EDG News

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A federal appeals court has temporarily paused enforcement of a trade court's ruling that struck down global reciprocal tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump’s administration. White House officials said the government may seek permanent relief from the Supreme Court.

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Biotech job reductions continue to mount in 2025, with Genentech and Vertex Pharmaceuticals announcing cuts even as several global life science companies plan significant investments in new U.S. manufacturing plants.

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April’s construction employment increased from a year earlier in more than half of the nation’s metropolitan regions, but contractors face lingering challenges finding qualified workers and dealing with economic uncertainties affecting material costs.

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April’s total U.S. construction spending slid 0.4% from the prior month, with declines reported for both residential and nonresidential projects, according to the latest Commerce Department figures. The latest number for total spending was also 0.5% lower than a year earlier at a time of uncertainty for builders related to financing and material costs.

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Consumer sentiment increased for the first time in six months in a closely watched national survey by the University of Michigan as concerns eased over the effects of recently imposed and pending tariffs on goods imported from multiple countries.

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April’s overall consumer spending increased by a slight 0.2% — or $47.8 billion — from the prior month, according to the latest Commerce Department figures. Personal income rose 0.8% for the month.

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Healthcare and hospitality were among top gainers as the U.S. added a better-than-expected 139,000 public and private jobs in May, the Labor Department reported. The unemployment rate was unchanged from April’s 4.2%, though the overall pace of new hiring continued to slow from year-earlier levels.

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Real estate groups were among business organizations lauding provisions of a sweeping tax bill passed early Thursday by the U.S. House of Representatives by a slim 215-214 vote and sent to the Senate. But at least one builder organization cautioned against the bill’s proposed early termination of certain clean-energy tax credits.

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U.S. residential construction starts rose 1.6% in April from the prior month, though the latest data showed new building permits declined 4.7% at a time of widespread uncertainty among builders and potential buyers.

NorthPoint Development buys 11 warehouses in Elgin, Illinois

A Missouri investor has paid $270 million for a portfolio of warehouses west of Chicago, a massive deal that followed a high volume of sales in the first quarter of this year.

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The U.S. annual inflation rate was 2.4% in May, rising slightly from 2.3% in April, as lingering trade tariff matters continued to have limited effects so far on overall consumer prices. The Labor Department Wednesday said the shelter category that includes rents and other housing expenses continued to have the biggest impact on costs.

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Consumers now have lower expectations about the future direction of inflation, after weeks of concerns about the effects of imposed and pending trade tariffs, according to the latest national survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

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U.S. consumer inflation reached an annual rate of 2.3% in April, down from 2.4% in the prior month and the lowest level since February 2021, according to the latest Labor Department data. Analysts remained concerned about potential future effects of trade tariffs on consumer prices, as the Federal Reserve seeks assurance that inflation remains on track to reach its target of 2% before it gets back to reducing interest rates.

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Tech giant Microsoft added more than 300 to its previously announced workforce reductions, even as the larger economy showed signs of improvement regarding job openings.

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April’s U.S. sales of newly built single-family homes rose by a better-than-expected 10.9% from the prior month and increased 3.3% from a year earlier, providing some positive news to builders after earlier reports showed flattening sales for existing single-family homes.

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Big-city office traffic staged a post-Memorial Day rebound in the week ended June 4, with 10 tracked regions averaging 54.3% of their pre-pandemic attendance in the latest tracking by Kastle Systems. That was up from 51% in the prior week and came close to the peak 54.5% posted in the week ended March 5.

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Private-sector firms in the U.S. added 37,000 jobs in May, the lowest tally in more than two years, according to the latest report from payroll services provider ADP and Stanford University’s Digital Economy Lab. Despite economic uncertainties, average annual pay growth held steady at 4.5%.

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Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble plans to reduce its workforce by about 7,000 over the next two years as part of a restructuring, citing slowing sales and rising costs expected to be exacerbated by tariffs. The news arrived as outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that U.S.-based employers announced 93,816 job cuts in May, down 12% from the prior month but up 47% from a year earlier.

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April’s U.S. retail sales edged up 0.1% from the prior month but increased 5.2% from a year earlier, as food services and motor vehicles posted some of the biggest gains in a climate of tariff-related uncertainty.

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Retailer Target blamed tariff uncertainty and falling consumer confidence among other factors as the operator of nearly 2,000 stores reported a 3.8% annual drop in same-store sales and a nearly 3% decline in total sales for its latest quarter.

Along with KDOT receiving top honors for Longmeadow Parkway from APWA Chicago Metro Chapter, Thomas Rickert, KDOT’s Deputy Director and Chief of Staff, was recently awarded the 2025 APWA Professional Manager of the Year –Administrative Management for his service to Kane County and the broader Chicagoland metro area as evidenced by 37 years of leadership for Kane County, the Kane Kendall Council of Mayors as Executive Director, APWA, and CMAP serving on regional committees.

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A rise in U.S. Treasury bond yields, after Moody’s downgraded the nation’s credit rating, added to a string of events upsetting financial markets at a time of rising uncertainty about the economy stirred largely by trade tariff and inflation worries.

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U.S. consumer confidence posted an unexpected rebound in the latest May survey by the Conference Board, after a surge in pessimism over potential tariff-related inflation in the economic research group’s April survey.

US reduces China tariffs; Data center demand escalates; Consumer credit access slows

Stock markets and business leaders were cheered Monday after the White House announced an agreement pausing certain U.S.-imposed trade tariffs on China for 90 days. Talks were slated to continue as the U.S. tentatively agreed to reduce its tariff on imported Chinese goods from 145% to 30%, as China scales back its fee on U.S. goods from 125% to 10%.

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President Donald Trump’s administration has directed immigration officials to pause raids on farms, hotels, restaurants and meatpacking plants, after leaders of those industries warned of worker shortages caused by roundups and deportations of noncitizens.