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(LONDON) — The appointment of an oil executive as head of the United Nations’ COP28 climate conference on Thursday sparked backlash from environmental organizations.

The Office of the United Arab Emirates’ Special Envoy for Climate Change announced Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the head of the state-run Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, as the president-designate for the 2023 climate change conference, which will take place in Dubai over two weeks in November and December.

Al Jaber is chair of the UAE government-owned renewable energy company Masdar and has served as the UAE’s climate envoy twice, a statement from the special envoy said.

He is the first CEO to ever serve as COP president, “having played a key role in shaping the country’s clean energy path,” according to Al Jaber’s office.

The president of the conference is confirmed by the delegates to the conference when it begins.

But the announcement Thursday over the appointment of a top oil executive to lead the most important climate conference of the year was quickly met with disapproval by some environmental policy experts and activists who called for the CEO to step down from his role leading one of the biggest oil companies in the world.

Al Jaber’s nomination is “devastating blow to the climate negotiations at a critical moment in history,” Tzeporah Berman, chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, told ABC News.

He must resign from the oil company he presides over in order to obtain a seat at COP, not to mention the presidency, Berman said.

“The nomination of Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber is a clear example of the fox watching the hen house,” Berman said. “The oil and gas companies are not going to design their own demise.”

The appointment of Al Jaber to lead COP28 is “egregious” and “could potentially impede the sole purpose of the meeting,” Delta Merner, head of the Science Hub for Climate Litigation at the Union for Concerned Scientists, told ABC News.

“During COP27, we saw a 25% increase in fossil fuel interest direct participation in the meeting, this is a trend we need to move away from for meaningful progress, not embrace through leadership choices,” Merner said. He agreed that Al Jaber should step down from his role overseeing the production of fossil fuels.

Catherine Abreu, founder and executive director of environmental nonprofit Destination Zero, told ABC News, “An oil company CEO cannot be the kind of President that COP28 needs.”

“A person tasked with making the most profit possible from oil and gas extraction can’t be the same person tasked with landing the most ambitious outcome possible from a climate conference,” Abreu said.

Al Jaber’s appointment “sets a dangerous precedent” and risks the credibility of the UAE, Tracy Carty, global climate politics expert with Greenpeace, said in a statement.

“Greenpeace is deeply alarmed at the appointment of an oil company CEO to lead the global climate negotiations,” Carty said.

Carty continued, “There is no place for the fossil fuel industry in the global climate negotiations.”

Tasneem Essop, executive director for the Climate Action Network International, described Al Jaber’s appointment as a “conflict of interest.”

“He cannot preside over a process that is tasked to address the climate crisis with such a conflict of interest, heading an industry that is responsible for the crisis itself,” Essop said.

Every year, the country hosting the U.N.’s Conference of the Parties, from which COP gets its name, nominates someone — typically a veteran diplomat — to chair the talks.

“This will be a critical year in a critical decade for climate action,” Al Jaber said in a statement. “The UAE is approaching COP28 with a strong sense of responsibility and the highest possible level of ambition.”

“The announcement further highlights the UAE’s regional leadership in climate action and its role as a global advocate for clean energy,” the Office of the UAE’s Special Envoy for Climate Change added. “The UAE is home to three of the largest and lowest-cost solar projects in the world and has invested more than $50 billion in renewable energy projects across 70 countries, with plans to invest a minimum of $50 billion over the next decade.”

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(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump’s namesake family real estate firm will be sentenced Friday in New York following its conviction on 17 counts, include a 13-year scheme to defraud.

The company faces a sentence that potentially includes a $1.7 million fine.

The verdict, delivered Dec. 6, held the Trump Organization liable for the criminal conduct of some of its top executives, mainly Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer who was sent to jail on Rikers Island earlier this week for arranging nearly $2 million of his compensation off the books.

Trump himself was not charged and the company’s defense attorneys said he did not know about the scheme. However, his name came up dozens of times, mainly on defense examination of witnesses.

Defense attorney Michael van der Veen said in his closing statement that jurors “heard no evidence in this case that Mr. Trump or any of his children were aware of anything improper.”

