Business

(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. hiring saw a dramatic increase in July, as the economy added 528,000 jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday.

The report defied expectations of a hiring slowdown as the Federal Reserve carries out a fight against inflation that aims to slash demand by cooling the economy but risks tipping the country into a recession.

Evidence of a softening labor market had mounted this week amid layoffs at high-profile companies like Walmart and Robinhood, as well as a government report that showed a steep decline in job openings in June.

The 528,000 jobs added in July marks a significant uptick from 372,000 jobs added in June. Moreover, the figures signals an improvement from the already-robust hiring sustained over the first half of 2022, during which the economy added an average of 461,000 jobs each month.

The overall robust hiring in recent months defies typical conditions for a recession, Daniel Zhao, a senior economist at the career site Glassdoor, told ABC News prior to the data release.

“It would be very unusual to have a recession when we’re still adding several hundred thousand jobs a month,” he said.

While a faster pace of hiring may cheer some economists and everyday Americans, the signal of strengthening labor demand may put more pressure on the Fed to sustain its aggressive interest rate hikes. At meetings in each of the past two months, the central bank has increased its benchmark interest rate 0.75% — dramatic hikes last matched in 1994.

Despite a series of borrowing cost increases meant to slash prices, inflation has not only persisted but worsened. Data released last month showed that prices jumped a staggering 9.1% in June, which amounts to the highest inflation rate in more than four decades.

Alarmingly, the price increases have coincided with shrinking economic output. Gross domestic product dropped at an annualized rate of 0.9% in the second quarter after falling 1.6% in the previous quarter.

The recent trend qualifies for the shorthand definition of a recession consisting of two consecutive quarters of GDP decline. But the formal designation of a recession depends on a wider range of metrics weighed by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

So far this year, the tight labor market has offered up a strong corner of the economy. But employment data indicated softening on Tuesday, when a report released by the government showed that job openings fell steeply in June to their lowest level in nine months. The 10.7 million job vacancies reported in June, however, remains an elevated figure.

Meanwhile, a slew of major companies in recent days have announced job cuts or hiring slowdowns. Walmart laid off nearly 200 corporate employees on Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported. A day before, Robinhood announced plans to cut 23% of its staff. Tech giants Apple, Amazon and Google-parent company Alphabet have recently announced they will slow hiring.

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(NEW YORK) — Wall Street will be closely watching the new U.S. employment data on Friday, the latest sign of whether the U.S. economy is entering a recession as the Federal Reserve carries out a fight against inflation that aims to slash demand by slowing the economy.

Resilient hiring in recent months has so far withstood a series of borrowing cost increases from the Fed but economists expect that the employment data for July will reveal a marked slowdown.

Evidence of a softening labor market has mounted this week amid layoffs at high-profile companies like Walmart and Robinhood, as well as a government report that showed a steep decline in job openings in June.

The median of economic forecasters anticipate 250,000 nonfarm payrolls were added in July, according to Bloomberg. The figure would mark the lowest monthly gain since December and a significant drop from 372,000 jobs added in June. The unemployment rate stood at a near-historic low of 3.6% in June.

Moreover, the expected figure would signal a departure from the robust hiring sustained over the first half of 2022, during which the economy added an average of 461,000 jobs each month.

“The labor market has been a bright spot in the economy but there are signs that the labor market is clearly cooling,” Daniel Zhao, a senior economist at the career site Glassdoor, told ABC News. “It does seem like the labor market is healthy — even as demand slows, layoffs are still very slow.”

While a hiring slowdown may alarm economists and everyday Americans, the signal of weakening labor demand could relieve pressure on the Fed to sustain its aggressive interest rate hikes. At meetings in each of the past two months, the central bank has increased its benchmark interest rate 0.75% — dramatic hikes last matched in 1994.

Despite a series of borrowing cost increases meant to slash prices, inflation has not only persisted but worsened. Data released last month showed that prices jumped a staggering 9.1% in June, which amounts to the highest inflation rate in more than four decades.

Alarmingly, the price increases have coincided with shrinking economic output. Gross domestic product dropped at an annualized rate of 0.9% in the second quarter after falling 1.6% in the previous quarter.

The recent trend qualifies for the shorthand definition of a recession consisting of two consecutive quarters of GDP decline. But the formal designation of a recession depends on a wider range of metrics weighed by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

So far this year, the tight labor market has offered up a strong corner of the economy. But employment data indicated softening on Tuesday, when a report released by the government showed that job openings fell steeply in June to their lowest level in nine months. The 10.7 million job vacancies reported in June, however, remains an elevated figure.

