Daily Briefing: Is a 2023 recession coming?
The job market is expected to downshift significantly next year as the economy weakens amid high inflation. Also in the news: The House handed the Senate a short-term measure to extend federal funding for another week and avoid a government shutdown. France advances to the 2022 World Cup final against Argentina.
🙋🏼♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. You may notice today's edition looks a little different. We've got a new look here at Daily Briefing, and we're pretty excited about it! The scaffolding is still up, so please forgive any changes in the coming days.
Now, here we go with Thursday's headlines.
Companies brace for 2023 impact
Economists expect average monthly job growth to slow to just 76,000 in 2023 from booming gains of 562,000 in 2021 and 392,000 this year as the nation continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a November survey by the National Association of Business Economics (NABE).
One thing to know: The job market is expected to downshift significantly next year as the economy weakens amid high inflation.
Will some lingering momentum from catch-up hiring continue to prop up the labor market? It's not clear whether Fed rate increases and soaring inflation will finally take a bigger toll on hiring.
Should we brace for a recession? One expert predicts average monthly hiring increases of 76,000 in 2023 but a near flatlining of employment by midyear.
Why does the Fed raise interest rates? The Federal Reserve lifted its benchmark lending rate by a half percentage point yet again on Wednesday. Higher interest rates make borrowing more expensive for shoppers and companies, cooling demand with the aim of curbing inflation.
The latest on inflation: Inflation throttled back significantly for a second month in November as prices for goods that surged during the pandemic continued to dip. But inflation remained elevated as the cost of many services kept marching higher.
Tornado-battered homes in Louisiana, blizzard in North
More than 30 million Americans across the nation's northern tier were under winter weather advisories or warnings Wednesday while tornadoes swept the South as a deadly winter storm continued its damaging march through the country, killing at least three. Forecasters now expect the vast system to hobble the upper Midwest with ice, rain and snow for days, and also move into the central Appalachians and Northeast. Read more
Graphic explainer: Major winter storm to bring significant weather hazards across the U.S.
📷 Photo of the day: Intense winter storm blows across US with blizzards, ice storms and tornadoes 📷
Several injuries were reported following severe weather around Louisiana by authorities, and more than 40,000 power outages statewide as of Wednesday night. Click here to see photos as the vast and volatile storm system crosses from coast to coast.
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With a government shutdown looming, Congress buys one more week
The Senate is expected as early as Thursday to approve a short-term measure to extend federal funding another week, helping lawmakers buy more time to finish a broader, full-year spending package before a partial government shutdown takes effect midnight Friday. The House late Wednesday passed the measure, which would keep the lights on until midnight Dec. 23 and give negotiators a few more days to reach a final bipartisan agreement for the federal budget. Leading up to the vote to extend federal funding, lawmakers announced that they had reached an agreement over a roughly $1.7 trillion "framework" that would cover the entire 2023 fiscal year ending Sept. 30. Read more
The U.S. government sued Arizona, Gov. Doug Ducey over shipping containers on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Congress' 18-month investigation into Jan. 6 will soon close. Here's what we learned.
An end to chronic pain? Future treatment could look very different
The National Institutes of Health has devoted more than $600 million over the past three years to research methods of pain control that don't trigger addiction through its Helping to End Addiction Long-term strategy. None of these new approaches is likely to become available immediately. But over the next five to 10 years or more, experts say, pain treatment will look very different than it does today, with more effective medications, perhaps gene therapy to reverse persistent conditions and maybe even lightbulbs designed to provide relief. Read more in part 5 of a five-part USA TODAY series exploring chronic pain, the challenges of treatment and the scientific advances offering hope for the future.
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France advances to World Cup final with 2-0 win over Morocco
World Cup defending champions France beat Morocco 2-0 on goals from Theo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani. Morocco is the first African and Arab nation to reach a World Cup semifinal, and the Atlas Lions have become the tournament’s darling along the way. For much of the rest of the game, France had to hang on as Morocco created chance after chance. But Les Bleus finally gave themselves some breathing room in the 79th minute thanks to the brilliance of player Kylian Mbappe. Next up is a meeting in Sunday’s final against Argentina and its captain Lionel Messi, whose glittering résumé is only missing a World Cup title. France is the first defending champion to reach the final since Brazil in 1998.
When is the 2022 World Cup final? What to know for Lionel Messi, Argentina vs. France.
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Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note, shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com or follow along with her musings on Twitter. Support journalism like this – subscribe to USA TODAY here.
Associated Press contributed reporting.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Winter weather, inflation, recession, World Cup, "Harry & Meghan": Daily Briefing
