Things To Do In SW Florida

Universal Orlando has revealed a design change in its employee name tags that reflects the upcoming addition of Epic Universe theme park.

The new look features iconic symbols of its parks across the bottom, including the Islands of Adventure lighthouse, a volcano for Volcano Bay water park, the Universal globe, the chronos for Epic and the arches of Universal Studios.

Top and center remains the Universal Orlando globe logo, which is flanked by stars. Team members’ first names and their hometowns are centered below.

The name tags will be given to employees in early 2025, Universal Orlando announced Tuesday.  A video posted on social media showed multiple workers with new tags in various resort locations. Among them was Karen Irwin, president and chief operating officer of Universal Orlando.

Epic Universe is scheduled to open near the Orange County Convention Center on May 22.

dbevil@orlandosentinel.com

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, AP Business Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumers stepped up their spending at retail stores last month, providing a boost to the economy in the early phases of the winter holiday shopping season.

Retail sales rose 0.7% in November, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, a solid increase and higher than October’s 0.5% gain. Sales jumped 2.6% at auto dealers, driving most of the gain. Some of that demand likely reflected a need for new cars in parts of the southeast slammed by Hurricane Helene in October, as well as healthy incentives provided by car dealers. Big discounts at many retail chains also attracted some consumers.

The boost in spending underscores that the economy is still growing at a healthy pace even with higher interest rates, a trend that could cause the Federal Reserve to lower borrowing costs more slowly next year than they have previously signaled. The Fed will announce its latest rate decision Wednesday.

At the same time, there were some signs of consumer caution, as sales at grocery stores, clothing shops, and restaurants fell. Outside of car dealers and online retailers, sales gains were modest. read more

By Elizabeth Ayoola, NerdWallet

The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. NerdWallet, Inc. does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks, securities or other investments.

If you have a family, you likely have multiple savings goals — saving for your kid’s college education, putting money away for retirement and budgeting for your next family vacation.

There isn’t one cookie cutter way to approach family savings, but there are some fundamentals that can help guide your process. Finance professionals and moms share some tips that can help you get started.

Plan a money date to assess your finances

Doing a financial edition of ‘your year in review’ can be a first step to approaching family savings in 2025. Plan a money date with your partner — or a solo date — and bring your statements and account snapshots along. The goal here is to assess your finances from the preceding year so you know how to move forward in 2025. read more

By MARK SHERMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — TikTok on Monday asked the Supreme Court to step in on an emergency basis to block the federal law that would ban the popular platform in the United States unless its China-based parent company agreed to sell it.

Lawyers for the company and China-based ByteDance urged the justices to step in before the law’s Jan. 19 deadline. A similar plea was expected from content creators who rely on the platform for income and some of TikTok’s more than 170 million users in the U.S.

“A modest delay in enforcing the Act will create breathing room for this Court to conduct an orderly review and the new Administration to evaluate this matter — before this vital channel for Americans to communicate with their fellow citizens and the world is closed,” lawyers for the companies told the Supreme Court.

President-elect Donald Trump, who once supported a ban but then pledged during the campaign to “save TikTok,” said his administration would take a look at the situation. read more

Nada Hassanein | (TNS) Stateline.org

If President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his pledge to deport millions of immigrants, it could upend the economies of states where farming and other food-related industries are crucial — and where labor shortages abound.