $64 trillion within the next decade as federal deficits remain elevated, according to a new 10 year outlook from the Congressional Budget Office. The nonpartisan budget office said annual shortfalls are expected to widen in coming years, with debt rising even as the economy is projected to keep expanding, reflecting higher interest costs and growing spending tied to an aging population. The CBO forecast shows the federal budget deficit at about $1.9 trillion in fiscal 2026, rising to about $3.1 trillion by 2036. As a share of the economy, the deficit is projected at…

NEW YORK: Wall Street ended sharply lower on Thursday as declines in technology stocks pulled major U.S. indexes down and losses broadened across the market. The Nasdaq Composite slid 469.32 points, or 2.03%, to 22,597.15. The S&P 500 fell 108.71 points, or 1.57%, to 6,832.76, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 669.42 points, or 1.34%, to 49,451.98. Technology losses were led by Cisco Systems, which sank 12.3% for its biggest one-day drop since May 2022 after reporting a quarterly adjusted gross margin that missed expectations. Weakness in large technology and chip-related stocks weighed on broader benchmarks, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index finished…

INDIANA: Meta Platforms has begun construction on a more than $10 billion data center campus in Lebanon, Indiana, a project the company says will be capable of delivering up to 1 gigawatt of computing capacity once operational. The parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp said the site is designed to support both artificial intelligence workloads and its core online services. The campus is planned for the LEAP Research and Innovation District in Boone County, about 30 miles northwest of Indianapolis. State and local officials said the development will be built across several phases on a 1,500 acre site and is expected to…

NEW YORK: Gold prices edged lower on Thursday as the U.S. dollar firmed after stronger than expected U.S. jobs data, cooling expectations for near term interest rate cuts. Spot gold was down 0.5% at $5,055.24 an ounce by 0642 GMT, after closing Wednesday up more than 1%. U.S. gold futures for April delivery fell 0.4% to $5,077.30. Investors turned to fresh U.S. economic readings due later this week for additional signals on interest rates. The dollar gained after data showed U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 130,000 in January, exceeding expectations for a 70,000 increase, while the unemployment rate slipped to 4.3% from…

WASHINGTON: A new Tax Foundation estimate says tariffs imposed under President Donald Trump increased costs for U.S.  households by an average of about $1,000 in 2025, describing the impact as similar to a broad-based tax increase. The group also estimated the tariffs in place entering 2026 were equivalent to about $1,300 per household for the year, based on the prices Americans pay for imported goods and products tied to global supply chains. The Tax Foundation said the average effective U.S. tariff rate jumped from around 2% in 2024 to roughly 10% in 2025, the highest level since 1946. The estimate has amplified scrutiny of…

NEW YORK: Gold traded back above the $5,000 an ounce level this week, with spot prices around $5,078 as a softer U.S. dollar coincided with renewed demand for the metal. The move followed sharp swings since late January, when gold reached record territory before pulling back in early February. On Tuesday, spot gold eased to about $5,030.80, still holding above $5,000. The latest rebound came after gold briefly slid to roughly $4,400 in early February, according to market pricing cited in the latest updates. Gold’s recent high-water mark was $5,594.82 on January 29, when prices touched an all-time peak before reversing lower in the…

NEW YORK: Amazon shares slid sharply this week as a pullback in large technology and software stocks erased about $1 trillion in market value from the S&P 500 software and services group since Jan. 28, according to index calculations. The sell-off followed a series of earnings updates in which major companies outlined steep increases in spending for artificial intelligence data centers, chips and related infrastructure. Amazon outlined capital expenditures of about $200 billion for 2026, up from $131 billion in 2025, as it expands computing capacity for Amazon Web Services and other operations. The stock fell 5.6% on Friday, underperforming broader indexes…

NEW YORK: U.S. employers announced 108,435 job cuts in January, the sharpest start to a year since the Great Recession, as reductions in transportation, technology and healthcare drove a surge in planned layoffs, according to a monthly report released this week by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas. The January total rose 205% from December and was up 118% from January 2025, the report said. It marked the highest January figure since 2009, when employers announced 241,749 cuts during the financial crisis. Challenger’s tracking reflects layoff announcements and public plans disclosed by employers, which can unfold over weeks or months. Transportation led…

NEW YORK: Amazon shares fell about 8% in U.S. trading on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, after the company forecast roughly $200 billion in capital spending for 2026 and reported fourth-quarter earnings that came in slightly below analyst expectations. The stock drop made Amazon one of the weakest performers in the Dow Jones Industrial Average session. Amazon said it expects to invest about $200 billion in capital expenditures across the company in 2026. The forecast follows a sharp rise in spending on property and equipment, with purchases of property and equipment totaling $131.8 billion for full-year 2025, according to the company’s cash flow statement.…

KANSAS: Beef processed at Sustainable Beef’s producer-owned facility in North Platte, Nebraska is now appearing on Walmart shelves across the region, with product sent to a packaging plant in Olathe, Kansas for final packaging and distribution, according to a January 2026 update from local officials in North Platte. Packages carry a USDA establishment identifier, EST m3199, which is part of the federal numbering system used to trace meat products to their processing origin. Walmart opened its first owned-and-operated case-ready beef facility in Olathe on June 27, 2025, describing the site as a state-of-the-art operation spanning more than 300,000 square feet. The facility processes…