December 2024

After a lackluster October jobs report due to strikes and storms, November’s jobs report shows that the market is back to healthy levels.

The Employment Situation report, released on Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, revealed that the U.S. economy added 227,000 new jobs in November, higher than the 214,000 jobs expected by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.

The unemployment rate also rose from 4.1% in October to 4.2% in November. The number of unemployed people is now at 7.1 million, higher than it was at the same time last year when there were 6.3 million people out of work.

Related: ‘Gradual Recalibration:’ The Fed Cuts Rates By 0.25%, Just as Economists Predicted. Here’s What It Means for Your Wallet.

The healthcare, leisure and hospitality, and government sectors added 54,000, 53,000, and 33,000 new jobs last month, respectively, while the retail sector lost 28,000 jobs.

After the report’s release, EY senior economist Lydia Boussour told Entrepreneur in an emailed statement that the November employment report “showed a broad-based but temporary rebound in payroll gains of 227,000 as disruptions from strikes and hurricanes faded.”

“However, weaker household survey data confirmed labor market conditions are undeniably cooling with the unemployment rate rising to 4.25%,” she added.

November’s employment report exceeded expectations with jobs added, unlike October’s report, which underperformed. In October, the economy only added 12,000 new jobs, the smallest gain since December 2020 and below the 100,000 additions expected.

Related: The U.S. Economy Was Expected to Add 100,000 Jobs in October—It Added 12,000. Here’s Why.

Looking ahead, Boussour expects the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to cut the federal funds rate by 25 basis points, or 0.25%, at the upcoming December 17-18 policy meeting. The federal funds rate is the rate that banks pay each other on loans. She also forecasts that the unemployment rate will reach 4.5% by mid-2025.

“Going forward, policymakers at the Fed will tread carefully,” Boussour said.

There’s a new level of ChatGPT available, but its $200-a-month price tag has the company pitching it to researchers and heavy users who are trying to push boundaries with the AI chatbot.

OpenAI introduced the new plan, ChatGPT Pro, on Thursday. It’s 10 times more expensive than ChatGPT Plus, which costs $20 per month. Other plans available include the $60 per month per user ChatGPT Enterprise and the $25 per month per user ChatGPT Teams.

Related: Can ChatGPT Help Start a Business? I Tried GPT-4o to Find Out.

For the added cost, a user gets unlimited access to o1, a new AI model that OpenAI introduced on Thursday. The o1 model is better than a human expert at PhD level science questions and has a reduced error rate and faster response time compared to previous models, per OpenAI’s release video. Pro users also have unlimited access to the older GPT-4o and Advanced Voice, a capability that allows for natural spoken conversations with ChatGPT.

In contrast, the $20 ChatGPT Plus plan only offers limited access to o1 and Advanced Voice, which means that subscribers have a limit on how much they can talk to ChatGPT or use the chatbot’s most advanced model.

“A lot of people, power users of ChatGPT at this point, they really use it a lot, they want more compute than $20 a month can buy,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated in a video announcement.

On Thursday, OpenAI also introduced o1 pro mode, an AI model that the company says can tackle the hardest math, science, and programming problems. Only Pro members can access o1 pro mode.

OpenAI says that researchers, engineers, and other heavy AI users will make the best use of Pro. The AI giant awarded 10 grants of ChatGPT Pro to U.S. academics on Thursday, including aging and dementia researcher Rhoda Au⁠, who is a professor of anatomy and neurobiology at Boston University’s Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine.

ChatGPT has more than 11 million paying subscribers as of September and 200 weekly active users overall.

Related: Certain Words Reportedly Will Break ChatGPT. I Tried Them — Here’s What Happened.

In April, the U.S. Senate passed a law that would force TikTok to separate from its Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, within a year—or face a national ban. On Friday, a U.S. appeals court upheld the law.

This means TikTok could be banned starting January 19, 2025.

Related: TikTok Sues U.S. to Block Ban, Sale Mandate, Says Divesting From ByteDance ‘Not Possible’

In May, TikTok sued to try to block the law, arguing that it infringed on the free speech of its users, but in the ruling, the judges wrote that it does not “contravene the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States,” and it also does not “violate the Fifth Amendment guarantee of equal protection of the laws.”

In a statement, TikTok suggested it would appeal the decision.

“The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue,” said company spokesperson Michael Hughes, per CNN. “Unfortunately, the TikTok ban was conceived and pushed through based upon inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information, resulting in outright censorship of the American people. The TikTok ban, unless stopped, will silence the voices of over 170 million Americans here in the US and around the world on January 19th, 2025.”

