Solid growth expected in last jobs report before Trump presidency
The Federal Reserve Board Building. Via Douglas Rissing/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — A jobs report to be released on Friday will provide a key gauge of the nation’s economic health, just days before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.
The findings could also help determine whether the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates when officials meet later this month.
U.S. hiring has defied doomsayers for much of President Joe Biden’s term in office. Stubborn inflation, high interest rates and a contentious presidential campaign have proven no match for a resilient labor market.
Economists expect the U.S. to have added 155,000 jobs in December. The figure would mark a slowdown from the previous month but it would keep the labor market growing at a steady clip.
In November, employers added a robust 227,000 jobs. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2%, but it continued to hover near a 50-year low.
Alongside steady hiring, inflation has eased and the economy has expanded, giving rise to hope that the U.S. can achieve a soft landing.
Inflation has slowed dramatically from a peak of more than 9% in June 2022, but price increases remain higher than the Fed’s target of 2%. The pace of price increases has ticked up in recent months.
The Fed dialed back its fight against inflation over the final months of last year, lowering interest rates by a percentage point. Still, the Fed’s interest rate remains at a historically high level of between 4.25% and 4.5%.
Last month, the Fed predicted fewer rate cuts in 2025 than it had previously indicated, suggesting concern that inflation may prove more difficult to bring under control than policymakers thought just a few months ago.
A solid jobs report that matches economists’ expectations could give the Fed more reason to delay interest rate cuts, since such a sign of economic strength may ease concern that a continuation of high interest rates would tip the economy into a downturn.
Instead, the Fed could wait and see if inflation falls closer to target levels, while remaining somewhat assured that the labor market will remain sturdy.
If the jobs report falls short of economists’ expectations, however, central bankers may view potential interest rate cuts with a heightened sense of urgency.
Speaking at a press conference in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank may proceed at a slower pace with future rate cuts, in part because it has now lowered interest rates a substantial amount.
Powell also said a recent resurgence of inflation influenced the Fed’s expectations, noting that some policymakers considered uncertainty tied to potential policy changes under Trump.
“It’s common-sense thinking that when the path is uncertain, you get a little slower,” Powell said. “It’s not unlike driving on a foggy night or walking around in a dark room full of furniture.”
Trump has proposed tariffs of between 60% and 100% on Chinese goods, and a tax of between 10% and 20% on every product imported from all U.S. trading partners.
Economists widely forecast that tariffs of this magnitude would increase prices paid by U.S. shoppers, since importers typically pass along a share of the cost of those higher taxes to consumers.
(LOS ANGELES) — Lyle and Erik Menendez may become free men after spending decades behind bars for killing their parents.
Here’s a look at life in prison for the notorious brothers and three paths to potential freedom:
The case
Lyle Menendez, then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, admitted to buying shotguns and firing 16 rounds at Jose and Kitty Menendez inside the family’s Beverly Hills home in 1989.
Prosecutors alleged they killed their wealthy parents for money, but the defense argued they acted in self-defense after enduring years of sexual abuse by their father.
The first trial, which had separate juries for each brother, ended in mistrials. In 1996, after the second trial — during which the judge barred much of the sex abuse evidence — Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted and both sentenced to two consecutive terms of life without parole.
Life in prison
Nery Ynclan, an ABC News freelance producer and an executive producer of “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed,” has visited Lyle Menendez multiple times at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.
She stressed that Lyle and Erik Menendez have spent their decades in prison rehabilitating themselves, as well as helping other inmates.
“[Lyle] and his brother spent their whole adult lives trying to counsel other victims of sexual abuse and start programs at the prison,” she said. “Even though they had no chance of parole, they really felt that the prison system could be improved.”
Erik Menendez has provided hospice care to inmates, their attorney said, while for the last 20 years, Lyle Menendez’s fellow inmates have elected him as their representative with the prison administration, Ynclan said.
“He’s like a soft-spoken CEO who is very busy with multiple projects,” Ynclan said of Lyle.
