Category: Economy

Bentley Pushes Back Ambitious All-Electric Goals

Virginia Star Staff
Driver getting into his Bently

British luxury carmaker Bentley Motors is pushing back its plans to have an all-electric vehicle (EV) offering by 2030, following other top vehicle manufacturers, according to CNBC.

Bentley had originally planned to transition all of its vehicle sales to EVs by 2030 but announced that it would be looking to delay that change by a couple of years, continuing to offer hybrids through that time, CEO Adrian Hallmark said in a media briefing following the company’s fourth quarter results, according to CNBC. General Motors, Ford, Mercedes-Benz and Honda have all backed off of previously made EV goals in the past year as low demand and high costs have stifled the commodity’s profitability compared to traditional vehicles.

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Layoffs Continue Nationwide as Economic Concerns Rise

The Center Square
Fired by email

As the economy worsens, multiple industries continue to shed jobs.

U.S.-based companies laid off 82,307 employees in January, a 136 percent increase from the previous month, according to a report by the business and coaching firm, Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. The Wall Street Journal reported companies are still cutting white-collar jobs in an attempt “to do more with less.”

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Retailer Joann Fabrics Files for Bankruptcy as Americans Cut Back on Creature Comforts

Virginia Star Staff
Joann Fabrics store

Major fabric and craft retailer Joann announced Monday that it was filing for bankruptcy as consumers pull back on spending due to harsh economic conditions.

The retailer recently reached an agreement with a majority of its financial stakeholders as well as other financing parties, giving the company around $132 million in new financing while also reducing the debt on the company’s balance sheet by around $505 million, according to an announcement from Joann. Retail sales across the U.S. economy have continued to slump in recent months, growing just 0.6 percent month-to-month in February, not including inflation, and declining 1.1 percent in January as consumers pull back on non-essentials as prices rise.

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Jeff Bezos’ Charity Spending Millions to Fund Development of Fake Meat

Virginia Star Staff
Lauren Sanchez

The charitable foundation of Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos is pouring tens of millions of dollars into efforts to advance synthetic meat.

The Bezos Earth Fund (BEF) will be spending an initial $60 million to fund research and development of “alternative proteins,” which the University of Melbourne defines as “plant-based and food-technology alternatives to animal protein,” the BEF announced Tuesday. The $60 million commitment is part of the BEF’s $1 billion campaign to transform food systems to fight climate change.

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Commentary: Electric Transmission Buildout Could Cost Americans Trillions of Dollars

RealClearWire
Electric Grid

Though windmills and solar panels get the headlines, the big energy topic in Washington is electric transmission. Whether it is Congress’s newfound interest in permitting reform, the U.S. Department of Energy’s new Grid Deployment Office, or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) upcoming final rule on transmission planning and cost allocation, how to build and pay for long-range transmission to connect generators to customers is considered the final piece in the quest to meet net-zero goals.   

Like so many issues in Washington, the need for more transmission lines is accepted without question and the costs are not considered. But for American consumers, especially low-income and elderly, as well as small businesses and energy intense manufacturers, building new transmission lines could result in much higher monthly bills and leave them on the hook for stranded assets.

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Study: Most Partial Automation Driving Systems Need Work

The Center Square
Nissan Car

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says automakers should incorporate new rating programs into their partial driving automation systems to reduce traffic deaths.

The new IIHS ratings aim to encourage safeguards that can help reduce intentional misuse and prolonged attention lapses.

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Inflation Woes: Home Buyers Need 80 Percent More Income to Buy than Four Years Ago

The Center Square
Home Buyers

The housing market is not immune from inflationary woes as buyer’s purchasing power has significantly diminished in four years. Home buyers in 2024 need 80% more income to purchase a home than they did in 2020, according to a new report by Zillow.

“The income needed to comfortably afford a home is up 80% since 2020, while median income has risen 23% in that time,” the report states. That equates to $47,000 more than four years ago.

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Family Dollar and Dollar Tree to Close 1,000 Stores After $1.71 Billion Net Loss

Just the News
Family Dollar Store

Dollar Tree and its subsidiary, Family Dollar, will close 1,000 stores following a net loss of $1.71 billion over three months, the discount retailer said Wednesday.

The company plans to close about 600 Family Dollar stores in the first half of this year and allow about 370 Family Dollar stores and 30 Dollar Tree stores to close over the next few years at the end of their lease terms.

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Semiconductor Giant Faces U.S. Delays While Racing Ahead in Japan amid Biden Chips Funding Uncertainty

Virginia Star Staff

A major Taiwanese chip manufacturer’s plan to build a key factory in the U.S. has been plagued with significant delays. Meanwhile, the chipmaker is on schedule to open a separate facility in Japan.

