Verdict back in play: The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has sent Plaquemines Parish’s $744.6 million coastal-damage case against Chevron back to a federal district judge and temporarily halted state-court proceedings. The move follows an April Supreme Court ruling that strengthened oil companies’ ability to move certain Louisiana coastal lawsuits into federal court based on their World War II-era work for the federal government. The $744.6 million jury verdict remains intact for now, but whether it survives and whether the case proceeds in state or federal court will be decided by the federal district court. The Center Square has the full story.
Sluggish growth: The U.S. economy grew at a sluggish 1.5% annual pace in the second quarter, down from 2.1% in the first quarter, though the estimate was unchanged from the initial reading. Consumer spending remained strong, rising 3.4%, while business investment surged 8.5%, fueled largely by the AI boom. Imports jumped 12.5% and cut 1.64 percentage points from growth, but underlying economic strength remained solid at 4.2%, suggesting the economy has been more resilient than the headline GDP figure indicates. The Associated Press has the full story.
Beating the forecasts: U.S. demand for durable goods rose a stronger-than-expected 1.1% in July to $339.3 billion, beating economists’ forecast of 0.5%. Transportation equipment led the increase, with orders climbing 2.3% after two months of declines. Excluding transportation, orders rose 0.4%, while orders excluding defense increased 1.3%. The Wall Street Journal has the full story.
