Publix has opened its first store built on a college campus at the University of South Florida in Tampa. The 28,000-square-foot store caters to college students with an ample supply of prepared foods and a large school supplies aisle.
⋅ CNBC
The unemployment rate held steady at 3.7% last month, with nonfarm payrolls growing by 155,000, according to the Labor Department, compared with economists' projection of 198,000. Monthly earnings increased 0.2%, compared with a projection of 0.3%, and the average workweek shrank 0.1 hour to 34.4 hours.
⋅ EdScoop
Member institutions of The Council of Independent Colleges are now offering students the chance to enroll in discounted online courses through its partnership with College Consortium. CIC President Richard Ekman says the goal is to help smaller colleges without online resources boost retention and graduation rates.
China will "immediately implement the consensus" reached between the country and the US at the Group of 20 summit regarding products including cars, energy and farm products, Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng says. The statement signals optimism that the arrest of Huawei Technologies' CFO will not disrupt efforts toward a trade agreement.
⋅ Fortune
Insight-driven innovation will be critical for the future success of Land O'Lakes' portfolio, CEO Beth Ford said, noting that data insights led to the creation of its recent squeezable butter launch. The company is "always looking at acquisitions" that are aligned with its goals, and is also continuing to capitalize on its organic growth strategy, she said.
⋅ The Hill
The latest figures from the CMS show that about 3.2 million people chose Affordable Care Act plans through the federal exchange in the first five weeks of open enrollment this year, down 11% from 3.6 million during the same period last year. The number of new consumers is down 17% from last year with only a week remaining in the open enrollment period, which ends Dec. 15.
Mobile ad fraud is increasing and bad actors are becoming more sophisticated to disguise fraudulent practices, which is why the industry must come together to invest in machine learning and artificial intelligence to develop a defensive framework, writes Rajiv Bhat. Marketing technology and ad firms must unite with verification and measurement companies to boost transparency and ad tech firms should collaborate with industry groups like the Interactive Advertising Bureau, he advises.
The US trade deficit reached a 10-year high in October, rising 1.7% from September, thanks to tax-cut-driven domestic demand and tariffs on exports. Meanwhile, Americans are buying more foreign goods as domestic supply chains face constraints due to a shortage of truck drivers.
Epic Games launched a digital game store for Windows and Mac yesterday evening during the Game Awards in Los Angeles. The new store offers 14 titles, to include Gunfire Games' "Darksiders 3," A44's "Ashen," and Supergiant Games' "Hades."
⋅ FDAnews
Five additional EU member states -- Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland and Latvia -- have been confirmed by the FDA as capable of performing drug and active pharmaceutical ingredient Good Manufacturing Practice inspections at a level equivalent to that of the agency. The FDA will be able to rely on 20 EU member states for GMP inspections.
The White House has issued a memorandum calling for reports and recommendations related to wireless technology, setting in motion a process intended to produce a national 5G connectivity strategy. At the same time, it made a blog post headlined "America Will Win the Global Race to 5G."
Ground was broken Wednesday on an estimated $850 million project to renovate Seattle's KeyArena to support the city's new National Hockey League team. The project originally was scheduled for completion in 2020, but it was moved back to 2021 to better accommodate the contractor.
⋅ The Hill
The Bureau of Land Management has proposed loosening Obama-era regulations protecting the greater sage grouse in seven Western states to open more land for oil and natural gas drilling and other activities.
Delta Air Lines has launched a biometric international terminal at Georgia's Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, featuring facial-recognition technology at check-in, the security checkpoint, boarding and Customs.
⋅ Forbes
The Oriental Spa at the Mandarin Oriental, Panpuri Organic Spa at the Park Hyatt and The Opium Spa at The Siam top this list of Bangkok's best hotel spas.