One of the plants Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is building in Arizona has delayed manufacturing until 2027 or 2028 instead of 2026 because of uncertainty regarding funding it will receive from President Joe Biden’s administration, according to The New York Times. TSMC’s factory in Japan is on track to operate on schedule as the country’s government has helped the factory by committing billions in funding and assisting with assembling thousands of employees to build it, the WSJ reported.

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Biden to Oppose Foreign Acquisition of U.S. Steel in Bid to Sway Blue Collar Voters

Virginia Star Staff
Biden U.S. Steel

President Joe Biden is expected to announce his opposition to the foreign acquisition of the iconic American company U.S. Steel on Thursday as he looks to win over blue collar voters, according to The Associated Press.

The Japanese Nippon Steel Corporation first announced that it would be acquiring U.S. Steel, the world’s fourth-largest steel producer, in December for around $14.9 billion after entertaining multiple offers, including from American steel company Cleveland Cliffs. The announcement is part of the president’s bid to sway blue-collar voters and union members by positioning himself as supporting American manufacturing, with the remarks to be delivered in the battleground state of Michigan, according to the AP.

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Inflation Spiked in February More than Expected

The Center Square
Grocery Shopping

Producer prices spiked last month, another sign of rising inflation in the U.S., according to new federal data.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday released its monthly Producer Price Index, a leading marker of inflation, which showed an increase of 0.6% in February, more than expected.

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Commentary: The Financialization of Nature

Virginia Star Staff
Power Plant Money

Financialization: “A pattern of accumulation in which profit making occurs increasingly through financial channels rather than through trade and commodity production.”
– Greta Krippner, Economic Sociologist, University of Michigan

There are plenty of examples of how America’s economy shifted from a production-based economy to a financially-based economy over the past forty years. Starting around 1980, with the economies of post-World War II Europe and Japan fully rebuilt and roaring, and emerging Asian economies turning into powerhouses of manufacturing as well, America chose financialization as an alternative to rising up to meet the competition.

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Border Crisis: Water Scarcity Forces Texas’ Last Sugar Mill to Close

The Center Square

The border crisis has taken on many forms in Texas, from crime to fentanyl poisonings to farmers and ranchers losing their livelihoods.

Another casualty of the border crisis is the U.S. State Department’s failure to hold accountable Mexican government authorities to a 1944 Treaty of Utilization of Waters, resulting in Texas’ last sugar mill shut down, the industry contends. The Rio Grande Valley is bracing for an expected initial $100 million in economic losses as a result.

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Watchdog: Biden’s 2025 Budget Would Drive National Debt to $45 Trillion in 10 Years, 106 Percent of GDP

Just the News

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) a budget watchdog group, found that President Joe Biden’s fiscal year 2025 budget would drive the national debt to $45.1 trillion or 106 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2034, from $27.4 trillion or about 97 percent of GDP at the present time.

The organization noted that those calculations are based on the Biden administration’s own internal figures. The current $27.4 trillion debt figure is the debt held by the public, not the total national debt including intragovernmental holdings.

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‘Unusually High’ Inflation: Consumer Costs Rose Again in February

The Center Square
aceless person with cash and calculator app on smartphone

Consumer prices jumped again in February, in part driven by a significant rise in gasoline prices, according to newly released federal inflation data.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Consumer Price Index Tuesday, a leading marker of inflation, which showed prices rose 0.4 percent in February and 3.2 percent over the past year.

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Commentary: Unemployment Up Another 760,000 Since December 2022 as Unemployment Rate Jumps to 3.9 Percent

Virginia Star Staff

Don’t look now, but U.S. labor markets appear to be churning in the wrong direction, as the unemployment rate jumped to 3.9 percent in February, and the unemployment level hit a new high for this cycle at almost 6.5 million, up 760,000 from its low this cycle of 5.7 million in Dec. 2022, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Report: Post-Pandemic Remote, Hybrid Work Will Impact Businesses near Offices

The Center Square
Empty Office

Remote and hybrid workers will impact more than office vacancy rates, according to an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

The report, “Hybrid Work May Pose Challenge To Bars and Restaurants in Parts of the Tenth Federal Reserve District,” stated hybrid work arrangements and a preference for remote work are here to stay. It quoted research suggesting approximately 30% of working days in 2023 took place at home and office occupancy is down at least 40% compared to pre-pandemic levels.