Prosecutors said the former president sanctioned fraud. They showed the jury checks Trump signed and a memo he initialed

“This whole narrative that Donald Trump is blissfully ignorant is just not true,” Assistant District Attorney Josh Steinglass said during his closing statement.

Prosecutors said the Trump Organization arranged for Weisselberg and other company executives to receive part of their compensation in perks, like private school tuition and car payments, to evade taxes. In doing so, prosecutors said the executives had some intent to help the company pay less in salaries, bonuses and payroll taxes.

The defense argued the executives never intended to benefit the company and said the scheme the executives hatched was motivated solely by personal greed.

The trial revealed potentially embarrassing details about Trump, including nearly $1 billion in operating losses Trump reported over a two-year period in 2009 and 2010.

Trump’s outside accountant also testified that Trump reported losses each year for eight years from 2009 to 2018, some of the same years Trump was touting his business acumen on reality television and on the campaign trail.

“This was a case about greed and cheating. In Manhattan, no corporation is above the law,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at the time the verdict was announced last month. “For 13 years the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation got away with a scheme that awarded high-level executives with lavish perks and compensation while intentionally concealing the benefits from the taxing authorities to avoid paying taxes.”

In addition to the fine, the Trump Organization faces potential collateral consequences that could be more severe if banks call in loans or business partners cancel contracts due to internal clauses that prohibit doing business with felons.

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(NEW YORK) — Fans of three-egg omelets and bacon-egg-and-cheese sandwiches have more to worry about than just high cholesterol. The wholesale price of a dozen eggs has more than quadrupled year over year, and some experts warn the prices are unlikely to decrease anytime soon.

Egg prices peaked during the holiday season, hurting smaller grocery chains that can’t compete with larger chains and leading to price increases for restaurants and other small businesses, experts said. The price increase in eggs also comes as the cost of most foods have increased significantly, putting a strain on grocery shoppers and small business owners alike.

“I’ve been here 50 years, I have never seen anything like that with control of prices, maybe with Carter in the 70s,” said Gus Benetos, the owner of Manhattan’s Westside Restaurant.

Urner Barry, a company that publishes the “fair market price” for items like eggs, meat, and plant proteins, set the wholesale trade value for a dozen “midwest large” eggs at 89 cents on Dec. 22, 2021. A year later, the price for a dozen eggs skyrocketed to $5.46, according to Karyn Rispoli, the editor of Urner Barry’s Egg Price Current. The price beat the previous record high of $3.09 during the pandemic.

“We blew that previous high, way out of the water,” Rispoli said.

Since the holiday peak, Rispoli noted that the egg market has since “corrected” to $4.33 on Jan. 10, mainly due to decreased demand following the holiday season. However, with the avian flu outbreak still impacting U.S. poultry farmers, Rispoli said the price will likely remain high for now.

Outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza have killed nearly 40 million hens since February 2021, five percent of the U.S. chicken flock, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Egg production has also declined by 4 percent since 2021, the spokesperson said.

Mark Sauder, the CEO of Sauder Eggs, one of the country’s largest family-owned egg wholesalers, said he believes most significant factor impacting business is avian flu.

“This particular strain or this particular outbreak seems to be lasting longer,” he said.

While the wholesale price has steadily increased, consumers have felt the delayed impact of the price increase due to a few factors unique to eggs.

First, the demand for eggs in the short term is inelastic, according to Dartmouth College economics professor Bruce Sacerdote. Their status as a low cost, staple item in the grocery store, and a necessity in many recipes and diets lead many consumers to continue buying eggs in the short term despite price increases.

The USDA spokesperson said eggs are still one of the most competitively priced proteins in the grocery store compared to other animal proteins. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in November a yearly 10 percent increase in the overall cost of food.

“It has gone up, but as a percentage relative to the other spend of my food, it’s like it hasn’t been that impactful,” Leonard Chung, a Manhattan grocery shopper, said about the cost of eggs.

Second, according to Rispoli, many grocery stores use a “loss leader” tactic, artificially lowering the price of eggs to attract consumers. Grocery stores recover losses when shoppers buy other items with a higher profit margin. According to the USDA, a 12-pack of brown grade-A eggs cost $3.99 on average for consumers on the week of Dec. 23, while the wholesale cost was significantly higher.