TikTok has around 170 million users in the U.S., according to reports.

Related: I Have Over 214,000 Followers on TikTok. Here’s What I’m Doing Right Now In Case a Ban Happens.

ByteDance previously noted that it will not sell.

In a September, U.S. government attorneys argued that TikTok’s algorithm is “controlled by its Chinese parent company,” which may influence Americans on the app.

TikTok users, meanwhile, are posting their complaints and sorrows.

“This is nuts,” one user said in a video, while others said they still have their “hopes that TikTok will not get banned” but that “it doesn’t look good.”

Some users said they would start posting more on YouTube, just in case.

If you’re busy operating a business or establishing a side hustle, shopping for groceries and managing household needs with trips across town can be challenging. Fortunately, Costco Gold Star Members can access a far-ranging selection of supplies under one roof and beyond.

During Cyber Week, you can get a Costco 1-Year Gold Star Membership plus a $40 Digital Costco Shop Card* for only $65 and start shopping smarter. Stretch your budget by exploring the advantages of a Gold Star Membership, which features an additional Household Card that can be used by one adult member of your household that can be used on favorite products at any location.

Offering access to more than 500 warehouses nationwide, Costco is an ideal destination for those looking to dominate their to-do list. Buy smarter with bulk goods and discover new value from brand names.

Stock your kitchen, find quality everyday items, and see what’s new in electronic devices and furniture, all while possibly getting a car tire installed. That experience awaits with a Costco Gold Star Membership.

The impact extends beyond store aisles, as a Gold Star Membership comes complete with access to Costco Travel for exclusive vacation opportunities, along with Costco Optical and Costco Pharmacy at select locations. Plus, enjoy members-only savings on fuel when you refill your vehicle’s tank at a Costco Gas Station before heading home. You can even use your perks when ordering online at Costco.com.

It’s easy to start using your Costco Gold Star Membership right away. Just purchase your membership here and provide a valid email address. Within two weeks of redeeming your membership purchase, you’ll receive your $45 Digital Costco Shop Card* via email. Use it at a Costco location nearby or shop online. Keep in mind that this offer is only available for new members or those who had their membership expired more than 18 months ago.

Gain greater value on a variety of household needs and much more by grabbing this Cyber Week deal: purchase a Costco 1-Year Gold Star Membership with a $40 Digital Costco Shop Card* for only $65 while supplies last. This offer ends tomorrow, December 8, at 11:59 p.m. PT.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

*Services are provided to Costco members by third parties.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai says that when it comes to AI, “we are in the earliest stages of a profound shift.”

Pichai explained at the New York Times DealBook Summit on Wednesday that AI models are going to get better at reasoning and carrying out actions reliably over the next few years. The upgrades to AI models will have an impact on Google Search, which will “change profoundly” next year, he stated.

“I think we are going to be able to tackle more complex questions than ever before,” Pichai said. “I think you’ll be surprised even early in ’25 the kind of newer things Search can do compared to where it is today.”

Google has nearly 90% of the global search engine market, according to Stat Counter.

^{Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, at DealBook. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images}

Google has already pushed a series of AI-related changes to search this year, including adding AI overview summaries to the top of search results in May. That same month, reports emerged of Google’s AI overviews hallucinating, or telling users to eat rocks and make pizza sauce with glue.

Since its initial rollout, AI overviews have come to rely less on sources like Reddit and more on sites with specialized expertise, like Healthline and Runnersworld, according to a June study from SEO platform SE Ranking.

Related: Google’s AI Overview Has Changed Since Its Debut, and These Websites Have Benefitted the Most

Earlier this week, Google introduced a new AI model that beat the world’s most accurate modeling system in predicting the weather. It even predicted extreme weather, even though it was not trained to do so.

At DealBook, Pichai also said that Google is also gearing up to release its next generation of AI models.

“I just think there’s so much innovation ahead,” he said.

According to Patriot Software, entrepreneurs like yourself often work significantly longer hours than standard employees—anywhere from 50 hours to 80 hours a week depending on their business and its demands. So, when you have the opportunity to step away from their desks, what could you do to prevent burnout while engaging in enriching activities outside of work?

The answer could be as simple as taking a walk outside, or heading to your favorite sports team’s tailgate or a camping trip. Level up their favorite outdoor activities with the Carsule pop-up cabin and its accompanying inflatable Mottress. This duo could make any tailgating party or camping trip more comfortable, and both are now available for only $399.99, normally $508.