“He wants to talk about prison reform,” Ynclan said. “He would talk to me about the college courses he was taking. … I was really impressed that someone in their early 50s, in prison without any chance of parole … would want to take calculus and statistics to continue bettering themselves.”
With freedom now a possibility, Ynclan described this as an “emotional and tense time” for Lyle Menendez.
“For the first time in decades, he actually feels like there’s a glimmer of hope that the two of them might get home to their families one day,” Ynclan said.
Path 1: Habeas corpus petition
One track to freedom is the brothers’ habeas corpus petition, which was filed last year for a review of new evidence not presented at trial.
One piece of evidence is allegations from Roy Rosselló, a former member of the boy band Menudo, who revealed in the 2023 docuseries “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed” that he was raped by music executive Jose Menendez.
The second piece of evidence is a letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin eight months before the murders detailing his alleged abuse. The cousin testified about the alleged abuse at trial, but the letter — which would have corroborated the cousin’s testimony — wasn’t unearthed until several years ago, according to the brothers’ attorney, Mark Geragos.
Through this petition, the court could change their convictions. The next hearing is set for Nov. 25.
Path 2: Resentencing recommendation goes before judge, parole board
A second path is through resentencing.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced in an Oct. 25 court filing that he was recommending the brothers’ sentence of life without the possibility of parole be removed, and they should instead be sentenced for murder, which would be a sentence of 50 years to life.
Because both brothers were under 26 at the time of the crimes, with the new sentence, they would be eligible for parole immediately, Gascón said.
The DA’s office said its resentencing recommendations take into account factors including the defendants’ ages, psychological trauma or physical abuse that contributed to carrying out the crime and their rehabilitation in prison.
“We appreciate what they did while they were in prison,” Gascón said at a news conference. “While I disapprove of the way they handled their abuse, we hope that they not only have learned — which appears that they have — but that if they get reintegrated into our community, that they continue to do public good.”
Gascón’s recommendation next goes in front of a Los Angeles Superior Court judge who will weigh factors including the crime, the brothers’ records while incarcerated and the positive impact they’ve had in prison, ABC News legal contributor Brian Buckmire said.
The judge will also review facts that were not available at the time of the brothers’ 1996 conviction, Buckmire said.
The judge might also consider “the science of young boys and young men being sexually assaulted,” Buckmire said. “How they respond, how they react to that abuse, and how that might not have been information that was readily available at the time of sentencing that could’ve changed the sentence.”
A hearing is set for December. If the judge agrees to resentencing, the case next goes to the parole board.
Even though the judge would have already evaluated the facts and factors, “the parole board is going to do their own investigation,” Buckmire said.
The brothers and their relatives will also get the opportunity to address the parole board, Buckmire said. In this case, the relatives are not just the family of the perpetrators, but also the family of the victims, “so they have their own rights based on both capacities,” Buckmire said.
One relative, their uncle, Milton Andersen, wants the brothers to stay behind bars, stating that he doesn’t believe they were abused and instead killed their parents out of greed.
“They are survivors and deserve a chance to rebuild their lives,” their cousin, Brian Andersen Jr., told reporters in October. “They’re no longer a threat to society.”
“If they were to come to my house, knock on my door, I would answer that door, I would welcome them in with huge hugs, my wife would make them a dinner and I’d give them a pillow and a place to sleep,” Andersen said.
A hearing before the parole board would likely take at least six months to schedule, according to the California Department of Corrections.
If the parole board recommends release, the final decision then goes to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Buckmire said.
If released on parole, the brothers would be subjected to monitoring and check-ins, Buckmire said. Parole often comes with conditions like maintaining a job and avoiding drugs, he said.
The district attorney announced days later that he supports the brothers’ bid for clemency, which would commute their sentence or grant a pardon.
Newsom is first eligible to weigh in on the clemency application on Nov. 7. The governor’s office said this is a confidential process, Newsom is not required to review the application and there is no timeline for the review.
