Hill Country News

A "Help Wanted" sign is posted beside coronavirus safety guidelines in front of a restaurant in Los Angeles on May 28, 2021. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images/TNS)

Jobless rate falls in nearly every US state with 12 at record lows

The unemployment rate fell last month in more than half of U.S. states, including in 12 where jobless rates dropped to record lows. Nebraska and Utah, with unemployment at 2.1%, tied for the … more

Alex Tanzi, Bloomberg News (TNS) | 3/29/22

Cedar Park, TX, March 18, 2022: Workers use an excavator to clear demolition debris from the site of a former retail and office center along Bell Boulevard in Cedar Park to make way for the Bell District Redevelopment Project.

MAKING WAY: Demolition, land clearing underway as Bell Boulevard realignment, redevelopment projects progress

Workers use an excavator to clear demolition debris on March 18 from the site of a former retail and office center on Bell Boulevard in Cedar Park to make way for the Bell District Redevelopment … more

3/23/22

Sarah Bloom Raskin is sworn in before a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on Feb. 3, 2022, in Washington, D.C. Progressives had pinned their hopes on Raskin — who on Tuesday withdrew from consideration to become the top U.S. banking regulator — to help bring about an era of much tougher oversight for the nation’s largest lenders. (Bill Clark/Pool/AFP via Getty Images/TNS)

Wall Street gets reprieve from fed crackdown as Raskin bows out

Wall Street is getting a major reprieve from tougher oversight after President Joe Biden’s pick to be the top U.S. banking regulator ran aground. Progressives had pinned their hopes on Sarah … more

Ben Bain and Max Reyes, Bloomberg News (TNS) | 3/15/22

A "We're Hiring" sign is displayed in the window of a store in Washington, DC, on Feb. 2, 2022. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images/TNS)

US job gains accelerate while wage growth slows sharply

U.S. hiring boomed in February while wage growth slowed, showing a strong labor market that likely keeps the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates this month while offering some respite … more

Reade Pickert, Bloomberg News (TNS) | 3/4/22

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks on Capitol Hill, on Jan. 11, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool/Getty Images/TNS)

Powell backs quarter-point March rate hike, open to doing more

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell backed a quarter-point interest-rate hike this month to commence a series of increases and didn’t rule out a larger move at some stage, despite uncertainty … more

Craig Torres, Bloomberg News (TNS) | 3/2/22

Even with Google, knowing stuff is crucial to basic reasoning

What’s the difference between socialism and communism? How does global warming occur? What’s an economy of scale? Easily Google-able questions — and parents’ own unhappy … more

Arianne Cohen, Rate.com (TNS) | 1/30/22

In some cases, it can be difficult to know whether a charge is unauthorized or "fraudulent," or whether it’s your issue to deal with. (Dreamstime/TNS)

Why you can be on the hook for credit card charges you didn’t make — and how to avoid it

Imagine you connect a credit card to a game on your child’s phone for convenience. A few weeks later, you find out thousands in charges were processed to your card in a matter of … more

Holly D. Johnson, Bankrate.com (TNS) | 1/30/22

A street performer, masked for COVID protocol, plays violin as a part of the Merry Menagerie troupe at Disney's Animal Kingdom, Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021. Walt Disney World's four Florida theme parks filled to near-capacity for the New Year's Eve holiday, in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. As of Thursday afternoon, Animal Kingdom was the only park showing available reservations for ticket holders, Disney resort guests and annual passholders for New Year's Eve, Jan. 31. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS)

Theme parks saw changes — big time — in 2021

Orlando’s theme parks had a big year even while coping with a global crisis or two. Attractions debuted, returned from hiatus, celebrated birthdays and shifted the ways we experience them. Here … more

Dewayne Bevil, Orlando Sentinel (TNS) | 1/28/22

Canadian pacific railway tracks along the Mississippi River south of Dubuque, Iowa. The Soo Green Line would run through Iowa and Illinois along the Canadian Pacific right of way. (Adam Wineke/Dreamstime/TNS)

Unique underground power line would send renewable energy from Midwest to eastern markets

The Soo Green Line would be a unique addition to the U.S. electricity grid. Running along a railroad corridor, the big underground power line would ship low-cost renewable energy from the Upper … more

Mike Hughlett, Star Tribune (TNS) | 1/28/22

Betsy Berkhemer-Credaire, CEO of 50/50 Women on Boards, in the Tom Bradley Conference Room at City Club LA in downtown Los Angeles on Sept. 3, 2021. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

California outlawed the all-white-male boardroom. That move is reshaping corporate America

When Dr. Maria Rivas joined the board of a medical tech firm called Medidata a few years ago, she was a novelty: The company had never had a woman in that role. Medidata was no … more

Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times (TNS) | 1/27/22

Jonathan Contreras, 28, adds gray coloring, to be mixed in with ground up rubber to make rubber tiles at U.S. Rubber Recycling in Colton, California. Contreras is a former felon. Employers, now facing severe labor shortages, are starting to tap into hiring former felons. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

Once shunned, people convicted of felonies find more employers open to hiring them

In the 25 years that U.S. Rubber Recycling in Colton, California, has been grinding up old tires to create new products, its sales have never ballooned so fast as during the COVID-19 pandemic. As … more

Don Lee, Los Angeles Times (TNS) | 1/26/22

The Institute for Supply Management’s gauge of December factory activity fell to 58.7, the lowest level since January 2021, from 61.1 in the prior month, according to data released Tuesday. (Dreamstime/TNS)

US manufacturing gauge falls while price pressures ease

A measure of U.S. manufacturing fell short of expectations at the end of 2021, reflecting declines in gauges of delivery times and prices that belie an otherwise solid demand picture. The … more

Reade Pickert, Bloomberg News (TNS) | 1/26/22

A ''Now Hiring" sign hangs above the entrance to a McDonald's restaurant on Nov. 5, 2021, in Miami Beach, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images/TNS)

How scammers are trapping those who are hunting for jobs

Adam Garfield-Turner thought he had a lead on a good job. All he had to do was find people who needed to borrow cash and he'd get paid money to make those connections. The pay? He was supposed to … more

Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press (TNS) | 1/25/22

TurboTax has exited the IRS' Free File program. (Sharaf Maksumov/Dreamstime/TNS)

Want to file your tax return for free? TurboTax opts out of major program

TurboTax — which has been criticized for some sketchy tactics when it came to providing online access free of charge through the IRS site — is now shocking taxpayers by informing them … more

Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press (TNS) | 1/24/22

Fintech startups — which include all kinds of companies aiming to disrupt lending, saving, payments and more — raised $94.7 billion over the first three quarters in 2021, according to CB Insights. (Dreamstime/TNS)

These are the 5 biggest consumer fintech trends to watch for in 2022

It’s never been hotter to be a fintech brand. Fintech startups — which include all kinds of companies aiming to disrupt lending, saving, payments and more — raised $94.7 billion … more

Mary Wisniewski, Bankrate.com (TNS) | 1/23/22

In California, you can’t be sued for consumer debt older than four years. But making even a partial payment can restart the debt clock. (Kawee Srital On/Dreamstime/TNS)

Not all debt is collectable. Be mindful of the statute of limitations

Some businesses and debt collectors may want you to think your financial obligations will trouble you forever unless you come across with some cash. What they don't usually tell you is there are … more

David Lazarus, Los Angeles Times (TNS) | 1/23/22

Over the past year, Black workers in so-called “knowledge” roles, like graphic design or data analysis, are more likely to say they’ve been treated more fairly, value their co-workers more and feel more supported by management, according to a survey by the Future Forum, a research consortium created by software maker Slack Technologies. (Dreamstime/TNS)

Remote work has vastly improved the Black worker experience

Working remotely has its downsides: Cramped apartments, endless Zoom calls, juggling child care duties. But for many Black workers in white-collar jobs, getting out of the office has resulted in a … more

Matthew Boyle, Bloomberg News (TNS) | 1/22/22

The Chrysler Airflow Concept at CES 2022. (Stellantis/TNS)

Chrysler to go all-electric by 2028, target millennial women

The Chrysler brand will abandon gas-powered vehicles for a bigger, all-electric lineup with SUVs by 2028 in its attempt to stave off demise at the end of the decade. The Stellantis NV make on … more

Breana Noble, The Detroit News (TNS) | 1/21/22

The Amazon Spheres are the visual symbol of Amazon's downtown Seattle campus. (Kjell Redal/Seattle Times/TNS)

Amazon is focus of push to curb ‘rank-and-yank’ worker ratings

For years, white-collar employees at Amazon.com Inc. have accused the company of using opaque “rank-and-yank” performance reviews to periodically cull its workforce. Now a proposed … more

Spencer Soper, Bloomberg News (TNS) | 1/21/22

The Internal Revenue Service building is in Washington, D.C. Many 2019 tax returns filed on paper have not been processed yet, leading to complications for those filing their 2020 returns. (Chuck Myers/TNS)

Tax-efficient investing: 7 ways to minimize taxes and keep more of your profits

If you’re an investor, be sure to give special attention to the taxes you’ll have to pay on your investments. In many cases, you have ways to legally reduce, defer or even eliminate taxes … more

James Royal, Bankrate.com (TNS) | 1/20/22

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