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The US economy grew a stellar 4.9% from July through September, driven by robust consumer spending despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to slow the economy with high-interest rates.

Thursday’s estimate from the Commerce Department showed that the nation’s gross domestic product — the broadest gauge of the economy’s total output of goods and services — was the fastest quarterly advance in nearly two years.

Last quarters robust GDP growth was far above the 2.1% growth rate in the April-to-June quarter.

Despite inflation, the Commerce Department reported that Americans drove the economy by stepping up their spending, splashing out on everything from movies and Taylor Swift concert tickets to restaurant meals.

However, the economy is expected to experience a steady slowdown in the current October-to-December quarter and into early 2024, especially if the Fed implements another interest rate hike and the housing market remains sluggish.

A recent survey by CNBC-Morning Consult showed just that, with more than three-quarters of respondents, 76%, saying they plan to be frugal through the holidays.

Of the 4,403 US adults polled last month, 62% said they plan on budgeting sometimes or more often in the upcoming six months, CNBC found — during retailers all-important holiday shopping season.

On top of sky-high borrowing rates currently plaguing the housing market — the average long-term rate hit 8% for the first time since 2000 last week, per Mortgage Daily News — some 30 million Americans began repaying student loans, which could slow their ability to spend in the fourth quarter.

Those loan repayments had been suspended since the pandemic first struck three years ago.

Brisk consumer spending typically leads companies those that sell physical goods as well as those, like restaurants and entertainment venues, in the economys vast service sector to raise prices, thereby fueling inflation.

Fed officials have acknowledged the pickup in growth, which could potentially undercut their efforts to fight inflation, which rose 3.7% in September.

Last month’s advance was more than economists expected — and a sharp decline from June 2022’s four-decade high of 9.1% — though it’s still well above central bankers’ 2% goal.

A blockbuster September employment report revealed that the US economy added a whopping 336,000 jobs last month an unexpected surge that contradicts the notion the Fed may tamp down its aggressive tightening regime.

However, it still remains unclear whether the latest GDP figure will have much impact on the Fed’s upcoming Nov. 1 decision on interest rates, which officials have suggested may increase one more time ahead of the new year.

Fed Chari Jerome Powell said in a discussion at the Economic Club of New York last week: “We certainly have a very resilient economy on our hands.”

“Many forecasts called for the US economy to be in recession this year. Not only has that not happened; growth is now running for this year above its longer-run trend. So thats been a surprise,” he added.

If those trends continue, it could allow the Fed to achieve a highly sought-after soft landing, in which the central bank would manage to slow inflation to its 2% target without causing a deep recession.

At the same time, Powell has suggested that if the economy keeps growing robustly, the Fed might have to raise rates further. Its benchmark short-term rate — which affects the rates on many consumer and business loans — currently sits between 5.25% and 5.5%, a 22-year high.

Last month, Fed officials unanimously decided to hold the record-high rate steady for the second time in six policy meetings so far this year.

“Additional evidence of persistently above-trend growth could put further progress on inflation at risk and could warrant further tightening of monetary policy,” Powell said last week.

With Post wires.

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Rapper Ghetts facing new charges after allegedly causing death by dangerous driving

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Rapper Ghetts facing new charges after allegedly causing death by dangerous driving

The rapper Ghetts, who allegedly caused the death of a man in a hit-and-run collision, is facing further charges.

The rapper was charged at the end of last month after a 20-year-old died in a road incident in northeast London.

The musician, whose real name is Justin Clarke-Samuel, initially faced a single count of causing the death of Yubin Tamang by dangerous driving.

He now faces two further charges of driving dangerously before and after the collision on 18 October.

It is alleged he drove dangerously in Tavistock Place, in the Bloomsbury area of central London, and on other roads in the borough of Camden, north London.

The collision with Mr Tamang occurred in Redbridge Lane, Ilford, at 11.33pm on 18 October, the Met Police said. Clarke-Samuel is accused of failing to stop after his BMW hit the victim.

Mr Tamang died on 20 October.

More on Ghetts

Clarke-Samuel allegedly continued to drive dangerously in Worcester Crescent, Redbridge, on the journey back to his home in King’s Avenue, Woodford, east London.

The black BMW, which is allegedly registered and insured in the defendant’s name, was said to have suffered significant damage.

The rapper has been in custody since a preliminary appearance at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court on 27 October.

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On Monday, he appeared at the Old Bailey by videolink from Pentonville prison and spoke to confirm his name.

Mr Tamang’s family watched in the court, having travelled to the UK from Nepal.

