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1 Fed Cuts Interest Rates For Second Time In 2025
The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point yesterday, lowering its benchmark rate to a range of 3.75-percent to 4-percent. Fed Chair Jerome Powell surprised markets by saying another rate cut in December is not guaranteed. Markets had been expecting another cut in December, but after Powell's comments, traders lowered their bets on that happening. The Fed has been dealing with a difficult situation because the government shutdown has stopped the release of most economic data. Powell said officials are concerned about the weakening job market, even though they don't have complete data. The Fed also announced it will end its quantitative tightening program on December 1st.
2 Hurricane Melissa Kills At Least 30 People Across Jamaica, Haiti, And The Dominican Republic
After carving a path of destruction through Jamaica, Hurricane Melissa hit eastern Cuba early yesterday morning as an extremely dangerous Category 3 storm with winds of 115 mph. The hurricane made landfall near the city of Chivirico after slamming into Jamaica with 185 mph winds on Tuesday, making it one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded. In Jamaica, officials reported extensive damage, especially in the southern and southwestern areas. More than half a million customers lost power, and the storm damaged four hospitals, forcing officials to move 75 patients. Jamaica hopes to reopen its airports today to bring in emergency supplies. The hurricane has already killed seven people across the Caribbean, three in Jamaica, three in Haiti, and one in the Dominican Republic, with one person still missing.
3 Shutdown Continues As SNAP Clock Is Ticking
The government shutdown has now entered its fifth week with no end in sight. Democrats and Republicans are stuck in their positions as important deadlines get closer. Food assistance through SNAP for 42 million Americans is set to run out on Saturday without more funding, and on Tuesday, 25 states and Washington D.C. sued the Trump administration over plans to withhold SNAP benefits. The Senate failed for the 13th time to pass a Republican bill to end the shutdown, with Democrats still refusing to support it. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the administration can't legally move money around to keep SNAP funded, even though they found ways to pay military members, and Vice President JD Vance said the administration found a way to pay troops this Friday, but didn't explain how. Senate .