Where African-American employees say they love to work. These are the companies that received the highest marks from their African-American employees, according to data collected by Fortune partner Great Place to Work. (Fortune)

When Federal Reserve officials meet next week, agreeing to raise short-term interest rates will be the easy part. The trickier task could be debating the likely path of interest rates in the months and years ahead. (The Wall Street Journal)

After the bruising 2016 campaign, Americans are broadly optimistic that Donald Trump’s election will invigorate the economy but fearful that it will further divide the nation along lines of class, race and party. (The Atlantic)

By carrying others’ confidences, suggesting solutions to interpersonal issues, working behind the scenes to prevent pain, and reframing difficult messages in constructive ways, toxic handlers absorb the negativity in day-to-day professional life and allow employees to focus on constructive work. (Harvard Business Review)

As the newly released 2016 Empathy Index demonstrates, empathy, which is about understanding our emotional impact on others and making change as a result, is more important to a successful business than it has ever been, correlating to growth, productivity, and earnings per employee. (Harvard Business Review)

The best workplaces for diversity show higher satisfaction for all employees—and bigger growth, too. (Fortune)

Several Silicon Valley technology companies have delayed releasing their annual diversity reports as the industry struggles to show progress in adding more women and minorities to their ranks.Twitter Inc. and Pinterest Inc. are set to release their updates this month, according to spokeswomen at each company, about 16 months after their previous reports.This year, however, they will both focus on hiring goals, rather than just the racial and gender breakdown of their employees that has become the industry standard. (The Wall Street Journal)

Fortune’s annual list of companies in the U.S. doing the most to create inclusive cultures for minorities, LGBT employees, and women. (Fortune)

After retreating from China this year, Uber's plans for world domination hinge on its big bet in Latin America. Mexico City is now the busiest city in the world for Uber. Second is Sao Paulo, Brazil. The company has experienced a tenfold increase in rides across the region in the last year and plans to be in around 200 cities by the end of 2017. It's currently in 92 cities. (CNN Money)

Brown v. Board of Education is the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that ended legal segregation in the public school system. That was in 1954. Now a mural commemorating the case will be painted inside the Kansas Statehouse in Topeka. (KMUW)

Because more than half of recent African American college graduates are underemployed and 12 percent are unemployed, UNCF today announced that 24 colleges and universities will receive five-year grants totaling $35.3 million to implement programs to improve employment outcomes for their graduates. (Benzinga)

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) announced that Gloria R. Boyland has been appointed to the Board of Directors, effective as of November 30, 2016. Boyland will serve as a member of the Audit Committee and will stand for re-election at the 2017 annual meeting of shareholders on May 19, 2017. Boyland is currently Corporate Vice President, Operations and Service Support, at FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) where she has served since 2004. Previously, Boyland served in several various leadership and managerial positions at General Electric Company from 1992 to 2004 and served at AXA Financial from 1986 to 1992 as Assistant Counsel and Associate Counsel. Boyland is a graduate of Eckerd College and holds a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Pennsylvaniaand a Master of Business Administration degree from Duke University. She is currently also involved in several national and local organizations which include serving on the U.S. Quality Council for The Conference Board, the American Society for Quality, Teach for America, the National Black MBA Association, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and the Mid-South Food Bank. (Smarter Analyst)

FedEx has a long history of supporting the African-American community. The company purposefully supports the advancement of minorities and women throughout the world by working with organizations such as Historically Black Colleges & Universities, the National Urban League, National Black MBA Association, United Negro College Fund, and INROADS, according to FedEx. (The Financial)

Smartmatic, the world’s leading elections company, released research today, highlighting voters’ concerns over the current state of America’s voting machines and underlining the connection between outdated technology and a lack of trust in U.S. voting systems. Conducted by the global insight and analytics consultancy Edelman Intelligence, the findings show that following a contentious presidential election, the majority of 2016 U.S. voters want to see investment in new voting systems and technology, and believe that updated technology will increase trust in elections. (Business Wire)

George Mason University professor Kevin Clark is certain that African-American youth in low- and middle-income communities can enhance their education and even change their lives through the use of technology. That belief was the basis for his groundbreaking study that examines how such youth and parents use technology to learn outside of normal educational environments. (Fairfax County Times)

We get it. Everyone wants an iPhone 7, a 4K TV and a new laptop. At least according to the Consumer Technology Association, which says those items are the year's most sought after. But the coolest and most buzz-worthy products don't quite fit into those buckets. (CNN Money)

Time is officially up for the Pebble smartwatch. Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky said in a statement Wednesday the company will shut down and no longer make smartwatches, selling its tech, software and other assets to Fitbit, as the fitness band maker pushes deeper into the ailing smartwatch market. (USA TODAY)

A slew of local community groups are among those joining forces with Morgan Stanley to bring a new small business lending program to Cleveland targeting African-Americans and minority-owned businesses. The Capital Access Fund of Greater Cleveland is a three-year program providing access to capital through 50 loans totaling $8 million. The loans also come with pre- and post-loan counseling. (Crain's Cleveland Business)

Whether to Grandma’s house or an all-inclusive resort they go, half of all Americans plan to travel this holiday season (52%, on par with 2015), expecting to spend an average of $1,521, a whopping 151% increase from 2015 ($605), according to the latest American Express Spending & Saving Tracker. (The Financial)

As the holiday season moves into full swing, the #BuyBlack campaign has led many to imagine what would happen if African-Americans — the largest consumer group of color in the United States with an estimated $1.2 trillion in spending power — routinely demonstrated allegiance to the 2.6 million Black-owned businesses that exist in America. (Black Press USA)

The Black unemployment rate improved from 8.6 percent in October to 8.1 percent in November, according to the latest jobs report from the Labor Department. The White unemployment rate ticked down from 4.2 percent in October to 4.1 percent in November, likely because White workers dropped out of the labor market. The labor force participation rate for White workers, which is the share of workers either employed or looking for jobs, continued a three-month slide and was 62.7 percent in November. (Black Press USA)

Curveballs can come any time. But a lot of Americans aren't ready for them financially, according to new research from the New York Federal Reserve. The average American age 40 or under says there's nearly a 50% chance they would not be able come up with $2,000 next month if there were an emergency. (CNN Money)

Like the roof over your head, the state of your checking account is something you may take for granted. But if you’re seeing money drip from your account in the form of fees, it’s time to stop those leaks before things get any more costly. (USA TODAY)

Starbucks said Wednesday it plans to open 12,000 additional stores globally in the next five years, taking the chain to a total of about 37,000 outlets.Half of the new units will be in the U.S. and China. (CNBC)

The US Supreme Court has sided with Samsung in the South Korean company's long-running patent fight with Apple. The court rejected an earlier ruling that Samsung must pay $399m to Apple for copying some iPhone designs. (BBC)

Donald Trump took aim at one of the most visible emblems of the American presidency with his attack on plans for a new Air Force One, turning the iconoclastic message that got him elected on the very office he’ll occupy in six weeks. (Bloomberg)

The goal of the Affordable Care Act was to whittle down the number of uninsured Americans and bring order to the Wild West of the individual insurance market. According to a new analysis by the Urban Institute think tank, if the law is repealed like Republican leaders want, both of those things would be undone. In fact, the uninsured rate would likely be even worse than it was before the law was passed. (The Atlantic)