Adjourning the case, Judge Nigel Lickley KC said Clarke-Samuel could appear in court by videolink again next time as he remanded him in custody.

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D-II Eastern New Mexico hires Art Briles as coach

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D-II Eastern New Mexico hires Art Briles as coach

Art Briles has been hired as the next coach at Eastern New Mexico, a Division II program, as he makes his return to college football after nearly a decade.

Briles, 69, has not worked at a college program since being fired as Baylor’s head coach in 2016 following a review of the university’s handling of sexual assault allegations made against several football players. He since has had stints coaching for Guelfi Firenze in the Italian Football League and at Mount Vernon High School in Texas from 2019 to 2020.

“I am excited to welcome Art to Eastern New Mexico University,” Eastern New Mexico athletic director Kevin Fite said in a statement Monday. “He is an excellent coach, and I look forward to the future of Greyhound football.”

In 2022, Grambling State attempted to hire Briles as offensive coordinator, but following a backlash, he told the school just four days later that he would not pursue the role, saying he didn’t want to be a distraction to the team. A similar situation occurred in 2017 with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League, who tried to hire Briles but then pulled their offer on the same day amid backlash.

Fite served as associate athletic director for compliance and eligibility at Houston when Briles served as the school’s head coach. Briles, who built his reputation as an offensive innovator at Texas high schools before entering the college ranks, went 99-65 as the coach at Baylor and Houston with three conference titles. He led Baylor to 10 or more wins in four of his final five seasons there.

Several months after his firing from Baylor, Briles, in an interview with ESPN, apologized for what happened under his watch of the program.

“I understand that I made some mistakes, and for that I’m sorry,” he said then. “But I’m not trying to plead for people’s sympathy. I’m just stating that, ‘Hey, I made some mistakes. I was wrong. I’m sorry. I’m going to learn. I’m going to do better.'”

In 2023, a federal judge ruled that Briles was not negligent in a case involving a female Baylor student who reported being physically assaulted by one of the school’s football players in 2014. Briles, who led Baylor’s program from 2008 to 2015, received a $15.1 million settlement from Baylor, which fired him with eight years remaining on his contract.

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Cal fires Wilcox after 48-55 mark in nine seasons

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Cal fires Wilcox after 48-55 mark in nine seasons

Cal has fired coach Justin Wilcox after he went 48-55 over nine seasons with the Golden Bears, general manager Ron Rivera announced Sunday.

Wilcox’s final game came Saturday, as Cal lost 31-10 to rival Stanford, a game in which Cal was favored. The loss dropped Cal to 6-5 on the season, which marked the third straight year that Cal reached bowl eligibility.

“I want to thank Justin for all of his contributions to our football program, our athletic department and our university,” Rivera said in a statement. “He has always comported himself with class and professionalism. After careful consideration, we believe the time has come for new leadership. We wish Justin the best of luck in his future endeavors.”

Per his contract, Wilcox, the sixth-winningest coach in program history, will be owed approximately $10.9 million.

The end of Wilcox’s tenure comes at an interesting crossroads for Cal. It has two co-directors of athletics — Jay Larson and Jenny Simon O’Neill. Cal also hired Rivera, the longtime NFL coach, as its new football general manager to help modernize the program.

Nick Rolovich, the former head coach at Washington State and Hawai’i, has been named interim coach. He’d been working as a senior offensive assistant for Cal this season.

Wilcox’s teams were always solid and competitive, but they’d recently been undercut by a lack of NIL support. A flurry of starters left the 2024 Golden Bears, including Heisman Trophy favorite Fernando Mendoza (Indiana), former first-team all-Pac-12 tailback Jaydn Ott (Oklahoma) and star tight end Jack Endries (Texas).

Even with all the high-profile defections, it’d been a season of relative optimism for Cal until the loss to Stanford, the tenor of which was unexpected. Cal had recruited perhaps the country’s best true freshman quarterback, Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who flashed the promise of being a linchpin for the future.

It also reloaded with a solid transfer class that helped it with solid wins against Minnesota, North Carolina and an upset win just last week at Louisville.

Cal is in its second season in the ACC, and Wilcox was just 5-10 in ACC play the past two seasons. In none of his nine seasons at Cal did he manage a winning record in league play, which included seven years in the Pac-12 and two in the ACC.

Wilcox, 49, is a well-regarded coach with strong ties to the West Coast, as he has been defensive coordinator at spots such as Boise State, Washington and USC. He has also been a coordinator at Tennessee and Wisconsin, where he worked in 2016 prior to getting the Cal head coaching job.

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