If the governor approves clemency, the case would still likely go before the parole board.
The governor’s office intends to treat this application “like any other case,” an official at the office said. “Nobody is getting special treatment.”
ABC News’ Matt Gutman and Ashley Riegle contributed to this report.
Photo by Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images for Sean “Diddy” Combs
(NEW YORK) — Sean “Diddy” Combs appeared again in a New York City courtroom on Friday as he continues to fight for his release on bail in his racketeering and sex trafficking case.
Combs’ lawyers argued he should be released on bail and placed on home confinement in a three-bedroom apartment on the Upper East Side under 24/7 monitoring by three full-time security professionals, while prosecutors said the hip-hop impresario “cannot be trusted” to follow the rules of pretrial release.
The judge did not immediately rule but said he would have a decision next week.
The defense said it was proposing conditions “far more restrictive” than Combs faces in jail, including limiting phone calls to lawyers, restricting visitors other than lawyers and specific family members, keeping a visitor log and avoiding contact with witnesses or potential witnesses.
“If what the government is afraid of is that Mr. Combs is going to be violent toward someone, there’s just zero chance of that happening,” defense attorney Marc Agnifilo said.
Combs blew kisses to his family and tapped his heart as he entered federal court Friday in a beige jail smock over a white long-sleeve T-shirt. He hugged his attorneys and, once seated, turned in his chair to smile at his mother and children, who were seated in the second row.
Prosecutors reminded the judge “this is a case about violence” and argued the conditions proposed in the defense bail package fell short.
“At bottom, in order for conditions to be sufficient there has to be some level of trust that the defendant will follow them,” prosecutor Christy Slavik said. “Simply put, the defendant cannot be trusted.”
She also questioned the efficacy of a team of private security guards paid for by Combs.
“There is really just no separation for the defendant. You work for him. There’s just no way to trust that any private security firm could do what the court requires and ensure compliance,” Slavik said.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and prostitution charges.
His attorneys conceded hotel security camera video obtained by CNN depicted “physical conduct” between Combs and his ex-girlfriend Cassie but argued the video should not be used to keep Combs behind bars.
The defense argued in a filing on Thursday that prosecutors “invented” the narrative using a “manipulated version” of the video. The defense insisted the video did not depict a “freak off,” the name for the sex-fueled parties allegedly held by Combs, but rather showed a domestic dispute in which Combs ran down the hall of the hotel to recover his clothes and cellphone.
“It’s our defense to these charges that this was a toxic end of a loving relationship,” Agnifilo said Friday.
Federal prosecutors said “it was a bit puzzling” the defense brought up the video because Combs does not dispute what it shows.
“The defendant admitted it and apologized for it in a public Instagram post. Shoving, kicking and dragging a female victim,” Slavik said.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Louisiana’s new law requiring all public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments was temporarily blocked on Tuesday by a judge who called it “unconstitutional on its face and in all applications.”
A multi-faith group of Louisiana families with children in public schools sued the state to challenge the law, HB 71, which mandates that public schools — from kindergarten to the collegiate level — display the religious text in every classroom on “a poster or framed document that is at least 11 inches by 14 inches.”
The lawsuit argues that requiring poster-sized displays of religious doctrine in classrooms violates the plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights and the separation of church and state.
The suit further argues that the law violates a U.S. Supreme Court precedent, pointing to the Stone v. Graham case in which the court overturned a similar 1980 Kentucky law, holding that the separation of church and state bars public schools from posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
Supporters of the law say the Ten Commandments have historical significance to the foundation of U.S. history and are not just a religious text.
In July, both parties agreed that the Ten Commandments would not be posted in any public school classroom and that defendants — including the state’s Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education — would not publicly move forward on the law’s implementation until the court’s decision in November.
Florida also recently passed a policy which allowed volunteer religious chaplains to serve as student counselors. The ACLU has expressed “grave concerns” over Florida’s policy but legal challenges have yet to be filed in that matter.
