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1. Heavy winds push wildfire near Los Angeles
Heavy winds are pushing a wildfire through a community near Los Angeles, causing thousands to evacuate as the fire expanded quickly within hours, the Associated Press reports. Named the Mountain Fire, it grew from less than half a square mile to more than 22 square miles by late Wednesday.
The Ventura County Fire Department said more than 800 firefighters have been assigned to the fire with hundreds more arriving from around the state. The fire was at 0% containment as of Wednesday night.
The nearby Los Angeles Fire Department has been fighting a wildfire near Broad Beach in Malibu, managing to contain 60% of it and stopping its progress.
2. Peachtree Group partners with Group 10 Management
Peachtree Group has entered into a partnership with Group 10 Management, adding 14 hotels with 1,648 rooms to its portfolio, according to a news release. The partnership grows Peachtree's managed hotel portfolio to more than 100 properties.
“Our extensive experience in hotel operations allows us to partner with Group 10 to take third-party management to a whole new level,” said Vickie Callahan, president of Peachtree’s hospitality management division. “A substantial portion of Peachtree Group’s portfolio is third-party managed, underscoring our commitment to driving strong financial results for our partners while providing exceptional guest experiences.”
3. Factors driving hotel company mergers and acquisitions
The U.S. hotel industry saw several management company mergers and acquisitions over the past week, and the factors currently at play could lead to more, said W. Chris Green in a podcast interview with HNN's Sean McCracken.
Green, now retired, was CEO of Chesapeake Hospitality before Remington Hospitality acquired it in 2022. In the interview, he said the need for growth when hotel deal volume is down and the "war for talent" are prime drivers of M&A.
"One of the things that in our merger deals that we brought to the table for Remington was we had great talent, and it's hard to find 30 really great hoteliers all at once," he said on the podcast.
4. UK, Swedish central banks cut rates
The central banks in the United Kingdom and Sweden have cut interest rates, their decisions coming in ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's announcement on whether it would cut rates for a second time this year, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Fed will share its decision, which is expected to be a quarter-percent cut, later today.
The Bank of England cut its key rate from 5% to 4.75%, according to the newspaper. The bank had raised rates to a 16-year high to get a handle on inflation, which the bank now expects to reach the target level in early 2027.
Sweden's Riksbank cut its key interest rate by 50 basis points to 2.75% and indicated further cuts in the near future, the Wall Street Journal reports. At three prior meetings this year, the bank had cut rates by 25 basis points at a time.
5. US weekly jobless claims grow by 3,000
The U.S. Department of Labor reported the number of initial jobless claims filed for the week ending Nov. 2 rose by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 221,000. The four-week moving average was 227,250, a decrease of 9,750 from the previous revised average.
Employment growth slowed in October, Reuters reports. The numbers correlate with an increase in claims earlier in the month, as Hurricane Helene hit the Southeast and Boeing implemented rolling furloughs amid a now-settled strike by its largest manufacturing union.