Meanwhile, a slew of major companies in recent days have announced job cuts or hiring slowdowns. Walmart laid off nearly 200 corporate employees on Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported. A day before, Robinhood announced plans to cut 23% of its staff. Tech giants Apple, Amazon and Google-parent company Alphabet have recently announced they will slow hiring.

Still, the overall robust hiring in recent months defies typical conditions for a recession, said Zhao of Glassdoor.

“It would be very unusual to have a recession when we’re still adding several hundred thousand jobs a month,” he said. “Of course, if we have a surprisingly bad report where we see job losses this month, then that could change the picture.”

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(NEW YORK) — Trae Bodge, smart shopping expert, shared her tips for saving on groceries with Good Morning America, to help consumers keep costs down at checkout.

Consumer prices on food experienced the largest annual increase in over four decades since February 1981, with costs skyrocketing 10.4% in the 12-month period ending June, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Within the “food at home” category — grocery store food products purchased for cooking or eating at home — prices rose 12.2% over the last year, the largest increase since 1979.

Top tips to stay on a budget in the grocery store:

Eat vegetarian

“You might find that poultry, meats, and fish have increased more in price than vegetables and other items, like rice and pasta,” Bodge said. “If that’s the case in your area, you could save a bundle by eating [vegetarian meals] a couple of nights a week.”

Use coupon sites to save

“You might think of coupon sites for clothing and tech, but not for food, when in fact coupon sites like CouponCabin.com have offers for grocery delivery, like $25 off $35 or more at Instacart or $55 off $99 or more,” she said of the simple at-your-fingertips savings option.

Don’t buy pre-cut produce

Buy fruits and vegetables whole and prepare them at home. “You’re paying for labor when you buy pre-cut,” she explained.

Look low and high on store shelves

“You’re more likely to find better deals on the lowest and highest shelves. Brands pay for prime real estate at eye level, but there are hidden gems in less visible spots,” Bodge suggested.

Read between the price tags

“You can determine whether or not an item is a good deal by comparing the cost-per-unit rather than the actual price,” she said, explaining that the sticker price doesn’t always reflect the total value.

Look out for “shrinkflation”

“Many brands are shrinking the size or weight of their products and charging the same price,” Bodge said, adding that shoppers should always check the unit prices when selecting items.

Join loyalty programs

Bodge advised using rewards programs — sticking to the stores where you shop most often — which may “offer a free way to earn points towards future purchases.”

“They offer exclusive deals and some will even allow you to qualify for free things, like a free turkey at Thanksgiving or a free gas card,” she said.

Credit cards with grocery perks

“Using the right credit card to buy your groceries could earn you some serious cash back. Cards with annual fees typically have more generous cash-back [offers], like 4% or more on food from American Express Gold, but there are some fee-free cards that offer this, including the Bread Cashback American Express from Bread Financial, which offers 2% cashback on all purchases,” she said. “Another good fee-free card is the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa, which allows you to earn 5% on Amazon and Whole Foods purchases.”

Buy frozen

“In certain cases,” Bodge said, this tactic “can be a big money-saver.”

“I find this especially with fish and certain vegetables,” she added. “Plus, frozen has a longer shelf life.”

Buy generic

“You can save 20% or more by doing this and you’ll find that many of the ingredient listings match the brand name word for word,” Bodge said. “In fact, store brands or generics are often made in the same factories as the name brand.”

Buy seasonal produce

“You will do much better on price, versus buying things that need to be imported,” Bodge said. “Also, check out your local CSA — community-supported agriculture is a food system for farmers and producers to connect directly with consumers. This is a great way to support local farmers and the pricing is often very good.”

Bodge, however, recommended against “buying at farmers markets if you’re on a tight budget.”

Only buy in bulk on most-used items

“If there are certain items that you go through quickly, like toilet paper, pastas, canned goods or snacks for your kids’ lunches, buy them in bulk if you have a Costco or Sam’s Club membership,” Bodge suggested. “You can also often buy in bulk on Amazon and on a site like Boxed.com.”

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(NEW YORK) — Meta said it is focused on continuing to disrupt emerging cybersecurity threats, including “perception hacking” efforts that could attempt to create unjustified fears about the security of U.S. elections.

In its new “Quarterly Adversarial Threat Report” released Thursday, Meta details how it took action on two cyberespionage operations and removed three networks that were engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior (CIB) — campaigns that seek to manipulate public debate.

