Business Briefs – October 18, 2018

Job Growth Is Found to Be No Cure for a Community’s Poverty

BALTIMORE (AP) – A healthy dose of job growth has long been seen as a likely cure for poverty. But new research suggests that poor Americans are frequently left behind even when their cities or communities benefit from hiring booms. That is among the findings of a study led by Raj Chetty, a Harvard economist whose newly launched Opportunity Atlas found no association between job growth and economic mobility for poor residents of the affected areas.

China’s Yuan Sinks Further After U.S. Currency Report

BEIJING (AP) – China’s politically sensitive yuan has sunk to a 22-month low against the dollar after the U.S. Treasury chose not to label Beijing a currency manipulator amid a mounting tariff battle. The yuan dipped to 6.9411 per dollar, the closest it has come to breaking the symbolic level of seven to the greenback since December 2016. That helps exporters cope with U.S. tariffs of up to 25 percent imposed in a fight over Beijing’s technology policy.

U.S. Stocks Typically Ride Midterm Elections to Solid Gains

NEW YORK (AP) – Regardless of how midterm elections turn out, Wall Street usually ends up a big winner. The S&P 500 index has climbed in the 12 months after each of the midterm elections going back to 1946. Even so, the outcome of the Nov. 6 elections may have policy implications that could affect the market. That’s if anything ends up getting done. Should the Democrats wrest control of either the House of Representatives or the Senate, Washington could be facing two years of gridlock, analysts say.

China ‘Regrets’ U.S. Leaving Postal Union Amid Trade Dispute

BEIJING (AP) – China says it regrets the U.S. decision to leave the United Nations treaty that regulates international postage, amid a worsening trade dispute between the world’s top two economies. Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Thursday the move should not be linked to China, despite arguments that the arrangement benefits manufacturers from China and other countries by making it cheaper to ship packages from Beijing to New York than from San Francisco to the U.S. East coast.

American Express Profits Jump 22 Percent, Beating Forecasts

NEW YORK (AP) — American Express said its third quarter profits jumped by 22 percent from a year earlier, as the credit card giant benefited from a lower tax rate and increased spending on the company’s credit cards. American Express card users spent $294.7 billion on their cards globally last quarter, an 8 percent jump from a year earlier.