Florida’s labor force grew by 0.2-percentage points in October while the state’s private-sector employment increased 0.3% and the unemployment rate remained steady, FloridaCommerce reported. “Florida’s unemployment rate remains at a low 2.8% and we continue to see job growth month after month, bucking national trends,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posted Friday on X, formerly Twitter.
Bonds
The fine print of a revised fiduciary rule proposed by the Biden administration carries a potential impact on the corner of the municipal market that engages in “riskless principal transactions” for taxable munis. The Department of Labor’s proposed Retirement Security Rule would increase regulations around which kind of financial advice and transactions on retirement accounts
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey released a proposed budget for 2024 upping capital spending to pre-pandemic levels for the first time. At $9.3 billion total, the plan is one billion dollars larger than 2023’s and provides for $3.9 billion in operating expenses, $3.6 million in capital spending, and $1.8 billion for
Municipals improved Friday to close out a week of more gains despite some U.S. Treasury volatility, positioning the asset class to see historically high returns for the month. Equities ended up near the end of the trading session. Triple-A yields fell up to four basis points, depending on the curve, outperforming a mixed UST market,
While pursuing his doctorate in economics at Columbia University, Oliver Giesecke came across several challenges as he was researching and collecting data on the muni market. Either it wasn’t available or it was incomplete or at times, misleading. In an effort to provide more and clearer data on certain attributes of the muni market, Giesecke,
With the acceleration of technology in all markets, firms are trying to create solutions to process data — from issuer offering documents and continuing disclosures to trades and pricing and evaluations — and turn it into digestible, usable forms. For an illiquid, over-the-counter market with more than 50,000 issuers and a million securities outstanding, challenges
Moody’s Investors Service affirmed its negative outlook on mass transit, highlighting Bay Area Rapid Transit as an example, even after the San Francisco rapid transit system announced it had received state funding. BART, a San Francisco Bay Area rapid transit system, announced on Wednesday that it would receive $352 million from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission
The Biden administration’s Build America Bureau expects to close on $19.5 billion worth of transportation infrastructure projects in the next 18 months, executive director Morteza Farajian said Tuesday at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials annual meeting in Indianapolis. “There’s a huge increase in the number of projects that we have in
While New York City’s $110.5 billion fiscal 2024 budget remains balanced, the costs associated with dealing with the influx of migrants will soar over the next several fiscal years, according to the November financial plan update released Thursday. So far, the city has already spent $1.45 billion in fiscal 2023 to provide food, shelter and
Former Chicago Chief Financial Officer Jennie Huang Bennett has landed at the University of Chicago. Bennett joins the university as associate vice president of finance. She served as Chicago’s CFO under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot from 2019 to earlier this year when Lightfoot lost her re-election bid. Bennett will be reporting to Ivan Samstein, who
New York City has put together what city leaders say is a first-of-its-kind plan to use artificial intelligence in municipal government. The blueprint aims to develop a framework for city agencies to evaluate AI tools and weigh the associated risks while helping city employees build their AI knowledge and skills. New York City Mayor Eric
Municipals were firmer Thursday as a billion-plus dollar deal from the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority priced in the primary market and outflows continued. U.S. Treasury yields fell and equities ended down. Triple-A yields fell one to five basis points, depending on the scale, while UST were better by six to 10. The two-year
With an ever-changing landscape that now includes artificial intelligence, firms in the municipal market can be overwhelmed by the technology choices facing them, and their decisions will impact their bottom line. As new technology tools are developed will the current infrastructure become obsolete, requiring new investment? These questions and others have brought the build versus
The Puerto Rico Oversight Board told the government that a legislature-adopted tax reform bill is too expensive. The board said the tax cuts in the bill — passed by the Puerto Rico House of Representatives Tuesday — would cost Puerto Rico’s central government $3 billion over five years. “Fiscal irresponsibility resulted in painful adjustments to
The Senate has passed a continuing resolution measure 87-11 that will keep the lights on until Jan. 19 and Feb. 2, avoiding a government shutdown this year, but increasing the stakes significantly for further funding discussions after the holiday season. The measure will give Congress room to breathe as it deals with pressing concerns of
Bryce Pickering, the recent head of municipal trading at Barclays, is heading to New York-based First Eagle Investments, where he will join former Nuveen muni veterans John Miller and Carl Katerndahl to launch a high-yield municipal bond shop. Pickering will be the firm’s head of high yield municipal credit trading. “I am quite excited for
New Mexico lawmakers are mulling changes to capital financing programs as the amount of untapped funding allocated to projects from state appropriations or raised through bond issues is at a historically high level due to rising construction costs and a dearth of construction workers. The state’s Legislative Finance Committee this week reported an estimated $5
Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates said he plans to appeal a federal judge’s decision to toss the city’s lawsuit challenging the state’s right to compel localities to approve housing development. Huntington Beach plans to appeal the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Gates said, adding “the federal court decision was surprisingly light
It has been a good year for Jaime Alvarez. The 45-year-old was named Oregon’s director of debt management in October, after serving as deputy director/senior debt program manager for just under two years. A few weeks after his promotion, he found out the state’s March $989 million general obligation bond sale was named Far West
Municipals were mostly steady Wednesday as investors worked through more new-issue paper in the primary while U.S. Treasuries lost ground after Tuesday’s rally. Equities were mixed near the close. The dust settled Wednesday following Tuesday’s rally, as municipals were flat, according to a New York trader. “Everyone is reevaluating and taking a breather after the
The company responsible for meeting obligations on $250 million of green bonds issued in Alabama in 2022 may not be able to do so by December, it said in a recent disclosure filing. The Industrial Development Authority of Sumter County issued the exempt facilities revenue bonds to bankroll a production plant for wood pellet maker