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Inflation prints higher due to ongoing Iran war, Portland startup C1 acquired by Workday, Corvallis city employees strike, Lynden, WA teachers authorize first strike in 50 years, Idaho & Montana join lawsuit against OpenAI, NuScale Power slide off continues with 10% drop.

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AI Jitters and Rate-Hike Fears Combine for Worst Day for Stocks Since July (WSJ)

Netflix cuts about 6% of jobs in biggest layoff since 2022 (Reuters)

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Gov. Kotek expands Oregon data center moratorium (OPB)

“The governor has already halted data center construction on state lands. Now she has directed regulators to pause environmental permits for data centers, in a move criticized by the industry.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has directed environmental regulators to temporarily stop issuing pollution permits to data centers, which would effectively pause most data center development in Oregon until next summer.

Amazon — which has more than a dozen hyperscale data centers in Morrow and Umatilla Counties — said it was disappointed by the directive, with an executive at the company saying Kotek’s move could cost Oregon thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in planned investment.

Kotek directed Oregon Department of Environmental Quality Director Leah Feldon to pause all air and water pollution permits for new or expanding data centers until July. The governor sent the directive in a letter to Feldon Friday, in response to an update on the agency’s air pollution permitting process.

“This directive was issued abruptly, without meaningful stakeholder engagement of the workers, businesses, and municipalities it will affect,” said Shannon Kellogg, vice president of Amazon Web Services Public Policy for the Americas, in a statement. “Amazon has been a committed partner in Oregon for over 15 years, and we will continue to advocate for policies that protect communities and support responsible growth.”

Powered by spikes in energy prices, inflation surges to 3.7% (IDC)

“Gas is now up 34% for the year, and fuel oil, which includes diesel, is up 72% as the Iran war drags on

Inflation grew to a 3.7% annual rate in September, according to an Oct. 14 report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, up from 3.4% in August. 

In the last consumer price inflation report before midterm elections, with voters already fed up with higher prices, September’s number was the highest since May, when it was 4.2%.

“Inflation has wiped out wage gains for 6 months now,” Heather Long, the chief economist for Navy Federal, wrote in a social media post. “It’s a financial squeeze. Americans are trying to work more hours to make up for it, but many are still falling behind.”

Spikes in energy prices were largely responsible: Gas is now up 34% for the year, and fuel oil, which includes diesel, is up 72% as the Iran war drags on. 

States including Georgia, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio and Utah have enacted gas tax relief measures recently to battle rising prices. North Carolina expects to lose more than $362 million in tax revenue for the fiscal year because of a gas tax holiday. 

New York state estimates fuel oil prices are up 67% from last year, with home heating oil at $6.21 a gallon as of this month. Connecticut announced plans Oct. 13 for additional state aid for home heating assistance, partly because of high prices for delivered oil.  

Other than energy, the largest factor was food away from home, up 3.5%. The only decreases were medical care products, down 3.3%, and used cars and trucks, up for the month but still down 1.5% for the year. So-called “core” inflation outside of volatile food and energy was a more modest 2.6%.“

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