Interest rates are moving higher again, resulting in increased borrowing costs for consumers. Interest rates on credit card debt, home equity and car loans will rise now that the Federal Reserve is hiking rates by another 0.75%. Chairman Jerome Powell says the Fed will continue to raise rates to tamp down inflation, which is at a 40-year high. A new forecast from the Fed points to anemic economic growth and an unemployment rate rising to 4.4% by next year.
There’s quite a bit of interest in New Jersey’s new Anchor property-tax relief program. Residents who are looking for information say they aren’t able to get through on the phone. The state’s Treasury Department said the information hotline is experiencing “incredibly high call volumes.” For those who are trying to enroll for benefits by phone, officials say to expect a wait time of at least 30 minutes. The state is still in the process of sending out information about the program via the mail. The deadline to apply for the program is the end of December.
A new cancer care center is coming to north Jersey. Officials celebrated the groundbreaking of Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center’s new facility in Livingston. The $225 million outpatient facility is scheduled to be completed in 2025 and will serve as the northern hub for oncology services offered by RWJ Barnabas Health, an underwriter of NJ Spotlight News, and Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey.
In Trenton, officials are bracing for the expected closing of the St. Francis Medical Center. The hospital’s owner, Trinity Health, has entered a deal to sell the medical center to Capital Health. If the deal wins approval, many services provided at St. Francis would be shifted to Capital Health and the Trenton facility would close.