“Even as the market was rising rather dramatically, consumers weren’t always seeing those prices at the consumer level grocery stores,” Rispoli said.

Sharmilla Dabieden, a resident of Queens who traveled to Whole Foods in Tribeca for lower egg prices, was one of the beneficiaries of this pricing approach. After seeing eggs advertised at roughly $3.29, she loaded her cart with three cartons of eggs.

“We need eggs, so this is why I’m shopping around, and I look online to see where I can get the cheapest,” Dabieden said.

According to Rispoli, the price increase in eggs is beginning to become apparent to consumers despite these two factors.

While prices cool, small businesses will feel the impact of the price hike alongside consumers.

“Smaller independent chains, regional chains, you know, they’ve struggled to be able to offer those same kinds of discounts, and so they’ve really taken a hit in terms of their sales numbers,” Rispoli noted.

At the Westside Restaurant, the archetype of a Greek diner in Manhattan, the cost of eggs and food has tightened profit margins. Benetos said that one case of eggs – 30 dozen eggs – has increased from $90 to $160 over a few months, and other food costs have risen by 30 to 40 percent, leading to price increases across the menu. His son Nikos Benetos noted that they priced a recent daily special — a feta cheese, broccoli, and tomato omelet — at over $19.

At a coffee cart on the Upper West Side, employee Santi Sayago said egg prices increased by 150 percent over six months, making it difficult to turn a 50-cent profit on a bacon-egg-and-cheese sandwich.

Abi Coffey, a manager at chain Think Coffee, noted that they have increased the price of egg sandwiches by a dollar over the last year, leading to customer complaints.

According to Sacerdote, when consumers begin to recognize the price hike at the grocery store, it might validate concerns about inflation.

“I think that is probably how people get a notion of how bad inflation is when they get their fuel bill for their home, the gas bill for their car, and their food bill,” Sacerdote said.

While costs have decreased recently, experts say it might take months for the prices to return to normal levels fully.

“Whether it’s going to continue into 2023; obviously, I don’t have a crystal ball, but all signs point to yes,” Rispoli said.

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(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Department of Justice announced a $31 million settlement with City National Bank over allegations that the Los Angeles-based bank engaged in “redlining” – a pattern of lending discrimination – in Los Angeles County.

The settlement, which according to the DOJ is the largest redlining settlement in the department’s history, will benefit individuals and communities impacted by the discriminatory practice, the DOJ announced on Thursday.

Redlining, a discriminatory and illegal practice, is when lenders withhold services from customers who live in low-income neighborhoods, disproportionately impacting communities of color.

“We disagree with the allegations, but nonetheless support the DOJ in its efforts to ensure equal access to credit for all consumers, regardless of race,” City National said in a statement to ABC News.” … We are committed to ensuring that all consumers have an equal opportunity to apply for and obtain credit. We stand proudly on our legacy of integrity, corporate philanthropy and commitment to the communities we serve.”

“The Justice Department will continue to build on our efforts to vigorously enforce federal fair lending laws and work to ensure that financial institutions provide equal opportunity for every American to obtain credit,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement on Thursday. “In advance of what would have been Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 94th birthday, it is a fitting time to reaffirm our commitment to that work, and to the pursuit of justice for all Americans.”

Despite 50 years of federal oversight under the landmark Fair Housing Act of 1968, housing segregation persists in America’s largest cities and urban centers.

An exclusive ABC News analysis of mortgage-lending data published in February 2022 shows a pattern of racial isolation remains consistent following decades of failed initiatives.

The analysis shows that 20 of the nation’s top 100 metropolitan areas have an “extreme dissimilarity index” of 50 or higher — meaning at least half of the population would have had to move to another neighborhood in the area to achieve total integration in 2019.

The complaint against City National Bank, which was filed by the DOJ in federal court on Thursday, alleges that from 2017 through at least 2020 the bank avoided marketing and underwriting mortgage lending services to majority Black and Latino neighborhoods and discouraging those Los Angeles County residents from obtaining mortgage loans.

City National Bank only opened one branch in a majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhood and did not assign an employee to generate loan applications for the branch like they did branches located in majority-white areas over the past 20 years, according to the complaint.