Since 2017, the company says it has been able to disrupt the activities of coordinated networks aimed at manipulating users with fake accounts using coordinated inauthentic behavior. The efforts have been successful at driving these networks off of Facebook and have made it harder for other entities to maintain access on the social media platform, Meta says.

Meta says in the report that cyberespionage actors tend to target individuals across the internet in an effort “to collect intelligence manipulate them into revealing information and compromise their devices and accounts.”

Meta’s Facebook took action on two separate cyberespionage operations from South Asia this past quarter, both of which used malware to infect users’ devices. One of the operations was from the hacker group known as Bitter APT, the report says.

The hacker group targeted users with malware in New Zealand, India, Pakistan and the United Kingdom, Meta’s report says.

The report also revealed the company had removed networks promoting misinformation and harassment in India, Indonesia, Greece and South Africa.

Additionally, Facebook removed three networks engaged in coordinated inauthentic behavior, including one network linked to an Israeli public relations firm and two troll farms from Malaysia and Russia.

The Russian operation, the self-proclaimed CyberFront Z, focused on targeting global discourse on the war in Ukraine, the report says.

The pro-Russia operation attempted to mirror the anti-war communities defending Ukraine through the use of fake accounts run by paid posters, the report says. Despite the effort, pro-Ukraine and anti-war comments typically outnumbered the pro-Russia group’s comments.

Ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, a spokesperson for Meta told reporters the company has not seen any coordinated inauthentic behavior operations specifically targeting the November elections.

But the company warns of the idea of perception hacking — capitalizing on the public’s fear of influence operations by trying to create the false perception of widespread manipulation, even if there is no evidence.

David Agranovich, Meta’s director of threat disruption, told ABC News, “as we go into the midterm elections, I think the thing we’re particularly working to make sure we’re ready for is these perception hacking offers where the operations go anywhere where they tried to get eyeballs and amplification from other people talking about how effective they were.”

Agranovich said its important to counter these efforts.

“Make sure people understand that they’re just sometimes not that effective,” he said. “And yet, we’ll still be on high alert. We haven’t seen the CIB’s yet but we’re gonna keep watching.”

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(NEW YORK) — Two of former President Donald Trump’s grown children have been deposed by the New York Attorney General’s Office as part of its civil investigation into the family real estate business, sources familiar with the testimony told ABC News.

Ivanka Trump sat for her deposition on Wednesday, while Donald Trump Jr. appeared last week, the sources said. Their depositions were postponed following the death of their mother, Ivana Trump, last month.

It was not immediately clear what questions they were asked or how they responded.

A spokeswoman for New York Attorney General Letitia James declined to comment.

Former President Trump, who has denied wrongdoing and called the investigation politically motivated, is expected to sit for a deposition with James’ investigators later this month after he and his children lost repeated attempts to avoid giving depositions in the case.

Trump argued unsuccessfully he should not have to sit for a deposition while the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office was conducting a parallel criminal investigation. While the district attorney’s case remains active, two senior prosecutors who had been leading it resigned earlier this year over the lack of an indictment.

The Manhattan district attorney’s investigation did produce criminal charges for the Trump Organization and its longtime CFO, Allen Weisselberg. Both have pleaded not guilty. Trump himself has called those charges “shameful” and “a disgrace.”

James has said her office has uncovered evidence of potentially fraudulent conduct in the way the Trump Organization valued its real estate holdings, allegedly overvaluing properties like 40 Wall Street and even the former president’s Trump Tower apartment.

Her deputies have said in court the office is nearing a decision on an enforcement action.

ABC News’ John Santucci contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — As summer break draws to a close, parents are hitting the ground running with back-to-school shopping.

Back-to-school essentials traditionally ranged from notebooks and pens to t-shirts and gym socks — but now these lists have grown to include pricey technology like cell phones, tablets, laptops and more. All of those things can really add up.

Refurbished tech is one way to help combat elevated costs. “Refurbished” in this case typically means items that were returned for repairs or were no longer wanted. Deals on refurbished tech are available on websites like Back Market (not the black market!), eBay Certified Refurbished, Apple, Bose, Microsoft, Samsung and Amazon.

ABC News’ Becky Worley shared tips with Good Morning America recently for parents looking to buy refurbished — and save a few dollars — this back-to-school season.

What should you buy refurbished and how much can you save?

Savings from purchasing refurbished items can range from 15% to 50% off retail prices.

Worley found a refurbished Apple Watch with cellular connection for calls and texts can be purchased from Apple for about $80 to $190 off, depending on the model. A Samsung Galaxy S20 sells for $499 new, but $299 on Back Market, while an iPhone 11 sells for $549 new, but costs $80 less if bought refurbished.

