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us economy 6 42m ago 4 min read

U.S. Manufacturing PMI Hits Four-Year High in June, but Factory Jobs Fall to Their Lowest Since 2020

S&P Global's flash manufacturing PMI climbed to 55.7 in June, the strongest reading since May 2022, driven by aggressive front-loading of orders and inventory building tied to Middle East supply fears. The number beat forecasts, but it masks a real problem: factory employment dropped to its lowest level since May 2020, and the surge in activity looks more like defensive stockpiling than genuine demand growth.

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us economy 7 1h ago 4 min read

House Passes 21st Century Road to Housing Act 358-32, Sending Landmark Bill to Trump's Desk

Since the Senate passed the bipartisan 21st Century Road to Housing Act on Monday, the House followed Tuesday with a 358-32 vote, completing congressional action on the largest federal housing package in roughly two decades. The bill now awaits President Trump's signature. It includes over 50 provisions targeting the supply shortage, zoning reform, manufactured housing, and a contested cap on corporate single-family home purchases.

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us economy 7 2h ago 4 min read

Three Californians Sue Kalibrate and Gas Retailers, Claiming AI Software Fixed Pump Prices Illegally

A class action filed June 22 in federal court accuses fuel pricing company Kalibrate and several California gas station operators of using algorithmic software to coordinate high prices rather than compete on them. California's average gas price stands at $5.56 per gallon as of June 23, according to AAA, more than $1.60 above the national average. The lawsuit is an allegation, not a verdict, and no charges have been filed.

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cn economy 7 4h ago 3 min read

China Has Cut Nearly All Tungsten Exports to Japan This Year, Squeezing Companies and Pressuring PM Takaichi Over Taiwan Remarks

Beijing has stopped nearly all tungsten shipments to Japan in 2026 and drove magnet exports to their lowest level since May 2025, according to Bloomberg. The pressure traces directly to comments Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made about Taiwan last November. Japan now faces a concrete economic cost for its government's Taiwan stance, and Takaichi is under growing pressure to find a diplomatic exit.

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us tech 7 Jun 16 1 min read Updated

The Pentagon Is Betting on AI-Native Defense Firms. Here Is What a Neoprime Actually Is.

The Defense Department is moving frontier AI into its most classified networks and pouring nearly $55 billion into autonomous warfare. Legacy contractors built the hardware that won the last century of wars, but the next one will be decided by who can integrate trusted software into constrained, classified environments at speed.

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us economy 7 4h ago 4 min read

Three Tesla Crashes in Beverly Hills: A Playground, a Gymnastics Center, and the Beverly Hills Hotel

Beverly Hills has seen at least three separate Tesla incidents in recent months, ranging from a vehicle wedging into a playground to a Cybertruck crashing near the Beverly Hills Hotel's iconic sign. None of the crashes have been linked by investigators, and causes remain under investigation or unreported. The pattern raises questions worth asking, but the facts don't yet support a systemic conclusion.

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us economy 7 5h ago 4 min read

High Court Clears Gatwick Airport Expansion. Campaigners Vow to Appeal.

Mr Justice Mould dismissed two judicial review bids against the £2.2 billion Gatwick expansion plan on Tuesday, ruling the government's climate and environmental assessment was lawful. The decision clears a major legal obstacle for the project, which would add roughly 100,000 flights a year. Campaigners from communities across Sussex, Surrey and Kent say their legal team is now considering an appeal.

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us economy 7 9h ago 4 min read

June PMI Hits 49-Month High on Inventory Stockpiling, but Factory Job Cuts Are the Worst Since 2009

Since the chip selloff and manufacturing alarm bells that dominated Tuesday's earlier coverage, the full S&P Global June flash PMI data add a sharper detail: the headline number is the strongest in four years, but it is being driven by stockpiling fear, not real demand. Factory employment is falling at the fastest pace since the 2008-2009 financial crisis, pandemic excluded, and the broader economy looks stuck near 1% annualized growth.

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us economy 7 11h ago 3 min read

S&P Global: U.S. Factory Job Cuts in June Reached Worst Levels Since 2009, Excluding the Covid Collapse

Manufacturing employment is shrinking at a pace not seen in 17 years, according to S&P Global's June flash report. The headline PMI number looked decent, but it was propped up by inventory stockpiling, not real demand. The underlying picture is a factory sector shedding workers while the broader economy struggles to grow at even 1% annually.

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us economy 7 11h ago 3 min read

Most Americans Will Be Cared for by Family in Old Age, Not Professionals. The Data Is Clear.

Across every developed country, including the Netherlands with its world-leading public elder-care system, the majority of elderly people still depend on unpaid family caregiving. Americans who assume money or government programs will handle it are carrying a myth. The share of U.S. elder care done informally is growing, not shrinking.

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us economy 7 11h ago 4 min read

Two Companies Control 70% of U.S. Corn and Soybean Seed Sales. The DOJ Says Patents Are Why.

