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Documents: Plant owners ‘willfully’ used ineligible workers

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Six of seven Mississippi chicken processing plants raided Wednesday were “willfully and unlawfully” employing people who lacked authorization to work in the United States, including workers wearing electronic monitoring bracelets at work for previous immigration violations, according to unsealed court documents. Federal investigators behind the biggest immigration raid in a decade relied on confidential informants inside the plants in addition to data from the monitoring bracelets to help make their case, according to the documents. The sworn statements ...

Stocks fall again on trade-war worries, capping a wild week

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks stumbled Friday as worries flared yet again that President Donald Trump’s trade war with China may be worsening. It was a fitting end to a wild week where markets zoomed down, up and down again as investors recalibrated by the minute how much the tensions will hurt the global economy. The S&P 500 dropped as much as 1.3% Friday after Trump said that it would be “fine” if a meeting on trade with China next month doesn’t happen, before nearly eliminating the loss. It dropped again in the final minutes of trading and ended the day at 2,918.65, down 19.44 ...

Business Briefs for Aug. 5

Hoffman & Brobst add two to staff Hoffman & Brobst, Certified Public Accountants, announce the additions of Amy Denson and Kirsti Bakker to the professional staff of its firm. Denson has an associate’s degree in accounting from Minnesota West. She has accounting experience in both the private and nonprofit sectors. Denson will be working in the accounting, auditing and tax preparation areas. Bakker is a graduate of Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D. She has experience is in both private and public accounting. Bakker is currently working to obtain her CPA certification. ...

July jobs report shows solid gains amid trade frictions

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers slowed their hiring in July but still added a solid 164,000 jobs to an economy that appears poised to extend its decade-long expansion. The unemployment rate remained at 3.7% for a second straight month, the government said Friday. Average hourly earnings rose 3.2% from a year ago, up from a 3% year-over-year gain in June. Though the pace of hiring has slowed this year, one reason is that a growing share of Americans already have jobs. Unemployment is near a half-century low. The overall U.S. economy remains on firm footing, and last month the ...

How Trump’s latest China tariffs could squeeze US consumers

WASHINGTON (AP) — The latest tariffs President Donald Trump plans to impose on Chinese goods would cost U.S. households an average of $200 a year, some economists estimate, and would start to bite consumers and retailers just as the holiday shopping season begins. That cost would come on top of the roughly $830 cost imposed per household from Trump's existing tariffs, according to a New York Federal Reserve analysis. Trump plans to tax $300 billion of Chinese imports at 10% starting in September with the goal of accelerating trade talks with Beijing to favor the United States. The ...

S&P 500 posts its worst week of 2019 as trade tensions flare

Investors rattled by President Donald Trump’s latest escalation in his trade war with China drove another round of selling on Wall Street Friday. The latest losses marked the fifth straight drop for the S&P 500 and the worst week of the year for the market just seven days after the benchmark index hit an all-time high. The selling picked up a day after Trump shocked markets by promising 10% tariffs on all the Chinese imports that haven’t already been hit with tariffs of 25%. China struck back Friday, saying it will take “necessary countermeasures” if Trump follows through ...