Nigeria has confirmed an Ebola case in Abuja, and authorities are tracing 44 contacts of a woman who tested positive after arriving from Uganda. Uganda says she only transited through and had been on a business trip to eastern Congo, and that where she was exposed is still under investigation.
— via PBS NewsHour, Ope Adetayo, Associated Press
Kevin Warsh won't say what the Fed will do next on rates, even as most officials expect another hike this year. He also calls AI-driven investment a factor pushing inflation higher, while predicting the technology will eventually transform how the Fed itself tracks the economy.
— via PBS NewsHour, Elaine Kurtenbach, Associated Press
Wholesale prices jumped 6.3% in a year, the steepest climb since 2022, as diesel at $6.32 a gallon pushes costs through shipping, farming and food. Americans are grumbling but still spending, retail sales up 0.8% in August, propped up by low layoffs and a tight job market.
— via PBS NewsHour, Christopher Rugaber, Associated Press
Wholesale prices jumped 1.3% in a single month, the sharpest rise since March 2022, as diesel costs ripple into shipping, warehousing and even grocery bills. Transportation prices are now 16% higher than a year ago, and the surge is pressuring the Fed toward another rate hike.
— via PBS NewsHour, Christopher Rugaber, Associated Press
Social Security checks are about to grow to keep pace with inflation. Plus, streamer Hasan Piker argues the GOP's "guilt-by-association" attacks won't cost Democrats the midterms.
— via NPR, Brittney Melton
Social Security's 2027 raise lands at 3.6%, the biggest jump since 2023, adding roughly $76 a month for the average retiree. But experts warn rising Medicare premiums and healthcare costs could eat into the gain before it ever hits a bank account.
— via PBS NewsHour, Hannah Grabenstein
61% of Americans say economic inequality is too high, unchanged since 2019. But among them, the share who want the economic system completely rebuilt has jumped from 14% to 24%, with Democrats and Republicans alike shifting toward more radical fixes.
— via Pew Research, Reem Nadeem
A single franchise network supplies many of the mall kiosks selling pricey skincare products through aggressive, hard-to-escape sales pitches. An investigation traces the complaints back to one common business behind the counter.
— via NPR, Monika Evstatieva
Two Americans share this year's Nobel Prize in Economics for work on taming boom-and-bust cycles. Their research points to ways of curbing both unemployment and inflation at once.
— via NPR, Scott Horsley
A midterm lead for Democrats looks solid in the polls, but the numbers hide a messier picture underneath. Meanwhile, the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger clears its final hurdle today, reshaping who controls Hollywood.
— via NPR, Brittney Melton
Skydance officially takes the reins after clearing court fights, public pushback and regulators. The merger survived every challenge thrown at it; now the real test starts.
— via NPR, Mandalit del Barco
A Pentagon-commissioned study on autonomous weapons leans toward recommendations that could funnel business toward SpaceX and Anduril. Both companies have ties to the men shaping the study's conclusions.
— via NPR, Katie McQue
FBI units tracking foreign spies and corporate hacking crews have been quietly stripped of staff as the bureau redirects agents toward violent crime and immigration enforcement. Leadership under Kash Patel set the priorities; counterintelligence and cyber cases are paying the price.
— via NPR, Ryan Lucas
Employers added just 29,000 jobs in September, a steep slowdown that lands weeks before midterm elections. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack weighs in on what it means for prices and interest rates.
— via PBS NewsHour, Amna Nawaz
Only 17% of Americans approve of Trump's handling of living costs, a new AP-NORC poll finds, with 65% blaming his own policies for the pain. Even many Republicans say prices are worse than they expected, weeks before midterms that could cost the party Congress.
— via PBS NewsHour, Jill Colvin, Associated Press
The share of Americans paying cash for everything has been cut in half since 2015, down to 12%. Credit cards have quietly overtaken both cash and debit as the top way people pay, according to Federal Reserve diary data tracking three years of daily transactions.
— via Pew Research, Beshay Sakla
A genomics startup wants to edit disease-causing genes in human embryos, betting the payoff outweighs the danger. The claim puts it on a collision course with decades of caution around germline editing.
— via NPR, Rob Stein
A single Utah site could host more than 450 nuclear reactors spread across 9,500-plus acres, all to feed one data center project. The plan reveals how much power AI infrastructure now demands, and how far companies will go to secure it.
— via NPR, Geoff Brumfiel
Diesel just topped $6 a gallon, and farmers, truckers and food banks are already bleeding cash for it. One Illinois grower says no 2025 budget accounted for the spike, while a food rescue nonprofit expects a $100,000 hit as Republicans push Trump toward an export ban before the midterms.
— via PBS NewsHour, William Brangham
Just 197,000 people filed for jobless benefits last week, the lowest since mid-July, even as elevated energy costs from the Iran conflict squeeze businesses. Employers are still hiring, but at a fraction of the pace seen in 2021-2022.
— via PBS NewsHour, Paul Wiseman, Associated Press
