Headline News from The Associated Press
AP Headline News - Jul 05 2024 22:00 (EDT)
AP News for Friday, July 5th. I'm Ben Thomas. President Biden's been addressing his dismal debate performance in an exclusive interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos. "It was a bad episode, not only in the case of any serious condition I was exhausted. I didn't listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and a bad night." Initial results from Iran's presidential runoff shows the reformist candidate with a widening lead. Sparrow has been moving across Mexico's Yucatan as a tropical storm, but it's expected to regain hurricane strength as it moves back into the Gulf of Mexico. National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan says Texas will be feeling it by Sunday. "This is the time now if you're in the hurricane or storm surge watch area to protect your home, put up your shutters, cover your windows, be ready to secure your doors, loose items. Determine if you're going to have to go to a shelter if you're asked to evacuate. Know what your sheltering options are. Keep in mind your pets, your friends, your neighbors, your loved ones, other folks who might need help evacuating or otherwise preparing for the storm." Your employers added a solid 206,000 jobs in June. Shelley Adler has a closer look. "Do you remember that soft landing the Federal Reserve was trying to accomplish? Well, Gus Fosche at PNC Financial Services Group says the June numbers show they're getting there." "This is close to what the Fed wants to see. I think we have a good solid economy with slowing inflation and that's what everybody wants." But it's still too soon for the Fed to start cutting interest rates. "We did get some better inflation numbers for May, but they want to see a few months of better inflation numbers. That being said, I expect we will get those and we will see the Fed start to cut the Fed funds rate towards the end of this year with more than one interest rate cut in 2024." The unemployment rate did tick up from 4 percent to a still very low 4.1 percent. I'm Shelley Adler. The report helped feed the ongoing rally on Wall Street. The Dow, S&P and the Nasdaq all had winning weeks. The S&P and the Nasdaq at new highs. This is AP News. Air travel's getting more miserable. That's the verdict from travelers based on the number of complaints found with the U.S. government last year. Jackie Quinn has numbers. "The Transportation Department says it received nearly 97,000 complaints in 2023. That's about 11,000 more than the previous year. More than two-thirds were about U.S. airlines, but foreign carriers had their share too. The increase came as airlines canceled far fewer flights. There was a 25 percent increase in complaints over the treatment of passengers with disabilities and more reports of discrimination. The Transportation Department says it is modernizing its complaint-taking system, which should help the agency do a better job overseeing the airline industry. I'm Jackie Quinn. And I'm Ben Thomas, AP News.