Business category, Page 164
More Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week
WASHINGTON — Slightly more Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, but layoffs have settled to the low, pre-pandemic levels seen before the coronavirus recession in 2020. Jobless claims rose by 11,000 to 227,000 for the week ending March 5, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The previous week’s number was...
Gas price hikes fueling electric vehicle conspiracy theories
WASHINGTON — Some social media users suggest that soaring fuel prices in the U.S. aren’t the result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, increased consumption or supply chain issues as daily life resumes after two years of stagnation brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, the flurry of Facebook and Twitter...
U.S. job openings near record, adding to price pressures
WASHINGTON — U.S. businesses posted a near-record level of open jobs in January, a trend that has pushed up worker’s pay and added to inflationary pressures in the U.S. Employers posted 11.3 million jobs at the end of January, down slightly from a record of 11.4 million in December, the...
Stocks jump, oil dips in Wall Street’s latest dizzying swing
NEW YORK — Stocks are heading back up, and oil prices are easing Wednesday in the latest dizzying swings to hit Wall Street amid uncertainty about the war in Ukraine. The S&P 500 was 2% higher in early trading, following a four-day losing streak that had pulled it 13% below...
BMW recalls vehicles for 3rd time due to engine fire risk
DETROIT — BMW is recalling more than 917,000 older cars and SUVs in the U.S. — most for a third time — to fix a problem that can cause engine compartment fires. The recall covers many 3 Series, 5 Series, 1 Series, X5, X3, and Z4 vehicles from the 2006...
Black and lower-income homeowners missed out on the refinancing boom spurred by low interest rates
Mortgage interest rates have dropped to historic lows in the last couple of years, presenting many homeowners the chance to save money by refinancing their loans — an opportunity that Black and low-income homeowners haven’t been able to enjoy because of various barriers. According to a report released this month...
McDonald’s, Starbucks, Coke, Pepsi join exodus out of Russia
DETROIT — McDonald’s, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and General Electric — ubiquitous global brands and symbols of U.S. corporate might — all announced Tuesday they were temporarily suspending their business in Russia in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. “Our values mean we cannot ignore the needless human suffering unfolding...
UPMC moves forward with plans for 636-bed hospital in Pittsburgh’s Oakland
Health care giant UPMC is moving ahead with plans to build a new 636-bed hospital in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood. Pittsburgh’s Planning Commission was briefed on the proposed development Tuesday. Called the UPMC Presbyterian Hospital bed tower, the project was first unveiled nearly five years ago. At the time, UPMC touted...
John Dorfman: Glory days pass you by. Ask IBM, General Electric
Bruce Springsteen sang that glory days will pass “in the wink of a young girl’s eye.” I was thinking about that song a few days ago when I cleaned out some files and came up a list of the stocks with the greatest market value as of June 15, 1990....
EPA rule would make heavy trucks cut smog, soot pollution
DETROIT — The Biden administration is proposing stronger pollution regulations for new tractor-trailer rigs that would clean up smoky diesel engines and encourage new technologies during the next two decades. The proposal released Monday by the Environmental Protection Agency would require the industry to cut smog-and-soot-forming nitrogen oxide emissions by...
Kohl’s to open 100 small-format stores, expand Sephora shops
Department store chain Kohl’s said it expects to increase sales by a low-single-digit percentage annually, with plans to open 100 new small-format stores in the next four years and expand Sephora-branded shops to 850, among other moves. Kohl’s announced its long-term goals on Monday ahead of the company’s annual investor...
How to put your tax refund to work for you
Even though what can feel like a gift from the government is actually a delayed receipt of your own money, the best use of those funds is not always apparent. This year the question is even more fraught, with many households facing increasing financial pressure from inflation, rising interest rates...
New offices for the hybrid era? Many companies are on board
OMAHA, Neb. — If you build a shiny new office building, will your employees show up to work in it? Many U.S. companies are banking on it because they believe working in person is better for collaboration and training young employees. So even though most employees are still working from...