The easiest-to-set-up tent

On your next long weekend camping trip, don’t drag along the regular old tent that takes half an hour to set up, the Carsule just pops open from its case. Then, slide in the supporting rods, attach the magnets to your vehicle, and use the guy lines for added stability. This design adapts to a variety of car models—but your vehicle must have a swinging hatchback since it serves as the Carsule’s main structural support.

The Carsule provides over six feet of standing height and plenty of room for friends or family to hang out. Waterproof flooring, UV protective coating, and integrated mosquito netting keep you prepared when the bugs come out or if the weather changes.

An inflatable mattress designed for travel

Pairing the Carsule with the Mottress brings additional comfort. The Mottress isn’t like your ordinary inflatable mattress—its origami-style foldable design with four sections allows for a variety of configurations. Set up a makeshift couch when you’re entertaining, or spread them out flat for a comfy place to nap.

The Mottress is made with breathable fabric, so you can still enjoy your new setup on hot August nights. And, in case you spill a drink or snack, you can easily remove and wash the cover and wipe down the inner foam so it’s ready to go for the next game.

Add the Carsule and Mottress complete car adventure package to any outdoor excursion or tailgate, now $399.99 while supplies last.

Carsule & Mottress: A Complete Car Adventure Package!

Only $399.99 at Entrepreneur

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Nowadays, your website is usually the first impression clients and customers have of your brand. But hiring a developer or managing expensive subscriptions can quickly eat into your budget. MaxiBlocks, a no-code WordPress website builder, changes the game by letting you design professional websites without technical skills or hefty monthly costs. You can get a lifetime subscription on sale for just $59 for a limited time.

WordPress powers more than 43% of all websites globally, making it the most trusted platform for businesses of every size. MaxiBlocks takes full advantage of WordPress’s flexibility with its drag-and-drop builder, giving you the tools to create sleek, responsive sites that look custom-made. Whether you’re launching a new business, showcasing your portfolio, or building an e-commerce store, MaxiBlocks makes it fast and intuitive.

And it’s cost-effective. While competitors like Wix and Squarespace charge at least $16 per month for basic plans, MaxiBlocks offers a no-subscription deal. That means you can save hundreds over time while still enjoying professional results.

With features like ready-made templates, full WordPress compatibility, and an intuitive interface, MaxiBlocks lets you build like a pro — no coding required.

Focus on growing your business while MaxiBlocks takes care of your website with a lifetime subscription to a MaxiBlocks No-Code Webpage Builder Pro Plan for $59.

MaxiBlocks No-Code Webpage Builder: Pro Plan Lifetime Subscription (3 Licenses) – $59

See Deal

StackSocial prices subject to change.

This week’s tragic shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York has raised concern about the security of corporate leaders.

CNN says, “UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing shows why companies spend millions to protect their top executives.” A Forbes columnist predicts that “after the shooting… security personnel will be in demand.” And, according to this Wall Street Journal report, his killing “prompted an immediate re-evaluation of longstanding security practices across corporate America,” and “dozens” of security chiefs from large U.S. companies convened together on a call to discuss the situation.

“The environment is explosive right now,” a former Boston police commissioner who now (no surprise) consults with large companies on mitigating security risks told the Journal. “The threats are evolving and getting more violent.”

Okay, let’s calm down, shall we?

Related: Unsolved Murder of UnitedHeathcare Exec Causes Panicked Health Insurance Companies to Take Down Website Leadership Pages

Of course, there’s reason behind this concern. Corporate executives are not only more in the spotlight than ever before, but they are also not too hard to find. They attend public events, shareholder meetings and social functions all over the world. Often, companies make their schedules public or publish press releases noting where they’ll be. Getting hold of their home addresses is a few steps online. Digging into their personal relationships takes minutes, thanks to LinkedIn, X and Facebook.

If you’re a corporate executive, you can easily be targeted by someone who, say, wants to right a wrong or impersonate a social justice warrior for 15 minutes of fame. But this is not a new thing, is it?

Uber’s former CEO, Travis Kalanick, was egged in Taiwan in 2017. Bill Gates was hit with a pie in the face during an overseas visit in 1998. Rubert Murdoch and the CEOs of Qantas Airlines and the now defunct Enron Corporation also got pie-ed. Frankly, lots of business leaders and celebrities have been “involuntarily” pied over the years.

But the murder of a CEO is, obviously, much more serious. Thankfully, these situations have not only been few and far between but almost non-existent.

