Business

America’s Top States for Business 2025

Written By Lexx Thornton With a solid economy, a world-class workforce, and a wealth of corporate hospitality, NorthCarolina is America’s Top State for Business in 2025. The Tar Heel State is on a roll. It captured top honors in the annual CNBC rankings in 2022 and 2023, and it was runner-up in 2021 and 2024—missing the top spot last year by just three points to Virginia, which slips this year to its lowest position among states since 2018. “North Carolina offers the ideal combination of talent, infrastructure, and forward-thinking leadership to support our mission to reshape aviation,” said Tom O’Leary,

Federal judge reverses a CFPB rule to strip medical debt from credit reports

Written By Lexx Thornton A federal judge has blocked a rule issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in January that would have removed unpaid medical debt from the credit reports of about 15 million consumers. The ruling, issued Friday by Judge Sean Jordan of the U.S.District Court of Texas’ EasternDistrict, orders that the rule be vacated because of the court’s finding that the CFPB exceeded its authority under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. After the CFPB issued the rule in January, theCornerstone Credit Union League and the Consumer Data Industry Association, a trade group for the credit reporting industry,

Dow futures drop 100 points after Trump slaps 30% tariff on Mexico and the EU

By Jesse Pound U.S. equity futures slid early Monday as Wall Street contends with continued tariff risks and second-quarter earnings on deck. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 140 points, or 0.3%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures also dropped 0.3% each. President Donald Trump said Saturday that the U.S. will impose 30% tariffs on the European Union and Mexico starting Aug. 1. Leaders of the EU and Mexico indicated they intend to keep talking with the Trump administration this month in an attempt to agree on a lower rate. The announcement comes ahead of inflation readings this week, which will give investors a better sense of how

Former Loretto Hospital executive accused in $293 million fake COVID-testing scheme

Written by Lexx Thornton Anosh Ahmed, the former CFO of Chicago’s Loretto Hospital who was charged with embezzlement in 2024, is facing new federal charges that accuse him of nearly a billion dollars of attempted fraud.   In his second federal indictment in two years, federal prosecutors allege Anosh Ahmed, the former CFO and COO of Loretto Hospital, a 122-bed safety-net hospital on Chicago’s West Side, perpetuated a $290 million fraudulent billing scheme by using stolen patient information to submit fake COVID-19 testing claims to the federal government.   In total, Ahmed and his associates allegedly received less than a third of

T-Mobile to end DEI programs as it seeks regulatory approval

Wireless carrier T-Mobile says it is ending its diversity, equity and inclusion programmes, under pressure from the Trump administration as it seeks regulatory approval for two major deals. The Washington state-based company said in a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, made public on Wednesday, that the wireless company is ending its DEI-related policies “not just in name, but in substance.” T-Mobile said it will no longer have any individual roles or teams focused on DEI, is removing any references to DEI on its websites, and has removed references to DEI from its employee training materials. Carr said he was

State-Level Abortion Restrictions Cost the US Economy $133 Billion

Written By Lexx Thornton In the three years since the overturn of Roe v. Wade, the human and economic toll of abortion restrictions remains staggering, impacting all women. The latest estimates show that the 16 states with the most restrictive abortion policies1 are responsible for over $64 billion in annual economic losses. That amount could fund the average health care costs associated with pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care for nearly all the 3.6 million births in the United States in 2024. And $64 billion only reflects the impact of the most severe restrictions, like total or near-total bans on abortion.

Mayor Scott’s Youth Strategy Cuts Crime in Baltimore

Written By Lexx Thornton Baltimore is making headlines for all the right reasons this summer. Under the leadership ofMayor Brandon Scott, the city is proving that real investment in young people and communityspaces can lead to real results. Thanks to bold investments in youth and community, his summer strategy is delivering real results with crime reportedly down and the numbers don’t lie. Read more inside. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott is showing the nation how it’s done. Baltimore is experiencing one of its lowest homicide rates in decades, with overall crime reportedly down nearly 23 percent compared to this time last

Trump Tariff Threats Roil Markets Ahead of August Deadline

By Rob Wile The trade war chaos that engulfed the early months of President Donald Trump’s second term looked set to return Monday as he threatened two major U.S. trading partners with higher duties — while a key negotiating deadline was pushed back. Shortly after noon Monday, Trump published two letters addressed to Japan and South Korea threatening them with 25% duties, with higher ones for items deemed to have been transshipped through their countries. Transshipping refers to offloading goods from one mode of transportation and reloading onto another. A 25% duty was essentially the level Trump announced for those two

Black Women’s Unemployment Rises Amid Federal Job Cuts

Written By Lexx Thornton Unemployment rates over the past year have remained largely steady for every group of workers but one: Black women, whose unemployment rates have been rising. For the past three months that increase has been even more pronounced, with Black women’s unemployment rate hovering at 6 percent — twice the rate of White workers.   It’s a trend that has been troubling economists, and a potential sign of strain in the economy. Because of systematic racism and inequities in the labor market, any cracks in the strength of the overall economy always show up for Black workers first,

Microsoft to Lay Off 9,000 Workers Amid Restructuring

Microsoft said Wednesday that it will lay off about 9,000 employees. The move will affect less than 4% of its global workforce across different teams, geographies and levels of experience, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC. The announcement comes on the second day of Microsoft’s 2026 fiscal year. Executives at the Redmond, Washington-based company typically unveil reorganizations at the time of the new fiscal year. “We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in an email. Microsoft has held several rounds of layoffs

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