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Government Jobs Continue to Swell Under Biden as Unemployment Ticks Up

Virginia Star Staff
Team Work at Office

The U.S. set another new record for the total number of government jobs in February, even as overall unemployment ticks up, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The government added 52,000 positions in February, around the average gain per month seen in the last year, totaling 23,180,000, according to the BLS. The U.S. economy added 275,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in February, far higher than expectations of 200,000, but unemployment shot up from 3.7% to 3.9%.

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Job Gains Surge for Another Month as Unemployment Ticks Up

Virginia Star Staff
Office Work

The U.S. added 275,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in February as the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9%, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data released Friday.

Economists anticipated that the country would add 200,000 jobs in February compared to the 353,000 that were added in January, and that the unemployment rate would remain at 3.7%, according to Reuters. The job gains were announced two days after Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, told the House Financial Services Committee in its semi-annual monetary policy report that he does not believe that there is evidence for a recession, meaning rate cuts could be on the horizon.

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Commentary: Americans Are Worse Off than Four Years Ago

Virginia Star Staff
Joe Biden SOTU

The State of the Union is not strong. Americans are facing a cost-of-living crisis, high crime, and an unsecured southern border as a direct result of Democrats’ failed policies led by perpetrator-in-chief Joe Biden.

Instead of taking accountability for these pressing national challenges, Biden promised more of the same in his State of the Union address Thursday night.

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Layoffs Surge for Another Month Despite Job Gains

Virginia Star Staff
Empty Office

Layoffs at U.S. companies surged for another month as businesses adjusted to current market conditions, despite huge reported job gains, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

Job cuts increased to 84,638 in February, 3% higher than in January when layoffs also soared, and 9% higher than February last year, which had 77,770 cuts, according to the report. The layoffs are in spite of strong reported job growth, with the U.S. adding 353,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in January, far higher than expectations of 180,000.

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Commentary: The Federal Government is Deciding Who Can Start a Small Business

Virginia Star Staff
Business Owner

Just when it seemed impossible for things to get tougher for small businesses, the federal government decided to make things worse.

Small businesses have had a tough run for the last few years. Record inflation, high interest rates, and workforce shortages have led to widespread pessimism among small businesses. The last thing they need is more government interference, but that is exactly what is happening.

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Top Contender to Take over Massive Union Has Repeatedly Been Accused of Union Busting

Virginia Star Staff
April Verrett

The presumptive heir to the position of president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has had employees under her command complain of union-busting tactics and retaliation, according to a report from the Center for Union Facts.

April Verrett, the current secretary treasurer of the SEIU and the former president of SEIU Local 2015, is a top contender to replace the current outgoing president, Mary Kay Henry, according to the report. In both positions, Verrett was reportedly part of the management that faced off with SEIU employees, who had organized separately from the SEIU, about working conditions and contract negotiations.

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Struggling Bank Gets Bailed Out with Help from Former Trump Admin Treasury Secretary

Virginia Star Staff
New York Community Bank

New York Community Bancorp (NYCB) announced on Thursday that it would be getting more than $1 billion from investors to help stabilize the bank, including from a firm run by a former Trump administration Treasury secretary.

The bank will receive $450 million from Mnuchin Liberty Strategic Capital, headed by former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, as well as a $250 million and $200 million investment from Hudson Bay Capital and Reverence Capital, according to an announcement from the bank. NYCB posted a $252 million loss in the fourth quarter of 2023, sending its stock to the lowest level since 1997 and worrying investors about another potential crisis in the banking sector, accordingto CNN.

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Local Restaurants Can’t Keep Up with Minimum Wage Hikes, Inflation

OHStarStaff
local restaurant

Minimum wage hikes in many states around the country and sky-high inflation are crushing independent restaurants that don’t want to raise prices on their customers, according to the Wall Street Journal.

In January, 22 states raised their minimum wage for hourly workers, according to the WSJ. Around 59 percent of small business owners said that higher labor costs were the biggest source of inflation in January, requiring price hikes to maintain current revenue levels.

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Food Stamp Costs for a Family’s Meal Jump 31 Percent over Last Three Years

The Center Square
Person Shopping

The monthly costs for the thrifty plan for a family of four participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is increasing by 31% over the last three years.

The United States Department of Agriculture stated the food stamp benefit amounts are based every year upon the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan.

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Green: Taxpayers’ $3 Billion Supplying Clean Ports Program

The Center Square
NC Port

The Biden administration’s choice for zero-emissions operations in America’s ports was boosted Wednesday with the opening of applications for $3 billion from taxpayers in the Clean Ports Program.

Equipment and infrastructure needs can be met that “reduce mobile source emissions at U.S. ports,” a release from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says. EPA Administrator Michael Regan was in Wilmington, N.C., alongside Gov. Roy Cooper, whose administration he previously worked in, to make the announcement.