An advertising executive was murdered in New Jersey in 1994, but that turned out to be the Unabomber’s doing. A Microsoft executive was shot and killed in Florida in 2022, but the culprit turned out to be his ex-wife’s husband. George Tiller, who owned a women’s health clinic in Kansas, was murdered by an anti-abortion extremist at a church service (his clinic was the target of “multiple attacks” previously).

I don’t want to downplay or trivialize the gravity of what happened to Thompson. But I’ve searched Google and various chatbots like Perplexity and ChatGPT for examples of other CEOs who have met the same fate and come up short.

There are currently 55,000 publicly held companies in the world, and the U.S. has more than six million employee-owned businesses alone. These companies are led not only by CEOs and business owners but by teams of senior executives who would all make enticing targets for the attention seeker. And yet, there are very, very few incidents like this. Senior executives seem more at risk of succumbing to a skiing accident or going down in a plane crash than some random person shooting them point blank on a busy New York City street.

Which is why we should all calm down for a minute. The media loves to exploit the worst of our fears and anxieties to get clicks. So they write things like “security will be in demand” and “the environment is explosive.” Posts like these from irresponsible “journalists” certainly do not help either. It’s a great marketing moment for security firms. But should corporations be making knee-jerk decisions to all-of-the-sudden start spending significant sums for security over what seems to be an isolated incident? If your CEO is Mark Zuckerberg, a celebrity, I get it. But for all others? I’m not so sure.

Related: Here’s How Entrepreneurs Can Protect Their Company From Cyberattacks

Why? Because people don’t go around shooting other people. Our systems — while they don’t catch everyone — are pretty good at isolating those with criminal histories or who need watching. Guns can be obtained both legally and illegally, but pulling off a shooting requires patience, skill and planning.

Of course, people in public positions need to be careful in today’s world. CEOs who get political or involved in social issues or support certain controversial causes are increasing their risk of assault from a tiny fraction of lunatics that oppose them. Executives who run firms that are involved in life and death matters, such as healthcare, also need to be careful. All leaders have to be aware of their surroundings. If they receive threats — as Thompson allegedly did — they must take them seriously. Those are the situations where added security measures are needed, be it provided by local police or through private firms.

But as you can see from the numbers, these situations are few and far between. So, no one should be panicking. Corporations don’t need to surround their CEOs with secret service-type agents in sunglasses. Some do, and they pay millions for the privilege. But for the vast majority of corporate executives, they can take heart that we haven’t gotten to that point. And I don’t think we will ever get to that point — at least not in the foreseeable future.

Thompson’s shooting was tragic. But it was a rare event. An anomaly. We should mourn for this man. But, with apologies to the security industry, we shouldn’t be overreacting.

Imagine if your business could deploy a team of virtual agents that not only execute repetitive tasks but also make strategic decisions, learn, collaborate and adapt in real-time to changing conditions — all at a scale that was once unattainable due to limitations in hiring, capitalization or other constraints. This is the power of agentic AI, a transformative technology that automates business processes, enabling organizations to scale operations, decision-making and innovation exponentially.

In recent years, tools like Robotic Process Automation (RPA) have been deployed to automate repetitive, low-value human tasks such as data entry or simple workflows. While incredibly functional, bottlenecks occur when processes become too complex or require human judgment. These systems lack the flexibility to adapt to dynamic business environments or complex, strategic decision-making processes. Agentic AI changes that. It introduces systems that automate tasks, make informed decisions, and continuously learn and collaborate with humans and other agents to scale and improve outcomes far beyond what was previously possible.

Related: AI for the Underdog — Here’s How Small Businesses Can Thrive With Artificial Intelligence

From thought to exponential action

Agentic AI is differentiated by its ability to move beyond simple, prompt-based AI toward executing complex, multistep workflows at scale. Agentic systems are powered by large language models (LLMs). These can act autonomously across varying digital ecosystems, interact with tools and work seamlessly with other agents. This capability shift enables AI systems to perform strategic tasks at a level that scales with growing operational demands, adapting to unforeseen challenges and managing variability systematically.

Instead of relying solely on human inputs, agentic AI systems can plan, execute and iteratively improve upon tasks — scaling business processes exponentially — and freeing up human resources for higher-order strategic thinking and innovation.

In my industry, when you think of AI’s impact on software development, your mind gravitates towards a scenario where the engineers writing code get automated away by AI bots doing the work. Yet, software development involves more than coding. Most of the problems that emerge in this process stem from either a poor set of inputs (requirements and designs) or poor engineering of the solution (organizing software into logical, reusable and scalable components).

