By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumers were much less confident in the economy in November in the aftermath of the government shutdown, weak hiring and stubborn inflation.

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The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index dropped to 88.7 in November from an upwardly revised October reading of 95.5, the lowest reading since April, when President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs that caused the stock market to plunge.

The figures suggest that Americans are increasingly wary of high costs and sluggish job gains, with perceptions of the labor market worsening, the survey found. Declining confidence could pose political problems for Trump and Republicans in Congress, as the dimmer views of the economy were seen among all political affiliations and were particularly sharp among independents, the Conference Board said.

Earlier Tuesday, a government report showed that retail sales slowed in September after healthy readings over the summer. While economists forecast healthy growth for the July-September quarter, many expect a much weaker showing in the final three months of the year, largely because of the shutdown.

Less-confident consumers may spend less, though the connection isn’t always clear. In recent years, consumer spending has held up even when the available data suggests they’ve grown more anxious.

“We do not think that consumer spending is about to hit a cliff, as spending has decoupled from confidence, but risks to the downside are increasing,” Thomas Simons, chief U.S. economist at Jefferies, an investment bank, said.

The proportion of consumers that said jobs are “plentiful” dropped to 27.6% in November, down from 28.6% in the previous month. It is down sharply from 37% in December.

At the same time, 17.9% said jobs are “hard to get,” slightly below the 18.3% who said so in October. That figure is up from 15.2% in September. The figures on job availability are seen by economists as reliable predictors of hiring and the unemployment rate.

Americans continue to worry about elevated costs, fueling the “affordability” concerns that were a key issue in elections earlier this month.

“Consumers’ write-in responses pertaining to factors affecting the economy continued to be led by references to prices and inflation, tariffs and trade, and politics, with increased mentions of the federal government shutdown,” said Dana Peterson, chief economist at the Conference Board. The shutdown ended Nov. 12.

The economy likely grew at a solid annual rate of about 3% in the July-September quarter, economists estimate. But growth is likely to slow in the final three months of the year, largely because of the shutdown, which cut off pay for federal workers, disrupted contracts, and interrupted air travel.

The Conference Board survey ran through Nov. 18, about five days after the shutdown ended.

Minnesota State Parks and Washington County Parks are encouraging visitors to spend time outdoors during the holiday weekend by offering free entry on Friday.

Free entry applies to all 10 Washington County parks and regional trails. The parks offer hiking, horse trails, mountain biking and, when the snow flies, cross-country skiing. For more information about the parks, visit WashingtonCountyMN.gov/Parks

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is waiving vehicle fees to all 73 of its state parks. Some parks are offering free events, including a naturalist-led hike at Wild River State Park about 50 miles north of St. Paul. Find more information at dnr.state.mn.us.

Dakota County Parks and Ramsey County Parks do not require vehicle permits.

Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is traditionally a busy day for shopping: More than 500,000 people visited the Mall of America from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1 last year, according to the MOA website. About 13,000 people visited the Mall of America within the first hour of opening on Black Friday last year.

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By DAVID KLEPPER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hackers working for Russian intelligence attacked an American engineering company this fall, investigators at a U.S. cybersecurity company said Tuesday — seemingly because that firm had worked for a U.S. municipality with a sister city in Ukraine.

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The findings reflect the evolving tools and tactics of Russia’s cyber war and demonstrate Moscow’s willingness to attack a growing list of targets, including governments, organizations and private companies that have supported Ukraine, even in a tenuous way.

Arctic Wolf, the U.S. cybersecurity firm that identified the Russian campaign, wouldn’t identify its customer or the city it worked with to protect their security, but said the company had no direct connection to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, the group behind the attack, known to cybersecurity experts as RomCom, has consistently targeted groups with links to Ukraine and its defense against Russia.

“They routinely go after organizations that support Ukrainian institutions directly, provide services to Ukrainian municipalities, and assist organizations tied to Ukrainian civil society, defense, or government functions,” said Ismael Valenzuela, Arctic Wolf’s vice president of labs, threat research and intelligence.