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Average Long-Term Mortgage Rises to 6.94 Percent in Fourth Consecutive Weekly Increase

Virginia Star Staff
Financial Meeting

On Thursday, the average long-term mortgage rate in the United States rose for the fourth week in a row, in a setback for Americans looking to potentially buy a home in the traditional homebuying season of spring.

According to ABC News, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac announced that the average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose from 6.90% to 6.94%. Although this is slightly less than the recent high of 6.95% in December, it is still higher than what it was at the same time one year ago, when the average rate was 6.65%.

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Army Cutting Thousands of Jobs in Preparation for Possible Future War

Virginia Star Staff
Army Members

The United States Army is reducing its size by about 5%, cutting roughly 24,000 jobs, as part of a restructuring plan that is ostensibly meant to better prepare for a possible war in the future.

As ABC News reports, the cuts will mostly affect posts that are already empty, such as counterinsurgency jobs that were previously needed in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan but no longer needed today, as well as about 3,000 jobs in the Army special operations forces.

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Youngkin Administration Cites ‘Serious Concerns’ over Skill Games Bills amid Calls to Veto

Tom Pappert
Slot machines

A spokesman for Governor Glenn Youngkin expressed “serious concerns” about both bills passed by the Virginia General Assembly to allow skill games in convenience stores and bars throughout the commonwealth, citing a series of potential issues with the legislation in a statement provided to The Virginia Star.

The administration’s concern about skill games comes amid calls to veto the legislation, and as The Star publisher John Fredericks warns that inaction by the governor could be a “presidential killer” should Youngkin run for the White House in 2028.

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Report: US EV Manufacturing Faces ‘Extinction-Level Event’

The Center Square
Electric Vehicle Factory

An Alliance for American Manufacturing report called for tariffs to protect the U.S. electric vehicle market from an “extinction-level event” caused by Chinese competitors.

The report follows Chinese EV maker BYD, the world’s largest EV maker, releasing a $14,000 EV in February that could “demolish” domestic EVs, often $40,000 more expensive.

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Virginia Considers Bill Spending Millions on Build Electric Car Infrastructure in ‘Distressed’ Rural Areas

Tom Pappert
EV Factory

The Virginia General Assembly is considering a bill that would see taxpayers spend millions to help companies build infrastructure for electric vehicles (EVs) in “distressed” parts of the commonwealth.

HB 107 by Delegate Rip Sullivan Jr. (D-Arlington) passed in the House of Delegates with 71 votes in favor on February 8, and most recently advanced through the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor on February 19.

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Home Prices in America’s Top 10 Biggest Cities Rose in 2023

Virginia Star Staff
Home for Sale

Home prices for the 10 largest cities in the U.S. rose by 7.0% year-over-year in December, up from 6.3% in the previous month, according to Standard and Poor’s Case-Shiller home price index report.

The top 20 cities had a slightly less pronounced increase, with prices rising 6.1% year-over-year as of December, up from 5.4% in November, according to the index. The increase in costs is coupled with a rise in the average for a 30-year mortgage rate, which ticked up to 6.90% the week of Feb. 22 after declining slightly from the recent peak of 7.80% that was seen in October, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

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Commercial Foreclosures Increase 97 Percent from Last Year to Near Decade-High

Just the News
Commercial Shopping Space for Lease

Commercial real estate foreclosures increased 97 percent in January 2024 compared to last year, reaching a high that has not been seen in nearly a decade, according to new data.

With 635 commercial foreclosures in January 2024, foreclosures increased 17 percent from December 2023 and 97 percent from January 2023, according to a report last week from property data analyst ATTOM.

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New Drug Prices Spiked in 2023 as Biden Admin Seeks to Keep Costs Down

Virginia Star Staff
Joe Biden Drug Costs

Pharmaceutical companies set median starting list prices 35% higher in 2023 than the previous year, despite the Biden administration’s ongoing efforts to tamp down on surging costs, Reuters reported Friday.

The median list price for a drug being placed on the market, many of which were for rare diseases, was $300,000 in 2023, which is up from a median price of $222,000 in 2022, according to an analysis by Reuters of 47 drugs. The Biden administration has made it a goal to tame drug prices, announcing steps like imposing automatic rebates to Medicare for drugmakers that raise their prices faster than the rate of inflation, which does not cover the starting list price.