Instead, envision an agentic software development team, several AI agents collaborating to handle the entire software development lifecycle, that streamlines product design and planning, architecture, engineering, coding, testing and deployment across multiple projects simultaneously and allows human teams to focus on the creative and commercial aspects of these projects.

AI in discovery

Weeks of intensive discovery sessions are compressed into two or three reviews of the AI’s results. The AI can produce 90% of the product’s functional exploration. It defines all requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria and more, saving weeks of human labor — often identifying elements that might otherwise be overlooked.

AI in design, architecture and planning

An AI product designer can process the application’s requirements to generate a navigation system and user interface. An AI technical architect creates a detailed architecture, identifying the technology stack and crafting data and application architectures, facilitating the subsequent development steps. And, an AI project manager provides initial timelines and cost estimates — and interacts free-form to adjust efforts based on constraints.

AI in coding

All information captured and generated by the AI becomes an operating system for client and delivery-focused processes. This extensive context feeds the AI coding agent’s generation technology, increasing the specificity and accuracy of software development. This context is equally crucial for human developers. It reduces reliance on their imagination and minimizes project delays and budget overruns caused by lapses in meeting business requirements.

AI in code review

AI pair programmers used for real-time code review ensure that code quality is consistently high and error-free by identifying potential issues early and decreasing rework.

Related: 5 Practical Ways Entrepreneurs Can Add AI to Their Toolkit Today

AI in deployment

AI DevOps agents optimize cloud resources and infrastructure based on real-time utilization demand, enabling more flexible, scalable and cost-efficient operations.

Scaling beyond current limits

Whether developing complex software, managing global supply chains or processing thousands of loans, agentic AI enables your business to operate at a scale that would otherwise require significant increases in manpower and resources.

Are you looking to integrate agentic AI into your operations?

1. Identify strategic processes to scale: Focus on high-value tasks that, if scaled, would bring significant gains to your business. Include processes where agentic AI can scale operations without proportional increases in costs.
2. Identify and secure data sources to feed scale: Agentic AI systems are highly dependent on the quality and availability of data. It’s critical to identify the data sources (internal and external) that will feed the agents, ensuring that the data is comprehensive and reliable. Without this, agents cannot make informed decisions or improve over time, limiting the ability to scale effectively.
3. Encode processes into AI: AI can handle complex processes and large-scale, dynamic operations while continuously improving performance as it scales. This requires documenting the human process and data requirements and encoding AI agents to perform these tasks in parallel, better and faster.
4. Leverage multiple agents: A multi-agent approach, where you deploy specialized agents for different roles and allow them to collaborate on complex tasks, can help break down large workflows into manageable parts — executed efficiently by the appropriate AI. Your business can scale processes without the corresponding increase in resources.
5. Continuous learning and iteration: Among agentic AI’s greatest strengths is its ability to learn from agentic and human interactions and positive or negative outcomes. Ensure your systems are set up to capture feedback and make adjustments. This continuous optimization allows for improvements as the system scales.

Harness agentic AI — position your business for success

Behemoths like Microsoft, Google and OpenAI already invest heavily in agent-based systems. The tools necessary for widespread adoption will only improve. As agentic AI evolves, businesses that embrace it early will be best positioned to scale exponentially with unprecedented efficiency — without the need for corresponding increases in labor, resources or capital — creating existential crises for slower-moving competitors.

What is most interesting about agentic AI is that businesses that were traditionally considered mom-and-pop or highly service-oriented can now embrace these methods and achieve growth rates, profit margins and scale that were only previously available to pure software businesses.

By positioning agentic AI as part of your roadmap, you can unlock its potential to transform workflows, augment decision-making and create new opportunities for growth.

Big changes are coming in 2025 that could redefine how you market your business — but are you ready? AI-powered marketing is evolving at a breakneck pace, opening new doors for growth while introducing risks that could derail your efforts if you’re not careful. These shifts aren’t just a trend; they’re a transformation that requires action, and you’ve got a limited window to prepare.

In this week’s video, I’ll show you how to navigate these shifts without falling behind. Whether it’s tapping into the power of new search platforms or avoiding the pitfalls of over-automation, I’ll guide you through what’s coming — and how to stay ahead of the curve. Let’s dive in.

Download the free “AI Success Kit“ (limited time only). You’ll also get a free chapter from my brand new book, “The Wolf is at The Door – How to Survive and Thrive in an AI-Driven World.”