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1. Bank of England holds interest rates
In its first Monetary Policy Committee meeting of the year, the Bank of England held interest rates at 3.75%, the BBC reported. The decision follows December's 4% cut, and analysts are unsure when to expect further reductions.
According to the BBC, the majority vote was just 5-4. In addition to the interest rate announcement, the Bank cut its forecast for economic growth to 0.9%, in contrast to the 1.2% predicted in November.
2. US private payroll jobs rise less than expected in January
Hiring in the U.S. fell below expectations in January, per data released by payrolls processing firm ADP. CNBC reported that private companies only added around 22,000 positions last month — a number that would have been negative if not for 74,000 hires in the education and health services category.
“Hiring is softening. It continues a pattern that we’ve noticed for the past three years,” Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist, told CNBC. “Employers are very reticent to hire in the current economy.”
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics was slated to release its January jobs report on Friday, but that has been delayed to next Wednesday due to the partial government shutdown earlier this week.
3. California hotel deals picked up in second half of 2025
Hotel transactions ended 2025 trending upward, but CoStar News' Bryan Wroten reports that uptick in activity was mostly driven by distressed sales.
Atlas Hospitality Group's California Hotel Sales Survey 2025 Year End found that 259 individual hotel sales occurred in the second half of the year, marking a 4.4% year-over-year increase. While total dollar volume amounted to nearly $4.1 billion — a 22% year-over-year increase — the median price per room fell by 7.2% to $138,000.
4. Two Minneapolis hotels housing ICE agents see delay in liquor license renewal
In Minneapolis, two hotels housing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are seeing a delayed action on their liquor license renewal requests following a vote from a Minneapolis City Council committee.
All but two hotels — the Canopy by Hilton Minneapolis-Mill District and The Depot Minneapolis — had liquor license applications approved Tuesday, according to local news station KSTP. The decision for the two hotels was delayed until the city council's next meeting on Feb. 17.
5. Hotel in Macau to gain millions selling gold from iconic hallway
A hotel in Macau known for its gold-lined hallway is cashing in on the soaring price of gold. The Grand Emperor Hotel in Macau features 78 pieces of 78-kilogram Swiss 999.9 pure gold in its iconic Golden Avenue, and the hotel is slated to sell the collection of gold for approximately HK$90.2 million ($11.5 million).
Following the announcement of the plan to sell the gold, Emperor Entertainment Hotel's stock price once rose 15% at opening Thursday, according to an article in The Standard.