China cuts economic growth goal as it tries to reverse slump
China on Saturday cut its annual economic growth target to its lowest level in decades as Beijing struggles to reverse a slump at a time when Russia’s war on Ukraine is pushing up oil prices and roiling the global economy. The ruling Communist Party will aim for growth of “around...
Microsoft closes on $16 billion acquisition of Nuance
Microsoft has closed on its approximately $16 billion acquisition of speech recognition company Nuance. The deal, which was announced last year, helps Microsoft Corp. get more entrenched into hospitals and the health care industry through Nuance’s widely used medical dictation and transcription tools. The acquisition is Microsoft’s second-largest after its...
Taco Bell in Allegheny Township on schedule to open this month
Construction continues on a Taco Bell in Allegheny Township, expected to open this month at intersection of Hyde Park Road at Route 56. Kevin Kupniewsk, senior director of operations for Charter Foods/Taco Bell, KFC, Long John Silvers and Pizza Hut, confirmed this week that the project is on schedule. An...
Stocks tumble as war overshadows ‘fantastic’ U.S. jobs data
Stocks around the world racked up more losses Friday, as even a gangbusters report on the U.S. jobs market can’t pull Wall Street’s focus off its worries about the war in Ukraine. The S&P 500 fell 0.8% and posted its third weekly loss in the last four. The Dow Jones...
Report: American whiskey exports starting to rebound
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — American whiskey exports, battered by tariffs and the covid-19 pandemic, started rebounding in 2021, but distillers have more ground to make up to fully recover, an industry group said. Exports of bourbon, Tennessee whiskey and rye whiskey reached $975 million in 2021, up 15% from the prior...
Gasoline nears historic high in Western Pa., topping $4 per gallon in some places
Gasoline now costs more than $4 per gallon at some local stations, thanks to an overnight price spike of about 13 cents per gallon. The abrupt jump, after weeks of steady price increases, is something not usually seen, even in times of economic uncertainty. “That’s very drastic and a direct...
Strong job growth points to covid’s fading grip on economy
In a buoyant sign for the U.S. economy, businesses stepped up their hiring last month as omicron faded and more Americans ventured out to spend at restaurants, shops and hotels despite surging inflation. Employers added a robust 678,000 jobs in February, the largest monthly total since July, the Labor Department...
Russia’s war spurs corporate exodus, exposes business risks
LONDON — Car factories idled, beer stopped flowing, furniture and fashion orders ceased, and energy companies cut their pipelines. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has thrown business plans into disarray and forced a growing number of the world’s best known brands — from Apple to Mercedes-Benz and BP — to pull...
Stocks end another bumpy day lower and crude oil prices ease
NEW YORK — Stocks fell and oil prices eased back Thursday after another bumpy day of trading on Wall Street as markets remained anxious about the broader impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Major indexes veered up and down for much of the day before a late-day slide pushed them...
Amazon to close all its bookstores in the U.S., United Kingdom
NEW YORK — Amazon is confirming it’s closing all of its bookstores as well as its 4-star shops and pop up locations as the online behemoth reworks its physical footprint. The Seattle-based company said Wednesday that the move, which affects 66 stores in the U.S. and two in the United...
Wall Street roars back to rally mode, even as oil rises anew
NEW YORK — Wall Street took another sharp swing Wednesday, this time back to rally mode, as stocks and Treasury yields rose even as U.S. crude oil prices climbed to the highest level in more than a decade. The S&P 500 rose 1.9%, recouping its losses from earlier in the...
Millennial Money: Viral savings challenges that pay off
Among the different ways to trick yourself into saving, money-saving challenges are some of the most engaging. They can help you feel connected to finances by requiring frequent check-ins and debunking feelings of inadequacy when it comes to saving. For Cristina Brown, a self-described savings-challenge designer and founder of the...