According to the DOJ, City National agreed to take a number of actions to address redlining, including investing at least $29.5 million in a loan subsidy fund for communities of color in LA County. They will also open a new branch in a predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhood as well as conducting an assessment to identify needs for lending services in those communities.

“City National worked cooperatively with the Department to remedy the redlining allegations,” the DOJ said in the statement on Thursday. “In conjunction with this settlement, City National has announced that it is proactively taking steps to expand its lending services in other markets around the country to provide greater access to credit in communities of color.”

City National Bank announced a new lending initiative on Wednesday that will help entrepreneurs and potential homebuyers in underserved communities gain access to capital, according to a press release.

“At City National, supporting our communities is core to who we are as an organization,” City National CEO Kelly Coffey said in a statement on Wednesday. “We take very seriously our obligation to ensure that all businesses and consumers have an equal opportunity to apply for and obtain credit.”

The settlement comes more than one year after the DOJ announced an initiative to combat redlining – a practice that is illegal under the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.

Garland said on Thursday that the Combating Redlining Initiative, which was launched in October 2021, has secured over $75 million dollars in relief for communities impacted by lending discrimination.

City National is the latest bank that was found over the past few years to be engaging in redlining practices in the U.S.

In October 2021, federal officials and the DOJ announced that Trustmark National Bank agreed to pay a $5 million settlement over allegations it engaged in lending discrimination in communities of color in Memphis, Tennessee.

ABC News’ Mark Nichols contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Stuck in house arrest and awaiting trial, disgraced crypto executive Sam Bankman-Fried spoke out on Thursday with the most extensive remarks since his arrest a month ago.

The fallen former CEO of FTX issued a 2,300-word rebuke of fraud and conspiracy charges, replete with charts and graphs. He said that he didn’t steal customer funds, instead blaming the company’s woes on a sharp downturn in the cryptocurrency market.

“I didn’t steal funds, and I certainly didn’t stash billions away,” said Bankman-Fried, who pleaded not guilty last week. He’s tentatively scheduled to stand trial in October.

The account marked Bankman-Fried’s first post on the newsletter platform Substack, which prompts readers to subscribe to receive future messages from Bankman-Fried directly in their inbox.

Federal prosecutors charged Bankman-Fried last month in an eight-count indictment for fraud, conspiracy and campaign finance violations linked to tens of millions of dollars in political donations.

He was released on a $250 million bond in late December, when he traveled to live at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California.

Here are five takeaways from the account posted by Bankman-Fried on Thursday:

Bankman-Fried says he ‘did not steal’

In his post, Bankman-Fried contends that he did not steal customer funds, saying instead that he would have offered some of his own assets to help make investors whole before the company declared bankruptcy.

Federal prosecutors and government agencies accused Bankman-Fried of defrauding customers and investors in FTX as well as lenders to his hedge fund, Alameda Research.

Customers sent billions of dollars to FTX believing their assets were secure but, from the start, Bankman-Fried “improperly diverted customer assets to his privately-held crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research LLC, and then used those customer funds to make undisclosed venture investments, lavish real estate purchases, and large political donations,” according to a civil complaint from the Securities and Exchange commission.

In response to such allegations, Bankman-Fried on Thursday denied taking customer funds for personal use.

Further, he said investments made by Alameda Research did not amount to an inappropriate use of customer funds. Instead, the conduct comprised an unsuccessful but legal form of margin trading, in which an individual or institution makes an investment using borrowed funds.

“All of which is to say: no funds were stolen,” Bankman-Fried said.

Customers can still recover their money, Bankman-Fried said

After denying wrongdoing, Bankman-Fried said that he could help undo the damage that resulted from the alleged fraud: Billions in customer losses.

If the company had tried to raise money from new investors before declaring bankruptcy, it could have restored funds to its customers, he said.

Gretchen Lowe, acting director of the division of enforcement at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, estimated last month that FTX customers lost more than $8 billion.

According to Bankman-Fried, the company received billions in offers of additional liquidity when it declared bankruptcy in November, and more than $4 billion came in afterward.

Before FTX declared bankruptcy, Bankman Fried was willing to offer up some of his own wealth, he said. “Nearly all of my assets were and still are utilizable to backstop FTX customers,” he said.

