as inflation cools. from new york, our north america business correspondent michelle fleury sent this report. the december notes from the us central banks last meeting showed policymakers are feeling better about inflation. they agreed with investors that interest rates are at or near the peak for this cycle. they also agree it will come down this year. but they offered no clues as to how or when that will happen. to remind viewers, the federal reserve started raising rates in march 2022 to tame inflation. it did so 11 times, taking the benchmark rate to 5.5%. inflation, by the time of the last meeting, had dropped to 3.2% from a peak of 9.1%. meanwhile, new data out on wednesday showed the number ofjob openings in the united states fell to 8.79 million in november. this points to weaker demand for labour but is still well above pre covid levels. that is consistent with the fed s goal. to slow the economy without triggering a nasty recession. the feds first rate setting meeti
of their stance on the israel palestine conflict. this includes mcdonald s. the burger chain became a target after photos and videos on social media showing franchise stores in israel giving away thousands of free meals to the members of the israeli military. this resulted in calls to boycott the brand, from those angered by israe ls military response in gaza. owners in muslim majority countries such as kuwait, malaysia and pakistan put out statements distancing themselves. in a message on linkedin, mcdonald s ceo chris kempczinski wrote that the burger chain is experiencing a meaningful business impacted due to the war and associated misinformation. all of this in the middle east and beyond because of the war in gaza. he added, this is disheartening and ill founded, pointing that many of the restaurants are operated by local owners. he didn t elaborate on the scale of the impact, but mcdonald s has around 2,000 restaurants in the region. it isn t the only global bra
often unplanned boycotts because of their styles on the israel palestine conflict. this includes mcdonald s. the burger chamber came a target chain became a target after giving away thousands of free meals to the members of the israeli military. this resulted in boycotts of the brand. 0wners boycotts of the brand. owners and muslim majority countries such as kuwait and pakistan put out statements distancing themselves. in a message on linkedin, mcdonald s ceo wrote that the burger chain is experiencing a meaningful business impacted due to the war and associated misinformation. all of this in the middle east and beyond because of the war in gaza. he added, this is disheartening and ill founded, pointing that many of the restaurants are operated by local owners. he didn t elaborate on the scale of the impact, but mcdonald s has around 2000 restaurants in the region. it isn t the only global brand to face controversy over its response. others include starbucks, showing how
to cement its position in the top spot. the company s deliveries are the closest estimation to its sales figures. 0ur north american business correspondent erin delmore reports. byd calls itself the biggest car brand you have never heard of. but that may be about to change. the chinese automaker sold more battery powered electric vehicles in the last three months of the year than tesla did. that s a first. the american company is facing headwinds. higher borrowing costs in the us led to slowing demand. but its lesser known chinese rival is enjoying tailwinds, including a massive domestic market, cheap labour and strong government support. and, unlike tesla, byd makes its own batteries. so controlling that part of the supply chain gives byd more flexibility to cut prices, which it did in the last part of the year, sending sales spiking. as my colleague has just reported, tesla s latest number puts byd ahead of the curve. the chinese ev maker reported around three million in sa
fleury sent this report. the december notes from the us central bank s last meeting showed policymakers are feeling better about inflation. they agreed with investors that interest rates are at or near the peak for this cycle. they also agree it will come down this year. but they offered no clues as to how or when that will happen. to remind viewers, the federal reserve started raising rates in march 2022 to tame inflation. it did so 11 times, taking the benchmark rate to 5.5%. inflation, by the time of the last meeting, had dropped to 3.2% from a peak of 9.1%. meanwhile, new data out on wednesday showed the number ofjob openings in the united states fell to 8.79 million in november. this points to weaker demand for labour but is still well above pre covid levels. that is consistent with the fed s goal. to slow the economy without triggering a nasty recession. the feds first rate setting meeting this year starting january 30. investors are holding their breath is beneficial t