When buying refurbished through Apple, you typically can get a “new outer shell, new battery, new box, and you can get Apple Care insurance for it,” she said.

When it comes to buying cell phones, Worley recommends buying them no older than two years to ensure the hardware can handle the newer operating systems.

What about laptops?

Worley found a refurbished Chromebook for $356, 15% off its original price of $429. Despite this, she said there were not ample options for laptops if you are looking for something specific.

“It can be tough to find the exact specification you want because of limited quantities of refurbished [items],” Worley said.

What should you be cautious about when buying refurbished?

Make sure you are purchasing certified refurbished products and not items from resellers. Buyers should also look for a good warranty and return policy.

Worley does not recommend purchasing refurbished TVs due to the high possibility of the item getting damaged during shipping.

“It’s really difficult to protect TVs in packaging during shipping, so if it’s been shipped to the original consumer, shipped back to the vendor on the return, then shipped to the manufacturer for refurbishing and then shipped out to you. That’s four opportunities for the thing to get damaged,” Worley said.

Other items she does not recommend buying refurbished are printers and hard drives.

“People don’t return them for cosmetic defects or worn-out batteries. They were more likely to have a mechanical issue that caused them to be returned. I say buy those new or make sure they have really long warranties,” Worley said.

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(WASHINGTON) — Travelers could soon have more rights if their flight is canceled or delayed, as the Department of Transportation looks to “strengthen” protections for consumers seeking refunds.

The agency proposed a rule Wednesday that, if enacted, would define the terms of a “significant” change and cancellation for the first time.

Currently, passengers are entitled to refunds if an airline has “made a significant schedule change and/or significantly delays a flight and the consumer chooses not to travel” — though the DOT has not yet defined what “significant” means.

Under the rule, the department would outline significant changes as:

• Changes that affect the departure and/or arrival times by three hours or more for a domestic flight or six hours or more for an international flight
• Changes to the departure or arrival airport
• Changes that increase the number of connections in the itinerary; and
• Changes to the type of aircraft flown if it causes a significant downgrade in the air travel experience or amenities a­­vailable onboard the flight.

The move comes amid increased complaints against airlines — the majority of which concern refunds and flight service, according to data from the agency.

“I think the DOT has heard that passengers are fed up with some of the sleight of hand that airlines are pulling and some of the actions that are not consumer-friendly,” Henry Harteveldt, travel industry analyst at Atmosphere Research Group, said in an interview with ABC News.

In addition, the rule would “codify the department’s longstanding interpretation that a failure to provide refunds when a carrier cancels or significantly changes a flight to, from or within the United States is an unfair practice,” the DOT said.

“The problem, I think, up until now has been that you as an individual traveler don’t necessarily know what is a significant delay on Delta, versus American, versus Southwest, versus Spirit is — It could be significantly different on each airline,” Scott Keyes, founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights, told ABC News. “And those airlines don’t even necessarily mention explicitly what they consider to be a significant delay.”

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. airlines have issued $21 billion in cash refunds, according to Airlines for America (A4A), the group that lobbies on behalf of all major U.S. airlines. Cash refunds accounted for 8% of passenger revenues in 2021 and 22.3% of passenger revenues in 2020, versus 4.3% in 2019, A4A said.

The public will have 90 days to comment on the proposed rule. Once that period ends, the DOT will review and analyze the comments, and then decide whether to proceed with a final rule as proposed or with modifications, issue a new or modified proposal, or withdraw the proposal altogether.

ABC News’ Sam Sweeney contributed to this report.

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(ST. LOUIS) — Nearly 2,500 Boeing workers at three St. Louis-area facilities on Wednesday accepted a contract offer from the plane manufacturer after calling off a strike planned for earlier this week.

In recent weeks, a dispute over the three-year contract centered on retirement compensation. Workers last Sunday rejected an offer that fell short of their demands on that issue, said Jody Bennett of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW).

The new contract provides workers with an $8,000 cash bonus, which would be subject to tax withholdings. Alternatively, under the terms of the proposed contract, workers can opt to place the total amount in a 401(k) account, Boeing said.

Under the proposal, the company will automatically put an amount equivalent to 4% of a worker’s pay into the 401(k) each year, the company and Bennett said.

But the new proposal removes the company’s 401(k) match, which featured a dollar-for-dollar company match on 10% of a worker’s pay, the union said. Instead, the company will match 75% on the first 8% of employee contributions.