The attack on the engineering firm was identified by Arctic Wolf in September before it could disrupt the engineering company’s operations or spread further.

A message left with officials at the Russian Embassy in Washington seeking comment was not immediately returned.

Many towns and cities around the world enjoy sister-city relationships with other communities, using the program to offer social and economic exchanges. Several U.S. cities, including Chicago, Baltimore, Albany, N.Y. and Cincinnati, have sister-city relationships with communities in Ukraine.

The campaign in September came just a few weeks after the FBI warned that hackers linked to Russia were seeking to break into U.S. networks as a way to burrow into important systems or disrupt critical infrastructure. According to the latest bulletin from the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Russia-aligned hackers have multiple motives: disrupting aid and military supplies to Ukraine, punishing businesses with ties to Ukraine, or stealing military or technical secrets.

Last month, the Digital Security Lab of Ukraine and investigators at SentinelOne, a U.S. cybersecurity firm, exposed a speedy and sprawling cyberattack on relief groups supporting Ukraine, including the International Red Cross and UNICEF. That hacking campaign used fake emails impersonating Ukrainian officials that sought to fool users into infecting their own computers by clicking on malicious links.

The investigators at SentinelOne stopped short of attributing the attack to the Russian government but noted that the operation targeted groups working on Ukrainian assistance and required six months to plan. The “highly capable adversary” behind the campaign, the investigators determined, is “an operator well-versed in both offensive tradecraft and defensive detection evasion.”

By CHRIS MEGERIAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to bestow ceremonial pardons on two turkeys and fly to his private Florida resort on Tuesday to celebrate Thanksgiving, a holiday interlude during what has been a turbulent and uncertain chapter of his second term.

Waddle and Gobble, the two birds that will be spared from the dinner table, enjoyed luxury hotel accommodations ahead of their White House visit. The turkey pardon is a presidential tradition dating back years.

However, Thanksgiving may not provide Trump with much political respite after Democrats won sweeping victories in New Jersey, Virginia and elsewhere earlier this month. Some research indicates that holiday meals could cost more this year, despite the president’s insistence otherwise, a reminder of persistent frustration with elevated prices.

Turkeys Waddle and Gobble, who will receive a Presidential Pardon at the White House ahead of Thanksgiving, visit with the Love Family, with 3-month-old Boone Love in his Thanksgiving themed jammies, in the turkey’s hotel room at the Willard InterContinental Hotel, in Washington, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Meanwhile, Trump is struggling to advance a plan to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine after an earlier version faced swift criticism from European allies and even some Republicans. The U.S. military is also poised to target Venezuela with military strikes, part of an anti-drug operation that could ultimately destabilize the country’s leadership.

In Washington, Trump faces the possibility of a splintering Republican coalition ahead of next year’s midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress. Some members of his party already took the rare step of crossing the president by successfully pushing legislation to force the Justice Department to release more documents about the Jeffrey Epstein case.

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Trump faced a setback in court this week when a federal judge tossed cases against James Comey and Letitia James, two targets of the president’s retribution campaign.

Comey, a former FBI director whom Trump fired during his first term, was charged with making a false statement and obstructing Congress. James, the New York attorney general who investigated the president between his two terms, was charged with mortgage fraud.

Both pleaded not guilty and said the prosecutions were politically motivated, pointing to Trump’s public demands for the Justice Department to punish his enemies.

The judge said the interim U.S. attorney, a former member of Trump’s personal legal team, who obtained the indictments was illegally appointed. However, the decision was made without prejudice, so the Justice Department could try again to charge Comey and James.

All of the latest developments contribute to a moment of frenetic activity for the White House, which would normally be settling in for a quiet and festive holiday season.

However, despite the traditional arrival of a Christmas tree on Monday, the presidential residence will be much different this year. Although holiday tours are expected to continue, Trump’s decision to demolish the building’s East Wing to make room for a new ballroom has turned part of the White House grounds into a construction site.