Seed patent concentration has handed two corporations dominance over most of America's staple crop seed markets, and the Department of Justice said in May 2026 that those patents are actively blocking competition and research. The story is real, the market data is government-sourced, and the policy question cuts across party lines: who benefits when taxpayer dollars meant for farmers end up flowing to patent holders?

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us economy 7 13h ago 4 min read

Oracle Cut 21,000 Jobs in Fiscal 2026 and Spent $1.8 Billion on Severance. AI Gets the Credit.

Oracle's annual 10-K filing, published June 22, reveals the company shed nearly 13% of its global workforce over the past year while spending $1.8 billion on severance. The company explicitly cites AI adoption as a cause and warns more cuts are coming. This is not a distressed-company story. Oracle is simultaneously projecting up to $95 billion in AI infrastructure spending in the current fiscal year.

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us economy 7 14h ago 4 min read

Major U.S. Cities Spent 18% More Per Person Over a Decade, With Almost Nothing to Show For It

A RealClearInvestigations analysis of every U.S. city with at least 500,000 residents found per-capita spending rose 18% above inflation over the last 10 budget cycles. Crime, homelessness, and rent affordability barely moved. The cities spending the most were no more likely to see improvement than those spending the least.

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us economy 7 15h ago 4 min read

Warren and Kelly Press Trump Officials on Manufacturing Job Losses Under Tariff Regime

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Mark Kelly sent a letter Monday to three Trump cabinet officials demanding answers on why U.S. manufacturing employment fell during a tariff push meant to rebuild it. The data they cite is real, but the letter comes from two of Trump's loudest Democratic critics, and the administration has not yet responded. The facts on the ground are genuinely mixed, and the causes are genuinely disputed.

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gb economy 7 16h ago 3 min read

UK Government to Apologize for Forced Adoptions That Separated an Estimated 185,000 Mothers and Babies After World War Two

The British government announced last week it will formally apologize to victims of historical forced adoptions in England, where an estimated 185,000 babies were taken from unmarried mothers in the three decades following World War Two. For survivors like Reg Barker, 66, of Suffolk, the reckoning arrives decades late. He spent 45 years tracking down the family he never knew.

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us economy 7 17h ago 3 min read

Labor Judge Orders Amazon to Bargain with Teamsters. Amazon Will Appeal to a Trump-Reshaped NLRB.

An administrative law judge ruled Amazon broke federal law by refusing to recognize the Teamsters union at a San Francisco-area delivery center. Amazon is appealing, and the appeal lands before an NLRB board increasingly populated by Trump appointees who may be hostile to the legal doctrine that produced the ruling. The outcome could determine whether Amazon's warehouse unionization push dies in the appeals process.

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au economy 7 19h ago 4 min read

Australian Federal Police Probe WiseTech Chairman Richard White Over Human Trafficking Allegations

WiseTech Global executive chairman Richard White denies any involvement in human trafficking after reports emerged that Australia's Federal Police human exploitation taskforce launched a formal investigation into him. The allegations, involving a former WiseTech cleaner and a disputed visa application, have now shaved roughly A$37 billion from WiseTech's market value over less than two years. White says he is unaware of any probe; the AFP declined to comment.

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us economy 7 23h ago 4 min read

Tesla VP Says Driver Floored Accelerator to 73 mph Before Katy Crash. NHTSA Is Now Investigating.

Since NHTSA opened its special crash investigation into the June 21 death of Martha Avila in Katy, Texas, Tesla executives have gone public with vehicle data claiming driver Michael Butler manually overrode the system before impact. Those claims are unverified, the data has not been independently reviewed, and the agency investigation remains open.

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us economy 7 23h ago 4 min read

GM Installs 50 Robots at Factory Zero While 1,300 Laid-Off Workers Wait to Be Called Back

General Motors has added approximately 50 FANUC robotic arms to its Factory Zero EV plant in Detroit, even as more than 1,000 workers from the same facility remain on indefinite layoff since March. UAW Local 22 has filed grievances. GM says the robots improve safety and keep operations competitive.

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us economy 6 1d ago 3 min read

Senate Passes 21st Century Road to Housing Act, Sending Bipartisan Package to the House

The Senate passed the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, a nearly 60-provision package that rolls back permitting rules, funds affordable housing construction, and blocks large investors from buying up residential stock. The bill now goes to the House, where GOP members have already raised concerns. Trump has been publicly pushing Congress to finish this ahead of the midterms.

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us economy 7 1d ago 3 min read

Virginia Avoids Shutdown, Passes $212 Billion Budget With Data Center Tax and Marijuana Legalization

The Virginia General Assembly voted Monday to adopt a $212 billion budget, sidestepping a state government shutdown. The deal includes a new fee on data centers' excess electricity use projected to generate $1.2 billion, but the revenue estimate is already drawing scrutiny, and the path to the vote raised questions about what it actually took to get Senate leadership on board.

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