Business category, Page 141
Google has the next move as Microsoft embraces OpenAI buzz
NEW YORK — Before the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT was unleashed into the world, the novelist Robin Sloan was testing a similar AI writing assistant built by researchers at Google. It didn’t take long for Sloan, author of the bestseller “Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour Bookstore,” to realize that the technology was...
Mad Mex in Oakland closes because of staffing challenges, lease situation
Despite being surrounded by thousands of college students, Mad Mex in Oakland could not find enough employees to remain open. After nearly 30 years in business on the corner of Atwood and Bates Streets, the restaurant has closed. “I can’t tell you how many people have said to me, ‘There...
Morning Roundup: Bed Bath & Beyond closing 3 Pittsburgh locations
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023: 3 Pittsburgh-area Bed Bath & Beyond stores closing Three Pittsburgh-area Bed Bath & Beyond stores are set to close, further reducing the home goods retailer’s footprint in the area, the retail chain announced this week....
John Dorfman: Don’t be a stranger to non-U.S. stocks
Most economists predict a recession for the U.S. in 2023. No one is good at foretelling the future, but the recession threat may be one reason to consider adding some non-U.S. stocks to your portfolio. Here are five foreign stocks I currently like. All of them trade in the U.S.,...
Pittsburgh region’s unemployment rate flat at 4%
The Pittsburgh region’s unemployment rate held steady in December at 4%, as more people are both looking for work and finding it, according to data released Tuesday by the state Department of Labor & Industry. It was the second consecutive month that the jobless rate in the seven-county area was...
Philips plans to cut another 6,000 jobs globally; local impact unclear
Dutch health technology company Philips said it will lay off another 6,000 workers globally. The company, which has several locations Western Pennsylvania, said the move is an effort to restore profitability and improve product safety following a recall of respiratory devices, according to Reuters. Half of the job cuts will...
Boeing bids farewell to an icon, delivers last 747 jumbo jet
SEATTLE — Boeing bids farewell to an icon on Tuesday: It’s delivering its final 747 jumbo jet. Since its first flight in 1969, the giant yet graceful 747 has served as a cargo plane, a commercial aircraft capable of carrying nearly 500 passengers, a transport for NASA’s space shuttles, and...
U.S. consumer confidence lags as 2023 gets underway
American consumers are kicking off 2023 a bit less confident than they were at the end of last year as inflation and the possibility of a recession loom. The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index slipped to a still-optimistic 107.1 in January, down from 109 in December....
Exxon booked record profits in 2022 as energy prices soared
NEW YORK — Exxon Mobil posted record annual profits in 2022 as Americans struggled with high prices for gasoline, home heating and consumer goods. The oil giant brought in $12.75 billion in profits in the fourth quarter, bringing annual net income to $55.7 billion. That exceeds Exxon’s previous record of...
U.S. probes complaints of parts flying off of Ford Explorers
DETROIT — The U.S. government’s road safety agency is investigating complaints that windshield trim panels can fly off of Ford Explorers while they’re traveling at highway speeds. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it has 164 complaints about the trim pieces detaching on 2011 through 2019 Explorer SUVs. The...
Wall Street climbs to add more to its strong JanuaryVideo
NEW YORK — Wall Street closed out a strong January with more gains on Tuesday, ahead of what many investors hope will be one of the Federal Reserve’s last hikes to interest rates for a while. Markets got a boost after a report showed that that growth for workers’ pay...
Justice Department seeks Tesla automated driving documents
The U.S. Justice Department has requested documents from Tesla Inc. related to its Autopilot and “Full Self-Driving” features, according to a regulatory filing. “To our knowledge no government agency in any ongoing investigation has concluded that any wrongdoing occurred,” Tesla said in the filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange...
Millennial Money: 6 ways to move out of your parents’ house
Nearly a quarter of millennials (22%) are living with their parents, and more than half of those living with them (55%) made the move in 2022, according to a December survey from PropertyManagement.com. Many said they’re back home due to high rent, money concerns or job losses — and 9...
Architecture of shuttered Westinghouse lab in Churchill to get closer look at webinar
An aerial view of the former George Westinghouse Research and Technology Park in Churchill reveals a nod to the company’s early ties to the railroad industry. The corporate campus was designed to look like a locomotive. But workers at the now-empty Churchill site, which opened on 150 acres in the...
IMF upgrades its outlook for the global economy in 2023
WASHINGTON — The outlook for the global economy is growing slightly brighter as China eases its zero-covid policies and the world shows surprising resilience in the face of high inflation, elevated interest rates and Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. That’s the view of the International Monetary Fund, which now expects...
FAA adds safeguards to U.S. flight system to prevent new outages
The U.S. government has added new protections to the aviation notice system that led to thousands of disruptions earlier this month in an attempt to prevent such failures in the future, the Federal Aviation Administration told lawmakers. A federal manager must now be present anytime a contractor works with the...
Ford cuts price on Mustang Mach-E after Tesla trims pricesVideo
DETROIT — Ford is cutting prices on its Mustang Mach-E electric SUV by as much as $6,000 just weeks after market leader Tesla took similar steps. The Detroit automaker is increasing production of the Mach-E this year and is taking advantage of streamlined costs to reduce prices across the board,...
Stocks sink as markets brace for big week with Fed, earnings
NEW YORK — Stocks sank Monday as Wall Street prepped for a week full of potentially market-moving events, from decisions on interest rates around the world to earnings reports from the biggest U.S. companies. The S&P 500 dropped 1.3%, giving back some of the gains that had carried it last...
As pandemic tax credits fade, prepare for shrinking tax refunds
The clock has started ticking for people to file their tax returns but this year, there’s one thing to brace for — smaller refunds. That’s because many of the benefits put in place to help people weather the pandemic — such as boosting the child tax credit and earned income...
China accuses Washington of abusing export controls
BEIJING — China’s government on Monday criticized U.S. controls on technology exports as a trade violation, after Japan and the Netherlands agreed to join Washington in limiting Beijing’s access to materials to make advanced processor chips they say can be used in weapons. The Foreign Ministry didn’t mention the latest...
Elon Musk’s mysterious ways on display in Tesla tweet trial
SAN FRANCISCO — Elon Musk’s enigmatic personality and unconventional tactics are emerging as key exhibits in a trial revolving around one of his most polarizing pursuits — tweeting. The trial, centered on a pair of tweets announcing Musk had obtained the money to take Tesla private in 2018, reeled the...
Musk, top Biden aides meet in Washington, talk electric cars
WASHINGTON — Tesla CEO Elon Musk and a pair of top aides to President Joe Biden met in Washington on Friday to discuss the electric vehicle industry and the broader goal of electrification. Musk and Biden did not meet, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. The two haven’t had...
Lots of sound and fury on U.S. debt, but not a crisis — yet
WASHINGTON — For all the sound and fury about raising the nation’s debt limit, most economists say federal borrowing is not at a crisis point … at least not yet. The national debt is at the core of a dispute about how to raise the government’s legal borrowing authority, a...
Judge finds Post-Gazette broke labor law, orders newspaper to bargain with striking workers
A judge ruled Thursday that the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette violated federal law by bargaining in bad faith with its journalists union and unilaterally implementing working conditions after breaking off negotiations for a new contract. Judge Geoffrey Carter of the National Labor Relations Board ordered the Post-Gazette to end the impasse it...
U.S. inflation and consumer spending cooled in December
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge eased further in December, and consumer spending fell — the latest evidence that the Fed’s series of interest rate hikes are slowing the economy. Friday’s report from the Commerce Department showed that prices rose 5% last month from a year earlier, down...