“I think it’s likely that FTX could have made all customers whole if a concerted effort had been made to raise liquidity,” he said.

Bankman-Fried does not provide details of the supposed billions in potential investments.

Moreover, the reliability of Bankman-Fried’s account defies characterizations of shoddy record-keeping at FTX from current CEO John Ray.

Ray, who oversaw the dissolution of Enron, testified before House members on Tuesday that FTX lacked corporate controls to an extent he had never witnessed.

“I’ve never seen an utter lack of record keeping,” Ray said. “Absolutely no internal controls.”

A market crash brought down Alameda Research and FTX, Bankman-Fried said

Financial impropriety is not to blame for the downfall of Alameda Research and FTX, Bankman-Fried said on Thursday. Rather, a crash in the crypto market sent the firms reeling, exposing their leverage and forcing a series of losses that they could not reverse, he said.

“FTX International and Alameda were both legitimately and independently profitable businesses in 2021, each making billions,” Bankman-Fried said. “And then Alameda lost about 80 percent of its assets’ value over the course of 2022, due to a series of market crashes.”

Alameda Research failed to adequately hedge against such losses, leaving the hedge fund with no way to offset the crunch, he said.

While the market downturn likely hastened the demise of FTX, the issue stands apart from the alleged misuse of customer funds.

A tweet from a rival CEO delivered the final blow to FTX, Bankman-Fried said

Bankman-Fried attributed the ultimate failure of FTX to a post on social media from Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of rival crypto exchange Binance.

On Nov. 6, Zhao, often referred to as “CZ,” said in a tweet that he would sell all of the company’s holdings in FTT, a token created by FTX.

The major exit from a crypto heavyweight triggered a wider sell-off, akin to a bank run, placing immense pressure on FTX to meet the sudden demand for customer withdrawals. Due to a lack of funds, FTX halted customer withdrawals altogether.

In his remarks on Thursday, Bankman-Fried described the social media post from Zhao as “CZ’s fateful tweet.”

The message of caution from an industry titan brought about “an extreme, quick, targeted crash,” Bankman-Fried said.

Bankman-Fried did not run Alameda Research, he said

Bankman-Fried asserts that in recent years he did not run Alameda Research, which he founded in 2017.

The contention rebukes allegations that Bankman-Fried abused his role as the de facto head of Alameda Research, the hedge fund that traded with FTX customer money.

The statement from Bankman-Fried conflicts with testimony last month from Ray, the current FTX CEO.

Ray, who is overseeing the company’s bankruptcy proceedings, told House members that no separation existed between the operations of FTX and Alameda Research, a crypto hedge fund also founded by Bankman-Fried.

“There were virtually no internal controls and no separateness whatsoever,” Ray said.

“The owners of the company could run free reign,” he added, noting that Bankman-Fried owned 90% of Alameda Research.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Consumer prices rose 6.5% last month compared to a year ago, extending a months-long slowdown of price hikes and bolstering hopes that the U.S. can avert a recession.

Year-over-year inflation has fallen for six consecutive months since it reached a peak of 9.1% in June. Despite the slowdown in price increases, inflation continues to hover near a 40-year high.

Economists had predicted a CPI increase of 6.7%.

The Federal Reserve imposed a string of aggressive rate hikes last year that aim to slow price increases by cooling the economy and choking off demand. The approach, however, risks tipping the U.S. into a recession and putting millions out of work.

A further slowdown in price increases would allow the Federal Reserve to taper off interest rate hikes, positioning the U.S. economy to avoid a severe downturn, Dana Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board, told ABC News.

“If inflation continues to slow and especially is slowing in areas that the Fed has the most control over, then that’s a good thing,” she said.

In early February, the Federal Reserve will decide whether to raise interest rates again and, if so, how much. At a meeting last month, the central bank raised its benchmark rate by 0.5%, softening its approach after a series of jumbo-sized 0.75% increases.

Still, Fed Chair Jerome Powell vowed to continue imposing rate hikes until inflation returns to the central bank’s target level of 2%.

“Fifty basis points is still a historically large increase, and we still have some ways to go,” Powell said last month. “We will stay the course until the job is done.”

So far, the labor market has proven resilient, buoying the hopes of policymakers seeking to cool prices without causing significant job losses.

