*By Michael Teich*
Wall Street applauded a better-than-expected June jobs report, sending the Dow Industrials Index nearly 100 points higher Friday.
Despite those numbers, though, the U.S. economy is still grappling with growing trade tensions with China and Europe. The Trump administration's tariffs officially went into effect early Friday morning as the U.S. followed through on its threat to impose taxes on $34 billion of Chinese imports. China promptly responded with a similarly seized tariffs on U.S. goods, including pork, soybeans, and electric vehicles.
If trade wars accelerate, "the downside risks outweigh the upside risks," said Mark Hamrick, Senior Economic Analyst, Bankrate.com.
"The trade disputes are having impacts that are real in the economy right now."
The U.S. added 213,000 jobs in June, topping the forecast of 195,000. It was the 93rd consecutive month of job growth. The unemployment rate, however, rose to 4 percent as more people returned to the job market searching for work.
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/u-s-job-growth-beats-expectations)
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
House Republicans in key battleground districts are working to contain the political fallout expected when thousands of their constituents face higher bills for health insurance coverage obtained through the Affordable Care Act. For a critical sliver of the GOP majority, the impending expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits after Dec. 31 could be a major political liability as they potentially face midterm headwinds in a 2026 election critical to President Donald Trump’s agenda. For Democrats, the party’s strategy for capturing the House majority revolves around pinning higher bills for groceries, health insurance and utilities on Republicans.
President Donald Trump says a deal struck by Netflix last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share. The Republican president says he will be involved in the decision about whether federal regulators should approve the deal. Trump commented Sunday when he was asked about the deal as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. The $72 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
The two-sentence footnote raised serious concerns about accuracy and credibility.
Real estate software company RealPage has agreed to stop sharing nonpublic information between landlords as part of a settlement with the Department of Justice.
