Strong economy: The U.S. economy had a very strong start to 2024, with new jobs in January coming in at just about double what was forecast. Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 353,000 in January, and the unemployment rate remained at 3.7%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in professional and business services, health care, retail trade, and social assistance. Employment declined in the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction industry.
Another Tesla recall: On the heels of massive recalls to fix software problems, Tesla now has to recall 2.2 million vehicles in the U.S because the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has determined that the lettering in its warning lights on the dashboard are too small. Tesla says that the size of the lettering displayed for drivers can be increased with a software update. The recall involves several Tesla models. The company said it does not know of any accidents related to the problem.
Trump’s temper tantrum: Attorney Roberta Kaplan, who represented journalist E. Jean Carroll in her successful defamation lawsuits against Donald Trump, says that Trump threw a temper tantrum at Mar-a-Lago during the time she was there to take testimony from Trump in a deposition for the case. Kaplan says that when Trump found out that members of his legal team had extended a courtesy to Kaplan and invited her to have lunch Trump yelled at his attorney Alina Habba, threw papers across the table and got up and stormed out of the room. Later, when Trump returned, he asked how the lunch had been and said he told his kitchen staff to make really bad sandwiches for the lawyers.
Swatting calls: A 17-year-old boy from California has been extradited to Florida and is suspected of making hundreds of bomb threats and swatting calls. A swatting call is a fake report of an incident requiring a police swat team to respond. Alan Filion has been charged with making a telephone threat that a mass shooting was taking place at a mosque in Sanford, Florida. Law enforcement officials believe he is responsible for hundreds of other incidents in which police swat teams were dispatched to deal with nonexistent incidents. A court document alleges Filion made threats against high schools and colleges, religious institutions, the FBI and the U.S. military.
Exxon financials: Exxon Mobil Corporation today announced its 2023 revenues were $344.5 billion with earnings of $36 billion. For the fourth-quarter of 2023 earnings were $7.6 billion. Exxon pointed out that in the fourth quarter, it announced its new lithium mining business with plans to become a leading producer of lithium for the global battery and electric vehicle markets. It said work is underway for the first phase of lithium production in southwest Arkansas, an area known to hold significant lithium deposits.
The groundhog predicts: The world’s most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, did not see his shadow this morning when he stepped outside of his burrow at Gobbler’s Knob at Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. According to legend, that means there will be an early spring. The groundhog’s predictions have been taking place since 1887, according to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration calculates that since 2013 the groundhog has been right in its predictions about 40% of the time. The National Weather Service forecasts there will be above-average temperatures across most of the U.S. in February.
Cover photo by Mike Mozart / Flickr Creative Commons