“Throughout negotiations, the committee worked diligently to educate the membership and bring back an improved offer from the company,” said Tom Boelling, president of IAM District 837, the union local that represents the workers. “We have delivered an equitable contract that will secure the future for the members, their families and future generations.”

The contract includes a $2 per hour increase in the base wage for all employees, which equates to an average 7.2% wage hike, Boeing said. Workers at the three St. Louis-area locations make an average of $29.42 per hour, the union said.

“We’re pleased with the outcome of the vote and we look forward to our future here in the St. Louis area,” Boeing said in a statement.

In 2014, Boeing stopped offering a traditional pension plan for new hires, replacing it with a 401(k) that fails to adequately compensate workers, Bennett said.

The Arlington, Virginia-based company reported $160 million in profit in the second quarter of this year, which marked a 72% decline from the same quarter a year prior.

The company brought in $62.2 billion in revenue in 2021 after a resurgence in sales of its 737 Max, which was grounded in 2019 after two crashes left 346 people dead. The Federal Aviation Agency lifted the grounding order in November 2020.

“Our members at Boeing St. Louis fought hard to ensure they received a contract that compensated them fairly,” Bennett, of IAMAW, said in a statement.

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(NEW YORK) — The parent company of department store chain T.J. Maxx has agreed to pay a $13 million fine for the sale of roughly 1,200 recalled products over a five-year period, including products determined to have put infants at risk of suffocation and death, a federal agency said on Tuesday.

TJX Companies Inc., which also oversees retail chains Marshalls and HomeGoods, sold the recalled products at brick-and-mortar stores belonging to the three subsidiary brands from 2014 to 2019, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC, said.

Sales of the recalled products also took place online, the agency said.

In addition to paying the fine, TJX will maintain a set of internal controls to ensure that the company complies with law that prohibits the sale of recalled products, the CPSC said. TJX has agreed to file annual reports on its compliance program for five years, the agency added.

Most of the recalled products sold by TJX were recalled due to the risk of infant suffocation and death, including the Kids II Rocking Sleepers, Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play Sleepers and Fisher-Price Inclined Sleeper Accessory for Ultra-Lite Day & Night Play Yards, the CPSC said.

“At TJX, product safety is very important to us and we prohibit the sale of recalled items in our stores,” TJX said in a statement. “We deeply regret that in some instances between 2014 and 2019, recalled products were not properly removed from our sales floors despite the recall processes that we had in place.”

“We have made a significant investment in people, processes, and technology to strengthen our processes, and have cooperated fully with the Consumer Product Safety Commission,” the company added.

In 2019, CPSC and TJX jointly announced that TJX had sold 19 separate recalled products. After the announcement, TJX reported to staff that it subsequently discovered previous sales of three additional recalled products, CPSC said.

TJX reported $11.4 billion in revenue over a three-month period that ended on April 30, which amounted to an increase of 13% over the same three-month period a year prior. The company reported $587 million in profit over the three-month period that ended in April.

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(NEW YORK) — It may be hot dog season, but one condiment company made a tangy new twist on the popular yellow spread by turning it into a confection.

Ahead of National Mustard Day on Aug. 6, French’s teamed up with New York bakery Dough Doughnuts to create a one-of-a-kind yeast doughnut with a yellow mustard icing and a cake crumb topping.

Although it may sound alarming, Steve Klein, the co-owner of Dough, told ABC News’ Good Morning America to trust their expertise when it comes to the fluffy, sweet and zingy new flavor.

“We take a lot of pride in our doughnuts and we don’t put something out that doesn’t taste good, look good or matches what the customer wants. So we put a lot of effort into it,” he said. “We did a bunch of tastings and created a product we all liked with our brioche dough, adding the mustard to our glaze and came up with a product that looks and tastes excellent.”

Klein added that while it was “a challenge,” all those who have had an early taste test “have enjoyed it.”

The limited-time offering will be available on Saturday for mustard enthusiasts who visit any New York City Dough location, each adorned with vibrant yellow decor and pop art, to get a free mustard donut. For fans outside of New York, visit the Dough website on Saturday morning to reserve a complimentary order of the donuts, which are available for nationwide shipping.

“Most people have never heard of something like this — it’s different but we spent a lot of time blending the mustard into the glaze so that it looks good and tastes good,” Klein said.

Dough has previously partnered with other brands to concoct savory and sweet options, including most recently debuting a fried chicken sandwich-inspired doughnut in tandem with David Chang’s hit sandwich spot Fuku.

Klein said they “loved the challenge because French’s is a great brand and their yellow mustard is iconic. We wouldn’t do it if we didn’t think we could make a great doughnut.”

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