Hiring remained strong last month as employers added 233,000 jobs and wages grew a robust 4.6% compared to a year earlier.

While the wage gains offered welcome relief for workers strained by price hikes, they marked a slowdown from 5.1% annual growth recorded in November, reassuring some observers who fear that rising wages could push companies to hike prices and deepen inflation.

The labor market has struck a balance between strong hiring that keeps Americans employed and moderate wage growth that prevents runaway inflation, Iwan Barankay, a professor of business economics and public policy at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, told ABC News.

“We still see healthy increases in hiring month to month. It’s not too hot and not too cold,” he said. “I really don’t see any merit in scaremongering.”

Despite the robust job market, growing evidence suggests the Fed’s rate hikes have put the brakes on some economic activity.

Home sales fell for the 10th month in a row in November, the most recent month on record. Sales of existing homes, such as single-family homes and condominiums, were down about 35% from a year earlier.

Meanwhile, new orders for U.S.-manufactured goods fell more than expected in November, suggesting that consumer demand had slowed, according to Commerce Department data released last week.

Similarly, the country’s factory activity shrank for a second consecutive month in December, according to an Institute for Supply Management survey.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Inflation data set for release Thursday will show whether months of cooling price increases continued in December.

Evidence of further slowing would ease the strain on household budgets and bolster hopes that the U.S. can avert a recession.

A sign that inflation turned upward, however, would indicate that the path to normal price levels may require prolonged interest rate hikes and significant job losses.

Year-over-year inflation has fallen for five consecutive months since it reached a peak of 9.1% in June. Despite the slowdown in price increases, inflation continues to hover near a 40-year high.

Analysts expect year-over-year inflation to continue its slide, dropping to 6.7% after standing at 7.1% in November.

The Federal Reserve imposed a string of aggressive rate hikes last year that aim to slow price increases by cooling the economy and choking off demand. The approach, however, risks tipping the U.S. into a recession and putting millions out of work.

A further slowdown in price increases would allow the Federal Reserve to taper off interest rate hikes, positioning the U.S. economy to avoid a severe downturn, Dana Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board, told ABC News.

“If inflation continues to slow and especially is slowing in areas that the Fed has the most control over, then that’s a good thing,” she said.

In early February, the Federal Reserve will decide whether to raise interest rates again and, if so, how much. At a meeting last month, the central bank raised its benchmark rate by 0.5%, softening its approach after a series of jumbo-sized 0.75% increases.

Still, Fed Chair Jerome Powell vowed to continue imposing rate hikes until inflation returns to the central bank’s target level of 2%.

“Fifty basis points is still a historically large increase, and we still have some ways to go,” Powell said last month. “We will stay the course until the job is done.”

So far, the labor market has proven resilient, bolstering the hopes of policymakers seeking to avert a downturn.

Hiring remained strong last month as employers added 233,000 jobs and wages grew a robust 4.6% compared to a year earlier.

While the wage gains offered welcome relief for workers strained by price hikes, they marked a slowdown from 5.1% annual growth recorded in November, reassuring some observers who fear that rising wages could push companies to hike prices and deepen inflation.

The labor market has struck a balance between strong hiring that keeps Americans employed and moderate wage growth that prevents runaway inflation, Iwan Barankay, a professor of business economics and public policy at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, told ABC News.

“We still see healthy increases in hiring month to month. It’s not too hot and not too cold,” he said. “I really don’t see any merit in scaremongering.”

Despite the robust job market, growing evidence suggests the Fed’s rate hikes have put the brakes on some economic activity.

Home sales fell for the 10th month in a row in November, the most recent month on record. Sales of existing homes, such as single-family homes and condominiums, were down about 35% from a year earlier.

Meanwhile, new orders for U.S.-manufactured goods fell more than expected in November, suggesting that consumer demand had slowed, according to Commerce Department data released last week.

Similarly, the country’s factory activity shrank for a second consecutive month in December, according to an Institute for Supply Management survey.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — If you were banking on a hefty tax refund this year, think again. The expiration of COVID-era tax breaks means millions of Americans may get smaller refunds when they file their tax returns for 2022, and those who received refunds in recent years, may now owe the government money.

