Borrowers, future borrowers, and investors could have reason to appreciate a significant revision of the nation’s employment numbers. The leader of one of the country’s largest financial institutions believes that we may have escaped a nationwide recession. One state’s supreme court ruling could have a significant impact on a private company’s ability to use eminent domain for its pipeline project. And fried insects are on the menu for an annual Midwest celebration.
Job Revisions:
Employment numbers for the country are not quite as strong as previously reported, and that may give one more reason for the Federal Reserve Board to reduce borrowing rates during its next scheduled meeting on September 17th and 18th.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said actual nonfarm job growth was almost 30% lower than previously reported with the biggest changes occurring in the professional and business services sectors.
No Recession Prediction:
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan no longer believes that the United States is headed toward a recession soon. Last year, his research team thought there could be one in the short-term.
Consumer spending is half of what it was a year ago: 3% in 2024 vs. 6% in 2023, he said.
Bank of America predicts that the Fed will cut interest rates once during next month’s meeting and again during December’s meeting. BOA expects four rate cuts in 2025.
The overall prediction could mean that the Fed successfully navigated – albeit, not without financial pain – the “soft landing” of cooling off the U.S. economy following the influx of pandemic aid without pushing the country into recession.
Carbon Pipeline Company Court Loss:
Landowners in several states are now watching what happens next after the South Dakota Supreme Court ruled that an Iowa-based company did not have authority to perform surveys for a carbon sequestration pipeline project without first having the permission of the landowners.
The ruling sends the case back to a lower court.
The state supreme court ruled that Summit Carbon Solutions lacked “common carrier” status for its multi-billion-dollar pipeline project that the company has contended will make ethanol production more environmentally friendly by capturing carbon dioxide emissions, transporting the emissions through underground pipelines (through South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota), and eventually emptying into an underground storage facility in North Dakota.
The company wants to be considered a common carrier – an entity that provides transport services for goods or people to the public for a fee – so that it can use eminent domain to get access on unwilling landowners’ property. The lack of that authority could threaten the Summit Carbon Solutions’ plans that it designed for the five-state region.
KSFY-TV in Sioux Falls, South Dakota explains the court decision and has a response from Summit Carbon Solutions. Watch that here.
Air-Fried Cicadas
Maybe you think eating bugs can satisfy vegetarians, perhaps you think raising bugs would be a cheap protein source, or possibly you just want to sample something different. At Bug Village, an annual celebration at Iowa State University in Ames, they plan to serve air-fried, Iowa-raised cicadas.
RELATED: American Farmland Owner reported on the expected one trillion cicadas that were expected to descend on parts of the United States and stink up the place. This story describes the two types of broods and why they are arriving this year.
Ginny Mitchell, Iowa State University’s Insect Zoo education program coordinator, road-tripped when cicadas arrived in the eastern part of the state and captured hundreds of the insects. She plans to air-fry the creatures and sprinkle them with seasoning before serving them to visitors.
Bug Village takes place in Ames on August 24th and 25th.
RELATED: Radio Iowa has an interview with Mitchell and the details of the Bug Village celebration. Read that here.
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