Business
Here we bring you business news affecting both our economy and our daily lives. ___________________________________________________________________________________________
Federal Reserve leaves interest rates unchanged as Warsh era begins
Eric Revwll / FOXBusiness
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced that it will hold interest rates steady due to concerns about elevated inflation amid the war in Iran, as Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s tenure leading the central bank begins in earnest.
Fed policymakers voted 12-0 to leave the benchmark federal funds rate unchanged at its current range of 3.5% to 3.75%. The move follows the central bank’s decision to hold rates steady in January, March and April following three successive 25-basis-point rate cuts in September, October and December to close out last year.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the central bank’s panel responsible for monetary policy moves, noted in its statement that inflation remains elevated above the central bank’s 2% goal, which it said was “in part reflecting supply shocks that have driven price increases in certain sectors, including energy.”
They also noted that job gains have kept pace with the workforce, while reiterating support for the dual mandate of price stability and maximum employment. Policymakers added that…Read more here.
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Musk’s SpaceX surges past Amazon in market cap after historic IPO debut
Eric Revell / FOXBusiness
Elon Musk’s SpaceX debuted on the Nasdaq on Friday following its IPO and shares have risen about 35% since it began trading last week, as traders look to capitalize on its momentum.
Tuesday saw SpaceX’s stock climb as much as 15% in early trading, which pushed the company’s market cap beyond the $2.66 trillion valuation for Amazon and Microsoft’s $2.93 trillion market value.
That briefly made it the fourth-largest global company by market cap before some of those gains were pared back.
SpaceX’s stock was boosted by the announcement that it would acquire Anysphere for $60 billion.
Anysphere is the parent company of Cursor, which is the provider of a coding agent powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and has become a popular “vibe-coding” tool.
SpaceX and Cursor announced a partnership in April that paired Cursor’s product and software engineering expertise with SpaceX’s supercomputers. Read more, and see video here.
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AI remains top reason for US job cuts for third straight month as employers axed 97,000 workers in May
Eric Revell / FOXBusiness
U.S. employers ramped up layoffs in May as the artificial intelligence (AI) rollout was the leading factor cited by companies cutting their workforces, new data shows.
Companies announced 97,006 job cuts in May – an increase of 16% from the 83,387 cuts in April and an increase of 3% from the 93,816 cuts announced last May, according to a recent report by global outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
AI was the leading reason cited for job cuts for the third consecutive month, with 38,579 cuts attributed to AI. It’s the highest monthly total for the reason since Challenger began tracking it in 2023 and accounted for 40% of all the job cuts announced in May.
“The labor market is being reshaped by technology in real time. AI is now the leading reason companies give for cutting jobs and the primary industry citing it is technology,” said Andy…Read more, and see video here.
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Florida homeowners may get a huge tax break — but newcomers face a major catch
As Americans continue to flee high-tax blue states for lower-tax destinations, Florida lawmakers have just passed what supporters describe as a major win for economic freedom.
Moving to provide long-term property tax relief for residents, the Florida Legislature has cleared a historic, DeSantis-backed constitutional amendment for the November 2026 general election ballot that could eliminate non-school property taxes for many homeowners through a proposed $250,000 homestead exemption.
“I think it will be particularly appealing to people leaving the Northeast and other high-tax states who are evaluating where to establish permanent residency. The state already wins on weather and lifestyle. Tax policy simply becomes another advantage in an increasingly competitive relocation landscape,” Douglas Elliman’s Nick Malinosky told Fox News Digital.
“This proposal could strengthen that appeal, particularly among households planning a…Read more here.
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