Things To Do In SW Florida

By Phillip Reese, KFF Health News

The health care sector is a bright spot in the economy this year, driving nearly half of the nation’s employment gains, but economists and experts say immigration crackdowns and looming Medicaid cuts pose a threat to future job growth.

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Employers added 487,000 jobs from January to August, according to the latest nonfarm payroll data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The health care sector accounted for 48% of that lackluster growth, expanding by about 232,000 jobs, even though the sector employs only about 11% of workers. read more

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — From Wall Street trading floors to the Federal Reserve to economists sipping coffee in their home offices, the first Friday morning of the month typically brings a quiet hush around 8:30 a.m. eastern as everyone awaits the Labor Department’s crucial monthly jobs report.

But with the government shut down, no information was released Friday about hiring in September.

The interruption in the data has occurred at a particularly uncertain time, when policymakers at the Federal Reserve and Wall Street investors would need more data on the economy, rather than less. Hiring has ground nearly to a halt, threatening to drag down the broader economy. Yet at the same time, consumers — particularly higher-income earners — are still spending and some businesses are ramping up investments in data centers developing artificial intelligence models. Whether that is enough to revive hiring remains to be seen.

It’s the first time since a government shutdown in 2013 that the jobs report has been delayed. During the 2018-2019 partial government closure, the Labor Department was one of several agencies that remained open because Congress had agreed to fund them. September’s jobs figures will be released eventually, once the shutdown ends. read more

By Jeff Ostrowski, Bankrate.com

Can you pay off your mortgage early?

The short answer is yes — you can pay off your mortgage early. This is referred to as prepaying a mortgage.

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Most mortgages don’t come with a prepayment penalty, so you can make extra payments or pay off the loan in full at any time without incurring a fee.

If you’re not sure whether your loan includes this fee — again, most don’t — refer to page one of your closing disclosure, or look for a section in your mortgage note related to the “right to prepay.” Alternatively, you can ask your mortgage servicer. read more

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Most U.S. stocks ticked higher on Friday, sending Wall Street to more records.

The S&P 500 edged up by less than 0.1% to close out its seventh winning week in the last nine, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 238 points, or 0.5%. Both added to their all-time highs set the day before. The Nasdaq composite lost an early gain and slipped 0.3% from its own record.

Usually, the first Friday of each month has Wall Street transfixed on the monthly jobs update that the U.S. government publishes. It shows how many jobs employers created and destroyed, while also updating the unemployment rate.

Such data is particularly important now, given how much on Wall Street is riding on the expectation that the job market is continuing to slow by enough to get the Federal Reserve to keep cutting interest rates. But the shutdown of the U.S. government, now in its third day, is delaying the release.

So far, the U.S. stock market has looked past such delays, including Thursday’s scheduled report on unemployment claims. read more

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS, MATT O’BRIEN and KELVIN CHAN, AP Business Writers

Apple and Google blocked downloads of phone apps that flag sightings of U.S. immigration agents, just hours after the Trump administration demanded that one particularly popular iPhone app be taken down.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said such tracking puts Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at risk. But users and developers of the apps say it’s their First Amendment right to capture what ICE is doing in their neighborhoods — and maintain that most users turn to these platforms in an effort to protect their own safety as President Donald Trump steps up aggressive immigration enforcement across the country.

ICEBlock, the most widely used of the ICE-tracking apps in Apple’s app store, is among the apps that have been taken down. Bondi said her office reached out to Apple on Thursday “demanding that they remove ICEBlock” and claiming that it “is designed to put ICE agents at risk just for doing their jobs.” read more