“Stimulus payments are a thing of the past,” Bankrate.com’s senior industry financial analyst Ted Rossman tells ABC News. “Last year, many people got an extra-large refund because they claimed a stimulus payment they didn’t receive in 2021.”

According to the IRS, the average refund last year was nearly $3,200. That was up from about $2,800 in 2021. Tax experts say refund amounts this year will more likely resemble refunds from 2019 or 2020. Depending on a taxpayer’s situation, tax experts say refunds could shrink by a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.

Federal stimulus checks dry up

The biggest reason tax refunds may be smaller this year is because Congress did not hand out COVID-related federal stimulus checks in 2022.

While most taxpayers received their stimulus checks automatically, some got the money as a recovery rebate credit of $1,400 per person on their 2021 income tax return. That means that for a family of four, that $5,600 credit won’t be there on this year’s tax return.

Paying taxes on state rebates/refunds

While federal stimulus may have gone away, over a dozen states issued taxpayer rebates and refunds last year.

Some states, including California, New Jersey and Massachusetts expect to finish handing out those checks in the first half of this year.

While these payments don’t count as taxable income on a state return, they will often count as taxable income on federal returns. For example, about three million homeowners in New York state were automatically sent a property tax rebate of up to $1,050 in June. The IRS may count that payment as income on federal returns.

No more expanded child tax credit

In 2021, Congress gave families a boost with the expanded child tax credit, which has since expired.

The child tax credit reverted back to $2,000 last year for children under age 17. That’s down from the previous year’s enhanced child tax credit of $3,600 for children under age 6 and $3,000 for children under age 18.

Child and dependent care tax breaks

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 made the tax credit for child and dependent care expenses substantially more generous (up to $8,000 for two or more children), but that credit went back to the old limit of $2,100 for 2022.

Taxpayers who participate in their employer’s pretax child and dependent care flexible spending accounts may also see lower refunds because contribution limits for those accounts were increased to a maximum $10,500 in 2021 but reverted to the previous limit of $5,000 last year.

There are still ways to maximize the existing, albeit smaller, child and dependent care credits.

“An especially good tip is that summer camps can count for the dependent care credit,” said Rossman.

“Parents sometimes only think school-year care is eligible, but if your kids are in day camp while you’re working, that can be fair game,” he said. “The Earned Income Tax Credit is extremely popular, especially among low- and medium-earners.

He added, “The American Opportunity Tax Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit are good ones in the education space.”

Charitable contribution deductions

Unlike last year, charitable donations are no longer giving most taxpayers a tax break.

Congress didn’t extend the temporary tax break that allowed a special charitable deduction for taxpayers who take the standard deduction instead of itemizing.

The $300 deduction individuals could take ($600 for married couples), wasn’t available for tax year 2022 and could result in a small increase in tax bills.

Quicker tax refunds

Tax day this year is April 18. Even if you file for a six-month extension, you still need to pay any tax you expect to owe by April 18, otherwise, you can get hit with penalty and interest charges from the IRS.

If you expect a tax refund, Rossman says you can improve your chances of getting it quickly by filing early and electronically. Opting to have your refund directly deposited into a checking or savings account can also speed up your return.

“Filing via paper really slows things down,” said Rossman. “Especially if you’re anticipating a refund, aim to get your return in soon after the filing window opens in late January. It’s your money, after all. Don’t give the government an interest-free loan for any longer than you have to.”

How to spend your tax refund

As for what to do with that refund once you get it? While it may be tempting to use it towards a vacation or big-ticket purchase, like a television or car, Rossman says the most prudent thing to do is use at least some of the refund to pay down debt.

“The average credit card rate is a whopping 19.59% so if you have credit card debt, using some or all of your refund to pay down that debt would be a very smart choice,” said Rossman.

Increasing your emergency savings is another popular way to put your tax refund to work. Almost 6 in 10 U.S. adults (58%) told Bankrate.com that they’re concerned about their level of emergency savings.

“So especially with recession worries looming, boosting your savings would be wise,” he said. “You could perhaps do some of both – use some of your refund to pay down debt and put some into savings.”