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Commentary: Foreign Cash Could Be the Culprit Turning Our Kids into Terrorist Sympathizers

Virginia Star Staff
Texas A&M

Shortly after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, a Harvard CAPS-Harris X poll found that 48 percent of Americans ages 18-24 supported Hamas over Israel. This is in direct contrast to 95 percent of Americans 65 years of age and older who sided with Israel. This stark difference begs the question: why do half of young Americans support a group that has been designated by the State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization since October 1997? Our ongoing fight for transparency suggests at least some of the answers lie in Qatar’s pocketbooks.

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Commentary: How to Build a ‘Results in Advance’ Plan for Your Retirement

Virginia Star Staff
Retired Couple

Creating a solid retirement plan is essential for a worry-free and stable future. Still, many people lack the knowledge to achieve a successful retirement plan. 

Here’s a can’t-lose, three-step strategy to assist you in developing an effective “Results in Advance” plan for your retirement.

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Existing Home Sales up 3.1 Percent in January

The Center Square
New Home Owner

Existing home sales increased 3.1% in January, but year-over-year sales fell.

Existing home sales were up 3.1% from December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4 million in January. Year-over-year, sales declined 1.7% (down from 4.07 million in January 2023), according to the National Association of Realtors.

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Commentary: Illegal Immigration Creates a New Slave Caste

Virginia Star Staff
Farm Workers

Belatedly, the southern border crisis is getting the attention it deserves.

There’s wall-to-wall coverage in the legacy and conservative press, independent documentaries proliferating on the subject, a Tucker Carlson interview with Bret Weinstein attracting over 15 million views on X, and President Joe Biden blaming Trump for a failed bill that involved the border crisis.

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Mercedes-Benz Walks Back on Huge Electric Vehicle Commitment amid Slowing Demand

Virginia Star Staff
MB Evs

Mercedes-Benz on Thursday walked back plans to have an all-electric line-up by 2030 as consumers decline to adopt electric vehicles (EV) at the rate automakers expected.

The company has changed its expectations to have only 50% of its sales be EVs by 2030, announcing that it will be updating its current line-up featuring the internal combustion engine into the next decade, according to Mercedes-Benz in its fourth quarter report. EV sales grew 21% year-over-year in 2023, but total car sales remained relatively the same, bucking hopes that EVs would fuel growth as the automaker pushes electric models.

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Commentary: Republicans Roll over on ‘Climate Change’

Virginia Star Staff
Climate Change

Why are Republicans supine in the fight against the Marxist takeover of our entire way of life? They are petrified, for some reason, about engaging the debate on the “science” of “climate change.”

This abandonment of the playing field has allowed climate spending to overtake the landscape like Kudzu vines on steroids.

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Mortgage Applications Fall as Interest Rates Remain High

Virginia Star Staff
Paper Work

Mortgage applications sank last week as high prices and rising mortgage rates have increased unaffordability for average Americans, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The total volume of mortgage loan applications for homes declined 10.6% in the week ending Feb. 16 compared to the previous week when seasonally adjusted, while the purchase index fell 10% in that same time, according to a release from the MBA. The drop in applications follows an increase in the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage for homes under $766,550 to 7.06% from 6.87% the week prior, intensifying housing unaffordability.

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‘Serious Problems’: Global Plague of Recessions Could Infect U.S., Experts Say

Virginia Star Staff
Office Meeting

The recessions currently plaguing several major countries around the world could be what drags the U.S. into an economic downturn of its own, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Germany announced on Monday that it fell into a technical recession in the fourth quarter of 2023, after reporting its second month in a row of negative growth, following several other top nations experiencing economic difficulties. While the U.S. has managed to avoid a recession due to its size and diverse industries, foreign economic malaise may drag the U.S. economy down through changes to trade and global inflation that would lead to a loss for American businesses, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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Gov. Youngkin Stands by Northern Virginia Arena Plans Despite Opposition from Unions

Tom Pappert
Glenn Youngkin New Stadium

In a statement released Tuesday, Governor Glenn Youngkin committed to see through his plans to bring the Washington Wizards and Capitals to Alexandria, Virginia with a new sports and entertainment district complete with new facilities for the teams to play.

Youngkin made the declaration after a breakdown of negotiations with two major unions resulted in their opposition to the arena, and after Virginia Senator L. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) successfully stalled a Senate bill necessary for the arena project to begin and now controls the fate of the House version of the bill after it landed in the Senate Finance Committee she chairs.

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Auto Executives: Chinese EVs Could ‘Demolish’ U.S. Production

The Center Square
BYD Electric Vehicle

Detroit placed the U.S. on wheels but if Motor City wants to go electric it faces fierce global competition.

Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD outsold Tesla in the fourth quarter of 2023. The foreign automaker said it produced more than 3 million new energy vehicles in 2023 compared to Tesla’s 1.8 million.

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