Data released Jan. 5 reinforced the strength of the labor market, with hiring at U.S. companies far exceeding expectations and applications for jobless benefits falling to a three-month low. Private payrolls increased 235,000 last month, led by small and medium-sized businesses, according to data from ADP Research Institute in collaboration with Stanford Digital Economy Lab. ...more
President Joe Biden on Jan. 4 visited the worn-out Brent Spence Bridge in Kentucky as part of the administration’s renewed push to highlight the bipartisan infrastructure law. On the same day, the Federal Highway Administration announced $2.1 billion in first-round grants to repair four “ecomonically significant” bridges. “I believe it sends an important message, an ...more
Multiple failed attempts in the House of Representatives to solidify Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as the next Speaker of the House prevented the GOP caucus from kicking off its legislative agenda on time, as every official function in chamber requires a signoff from the speaker. Without a speaker, elected officials could not be sworn in, ...more
LAS VEGAS — Mercedes-Benz says it will build its own worldwide electric vehicle charging network starting in North America in a bid to compete with EV sales leader Tesla. The German luxury automaker said at the CES gadget show in Las Vegas Jan. 5 that it will start building the North American network this year ...more
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued a proposed rule that establishes financial security requirements for freight forwarders, taking further action on legislation that stretches back more than a decade. The rule defines freight forwarders as “primarily those entities that assume responsibility for the transportation from the place of receipt to the place of ...more
Colonial Pipeline Co. halted operations on a critical conduit that supplies fuel to the U.S. Northeast, the latest disruption to energy flows following an outage on the Keystone oil pipeline in December. Some product was released at Colonial’s Witt delivery station near Danville, Va., prompting the shutdown of its Line 3 Jan. 3, spokeswoman Meredith ...more
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd.’s share of the electric vehicle battery market continues to grow, according to the latest data from Seoul-based SNE Research, which show the Chinese company accounted for 37.1% of global sales in the first 11 months of 2022. CATL sold a total of 165.7 gigawatt-hours of batteries in the January-November period, ...more
U.S. manufacturing activity contracted for a second month in December, capping the steepest annual slide in the key factory gauge since 2008 and helping to further tame price pressures. The Institute for Supply Management’s gauge of factory activity fell to 48.4 last month, the lowest level since May 2020 and down from 49 in November, ...more
Drivewyze and Bestpass Inc. have joined forces so fleets can better leverage their toll management and weigh station bypass services, the companies announced Jan. 4. Bestpass provides toll payment and management options for commercial fleets. Drivewyze operates a connected truck services platform and weigh station bypass network. Their partnership is intended to streamline their services ...more
Efforts to improve the Brent Spence Bridge in northern Kentucky took a step forward on Jan. 4 when President Joe Biden announced a nearly $1.4 billion grant toward the Brent Spence Bridge project. The project will separate I-75 traffic from local traffic as well as rehabilitate and reconfigure the bridge, and it was first announced ...more