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(MIAMI) — The arena where the Miami Heat play can now get a new name following the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

A federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware agreed to terminate the naming-rights agreement between Miami-Dade County and FTX on Wednesday. The order terminates the 2021 contract that enabled the downtown facility to be called FTX Arena, retroactively to Dec. 30, 2022.

Miami-Dade County now must stop referring to the arena as FTX Arena in all public references and remove signage, advertisements and promotional materials. It is unclear when that process will begin.

The 19-year, $135 million sponsorship agreement between FTX and Miami-Dade County went into effect in June 2021.

The Miami Heat and Miami-Dade County announced that they were “immediately taking action to terminate our business relationships with FTX” in November, on the same day the cryptocurrency exchange began its bankruptcy proceedings.

“The reports about FTX and its affiliates are extremely disappointing,” the team and county said in a statement at the time, adding that they are working to find a new naming rights partner for the arena.

FTX collapsed from a multibillion-dollar crypto darling into a bankrupt cautionary tale within a matter of weeks. The number of FTX investors and customers who prosecutors have said collectively lost $8 billion is likely to exceed 1 million.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was charged last month in an eight-count indictment with defrauding customers of and lenders to the crypto exchange. He was also charged with defrauding lenders to his privately-controlled hedge fund Alameda Research.

Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty last week to the federal charges. Prosecutors have accused him of using FTX like a personal slush fund to make risky investments and political donations and to buy lavish real estate.

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(NEW YORK) — As cooling inflation offers consumers much-needed relief, many car owners are in for a rude awakening when insurance renewal arrives this year, a new report found.

Car insurance rates are expected to increase by 8.4% across the U.S. in 2023, the largest rate increase in six years, according to the report from research firm ValuePenguin.

The average cost of full coverage car insurance is expected to be $1,780 per year, but rates will vary dramatically between states, the report found.

In Michigan, the state with the highest average price, car insurance will cost $4,788 a year. In Vermont, the state with the lowest average price, car insurance will cost $1,104, the report said.

Vehicle owners in 45 states will see their rates increase by at least 1%, with rates jumping the most in Illinois, Arizona and New Hampshire, the report said. The states that will experience a rate increase below 1% include California, Hawaii, Vermont and Wyoming.

Car insurance companies Geico, Progressive and State Farm did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The significant nationwide price jump owes to a return to driving patterns resembling pre-pandemic life, as many workers come back to offices and families resume travel, said Divya Sangam, an insurance spokesperson at LendingTree, the parent company of Value Penguin.

“When more people are driving, you have more accidents and a higher volume of claims and that raises insurance rates,” Sangam told ABC News.

The effect of an elevated volume of claims has been exacerbated by the heightened cost of car repairs since a supply chain bottleneck continues to raise the cost of auto parts. A worker shortage adds labor costs too, Cate Deventer, an insurance writer and editor at Bankrate, told ABC News.

Meanwhile, an uptick in medical costs has heightened the amount that insurance companies pay to cover accident-related injuries, she added.

“Inflation is hitting everything across the board,” Deventer said. “It drives up the cost of claims.”

The price of a new car has surged nearly 8% over the past year, while the cost of tires and auto parts have jumped more than 10%, government data shows.

The pandemic-related price pressures tied to pent up demand and supply shortages arrive roughly three years after the outbreak of the coronavirus. The average car insurance rate jumped only 1.3% last year, the report found.

“We were surprised that it took so long for premiums to increase,” Sangam said. “This has been a little overdue.”

The prevalence of extreme weather events makes up another key driver of the insurance price increase, Sangam said.

“With climate change, the biggest story tends to be around homes getting destroyed,” she said. “But in reality, when there’s a massive flood, like in California right now, cars get destroyed. And with weather damage, we’re talking about cars getting totaled.”

The rise of electric vehicles has also contributed to the price spike, since insurance costs total about 28% more for electric vehicles than gas-powered ones, the report said.

The financial pain for car owners will likely prove temporary, Sangam said, predicting that the price increases would slow in the coming years as inflation softens further and the cost of car parts declines.

“It’s not going to rise at the same clip as it has this year,” she said.

Deventer cautioned that a slowdown in rate increases next year will depend on the easing of supply chain bottlenecks and a further cooling of inflation.

“It’s hard to say because we don’t know what’s going to happen with the economy,” she said.

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