TV News LIES

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan says the headlines about Gen Z’s fears about AI and the job market are real.

The bank recently hired 2,000 top grads from 200,000 applications, the executive said in an interview with CBS News‘ Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation. As companies cite AI for widespread layoffs, Moynihan acknowledges that many young people feel scared and uncertain about the future.

“My advice to those kids, if you ask them if they’re worried about, they say they’re worried about—these are kids that we hire, 200,000 applications, we hire 2000 people.” Moynihan added that “if you ask them if they’re scared, they say they are. And I understand that. But I say, harness it … It’ll be your world ahead of you,” Moynihan said.

“My advice to those kids, if you ask them if they’re worried about, they say they’re worried about—these are kids that we hire, 200,000 applications, we hire 2000 people.” Moynihan added that “if you ask them if they’re scared, they say they are. And I understand that. But I say, harness it … It’ll be your world ahead of you,” Moynihan said.

Moynihan said it’s too soon to say how AI will play out in the job market, but he hopes to use efficiencies created by the technology to invest in more growth.

Moynihan said it’s too soon to say how AI will play out in the job market, but he hopes to use efficiencies created by the technology to invest in more growth.

More...

The food pantry at Penn State Harrisburg saw an uptick in students during the fall semester. Aimee Wheeler, who oversees the pantry, says she expects this coming semester to be just as busy.

"I expect to see even more in January and February, because students will be coming back from winter break and be stocking up," Wheeler said.

About a year ago, she said the food pantry might have had about nine visitors in a week. But lately, it's been more like nine visitors in a single day.

"We've seen more students than ever," Wheeler said.

And it's not just Penn State Harrisburg.

"We're hearing that there [is] an uptick, an increase in visits and not enough resources to go around," said Renee Houle Catazano, a vice president at Swipe Out Hunger. The national nonprofit estimates that two in five college students face food insecurity, meaning they lack consistent access to nutritious foods.

Between the uncertainty of SNAP payments due to the government shutdown and the rising cost of living, Houle Catazano said many students feel financially strained.

More...

Nineteen states will raise their minimum wages to ring in the new year for 2026, with most of them reaching a rate of $15 per hour or higher.

Another 49 cities and counties across the country will also be hiking their wage floors on Jan. 1, according to a breakdown by the National Employment Law Project.

Even though the federal minimum wage remains just $7.25 per hour, a majority of states now require employers to pay a higher rate. New Year’s Day is the most common time for states to implement scheduled increases to their minimum wages, thanks to cost-of-living adjustments written into state laws.

The highest state minimums will come to Washington State, at $17.13 per hour; New York, which will mandate $17 in the New York City metro area; and New Jersey, which will require $18.92 for long-term care workers.

Alaska and Florida are scheduled to raise their wage floors later in 2026, to $14 and $15, respectively. Oregon will also hike its minimum wage next summer to a rate still to be determined.

More...

The Trump administration will resume garnishing wages from student loan borrowers in default in early 2026, the U.S. Education Department confirmed to NPR.

The move comes after a years-long pause in wage garnishment due to the pandemic.

"We expect the first notices to be sent to approximately 1,000 defaulted borrowers the week of January 7," a department spokesperson told NPR. The spokesperson said wage garnishment notices are expected to increase on a monthly basis throughout the year.

A borrower is in default when they have not made loan payments in more than 270 days. Once that happens, the federal government can try to collect on the debt by seizing tax refunds and Social Security benefits, and also by ordering an employer to withhold up to 15% of a borrower's pay. Borrowers should receive a 30-day notice from the Education Department before this wage garnishment begins.

Betsy Mayotte, the president and founder of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, says even though borrowers have expected this, the timing is unfortunate.

"It will coincide with the increase in health care costs for many of these defaulted borrowers," she said, referring to the premium increases for Affordable Care Act health insurance that kick in in 2026. "The two will almost certainly put significant economic strain on low and middle income borrowers."

More...

US prices rose 2.7% in the year to November, according to federal data released a day after Donald Trump claimed they were falling “very fast” on his watch.

The latest consumer price index, released on Wednesday morning, was down from 3% in September, and short of economists’ expectations of about 3.1% for last month.

It comes amid questions over the strength of the US economy. The longest US federal government shutdown in history halted collection of key data. There was no inflation report for October, and data was only collected for the second half of November.

In a live TV address on Tuesday night, Trump claimed prices were falling “rapidly”, despite evidence to the contrary. “I am bringing those high prices down, and bringing them down very fast,” the US president said.

Price growth, which surged in the US to its highest level in a generation three years ago amid economic disruption wrought by Covid, fell back sharply. It has stubbornly remained above standard levels, however, and after retreating to 2.3% in April, it has since climbed higher – amid persisting concerns around affordability.

More...

The job market continues to show signs of cooling.

U.S. employers added just 64,000 jobs in November, according to a delayed report from the Labor Department Tuesday, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.6% from 4.4% in September. That's the highest unemployment rate in more than four years.

The jobs report was initially set to come out earlier this month, but the government's ability to monitor the job market was hampered by the six-week federal shutdown.

https://www.npr.org/2025/12/16/nx-s1-5645023/jobs-employment-labor-marketThat delayed job tallies for October and November, both of which were released on Tuesday. The report showed the U.S. saw a net loss of 105,000 jobs in October. That was led by a large drop in the federal workforce, as 162,000 government workers who'd taken buyouts earlier in the year were officially dropped from the payrolls.

Furloughed federal workers were unable to conduct their usual survey of households in October, so the unemployment rate for that month remains unknown.

More...