Economy

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has launched a new website to centralize information about the New World Screwworm. Texas Public Radio's Marian Navarro reports a case was detected this fall in a Mexican city less than 70 miles from the Texas-Mexico border. City departments will be closed this Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving. Our Sean Ryan says offices and community centers will remain closed until Monday, but libraries and museums will resume normal hours over the weekend. A new national survey finds that nearly half of the 1,300 participating small business owners experienced a drop in profits this fall.

A national survey found the smallest business owners are feeling less confident as they close out the year. Inflation, tariffs and shifts in consumer spending are some of the reasons why.

Forty percent of babies in the U.S. are born to unmarried mothers. Increasingly, those moms are over 30, at a time when teen pregnancy has fallen off a cliff and births are declining for younger women.

Enrollment opens today for three programs from the USDA providing relief for farmers and ranchers affected by natural disasters in 2023 and 2024. Our Samantha Larned reports on the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program, the Milk Loss Program, and the On-Farm Stored Crop Loss Assistance Program. United Supermarkets will lay off more than 100 positions from the headquarters office in Lubbock, with gradual "restructuring" over the first few months of the new year.

Tech companies are pouring billions into AI chips and data centers. Increasingly, they are relying on debt and risky tactics. Financial analysts are worried there's a bubble that will soon pop.

Lubbock-based grocer United Supermarkets will lay off more than 100 positions from the headquarters office, according to a WARN notice submitted to the Texas Workforce Commission. The news comes as grocers and customers across Texas and the country have struggled with grocery prices.

The shift comes ahead of an election year and a stubborn sense of sticker shock for consumers.

Houston-area senator Brandon Creighton begins his tenure as the Texas Tech System’s new chancellor today. Our Brad Burt reports Creighton sat alongside Dr. Tedd Mitchell for the former chancellor's final board of regents meeting. Meanwhile, KERA’s Bill Zeeble reports international student enrollment in the U.S. is dropping, leading to a projected $1 billion revenue loss this fall.

Coffee has gotten a lot more expensive in the U.S. as tariffs seep into the price tag. Even as the Trump administration considers offering some tariff relief, that's putting a strain on roasters, who have no choice but to pass on some of the extra cost to coffee drinkers.

The House of Representatives was sent home for the duration of the government shutdown. Members returned to the Capitol Wednesday with a lot on their minds.