Business category, Page 165
Musk abandons deal to buy Twitter; company says it will sue
Elon Musk announced Friday that he will abandon his tumultuous $44 billion offer to buy Twitter after the company failed to provide enough information about the number of fake accounts. Twitter immediately fired back, saying it would sue the Tesla CEO to uphold the deal. The likely unraveling of the...
Wall Street ends winning week with mixed close on jobs data
Wall Street capped a winning week with a sputtering finish Friday, as stocks waffled following a stronger-than-expected report on the U.S. jobs market. The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% after earlier flipping between a loss of 0.9% and a gain of 0.4%. Despite its weak finish, the benchmark index delivered just...
U.S. employers add a solid 372,000 jobs in sign of resilience
WASHINGTON — America’s employers shrugged off high inflation and weakening growth to add 372,000 jobs in June, a surprisingly strong gain that will likely spur the Federal Reserve to keep sharply raising interest rates to cool the economy and slow price increases. The unemployment rate in June remained at 3.6%...
Sysco accuses 4 largest beef processors of price fixing
OMAHA, Neb. — The nation’s largest food distributor has joined the other businesses accusing the four largest meat processors of working together to inflate beef prices. Sysco recently filed a federal lawsuit in Texas accusing Tyson Foods, JBS, Cargill and National Beef of price fixing. The lawsuit said those companies...
Twitter says it removes 1 million spam accounts a day
Twitter said it removes 1 million spam accounts each day in a call with executives Thursday during a briefing that aimed to shed more light on the company’s fake and bot accounts as it tussles with Elon Musk over “spam bots.” The Tesla CEO, who has offered to buy Twitter...
With U.S. dollar nearly equal to euro, impact is being felt
WASHINGTON — The U.S. dollar has been surging so much that it’s nearly equal in value to the euro for the first time in 20 years. That trend, though, threatens to hurt American companies because their goods become more expensive for foreign buyers. If U.S. exports were to weaken as...
Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates retreat this week
WASHINGTON — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates eased again this week as the Federal Reserve remains likely to raise its benchmark borrowing rate in its ongoing battle to bring down inflation. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year rate fell to 5.30% from 5.70% last week. One year...
Amazon Prime adding free Grubhub meal delivery for members
Amazon will give its U.S. Prime members free access to meal delivery service Grubhub for a year under a deal announced Wednesday. The Grubhub Plus membership — which normally costs $9.99 per month — lets customers order from thousands of restaurants with no delivery fees on most orders. Amazon Prime...
More Americans apply for jobless aid for 5th straight week
WASHINGTON — More Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week and while layoffs remain low, it was the fifth consecutive week that claims topped the 230,000 mark. Applications for jobless aid for the week ending July 2 rose to 235,000, up 4,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department reported...
Pittsburgh International Airport to get $20 million of FAA’s $1 billion for terminals and upgrades
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is giving nearly $1 billion to 85 airports to expand and upgrade terminals and other facilities, using money approved in last year’s huge infrastructure bill. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the projects will help meet future demand for travel and make flying safer and more...
Job openings slip, but employment landscape remains solid
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers advertised fewer jobs in May amid signs that the economy is weakening, though the overall demand for workers remained strong. Employers posted 11.3 million job openings at the end of May, the Labor Department said Wednesday, down from nearly 11.7 million in April. Job openings reached...
How a hotel satisfaction promise has led to more discontent
In the 1990s and early 2000s, the “100% Satisfaction Guarantee” was all the rage among many hotels. The gist was simple: Encounter a problem and receive your money back. In theory, this approach addressed fairly serious issues such as early-morning pool renovations that made the jackhammer an unwelcome alarm clock....
Apple to add ‘lockdown’ safeguard on iPhones, iPads, Macs
CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple said it will roll out a “lockdown” option for iPhones, iPads and Mac computers intended to protect against spyware unleashed by state-sponsored hackers — although enabling that protection will also make these devices less useful. The safeguard announced Wednesday is a tacit acknowledgement that not even...
Ben & Jerry’s ice cream fight in Israel heats up
One week after its parent company found a way to get Ben & Jerry’s ice cream sold in east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, the company known for its stance on social issues almost as much as for its Chunky Monkey ice cream is suing to block that from...
Add rent to the rising costs bedeviling small businesses
NEW YORK — The rent has come due for America’s small businesses and at a very inopportune time. Landlords were lenient about rent payments during the first two years of the pandemic. Now, many are asking for back rent, and some are raising the current rent as well. Meanwhile, most...
World shares mostly higher ahead of U.S. holiday
BANGKOK — World shares are mostly higher. Benchmarks rose in London, Paris, Frankfurt and Tokyo but fell in Hong Kong and Seoul. Last week was the fourth losing week in the last five for Wall Street as investors fret over high inflation and the possibility that higher interest rates could...
Illinois town braces for future without U.S. Steel plant
GRANITE CITY, Illinois — News got around quickly in this town across the Mississippi from St. Louis: The steel mill’s death knell was sounding again, and this time, the end might really be near. At the Daylight Donuts down the street from the plant, a group of regulars relayed what...
Saxonburg-based II-VI acquires California company, changes name
A Butler County company with Roman numerals for a name is putting to rest its link to the periodic table of elements in conjunction with its acquisition of a California firm that II-VI Inc. says holds the promise to boost its hold in the materials, networking and laser markets. II-VI...
Testimony begins in question of lease termination for Pittsburgh airport concessions operatorVideo
An Allegheny County Common Pleas judge on Friday heard the first part of testimony over whether the company contracted to oversee concessions at Pittsburgh International Airport can continue with its work. Fraport Pittsburgh, which is contracted through 2029 with the Allegheny County Airport Authority to oversee its retail, and food...
Chip shortage leaves 95K GM vehicles incomplete in storage
DETROIT — The global shortage of computer chips forced General Motors to build 95,000 vehicles without certain components during the second quarter. The Detroit automaker said in a regulatory filing Friday that most of the incomplete vehicles were built in June, and that it expects most of them to be...
Kohl’s sale falls apart in shaky retail environment
SILVER SPRING, Md. — The potential sale of the Kohl’s department store chain has fallen apart in a shaky retail environment of rising inflation and consumer anxiety. Kohl’s entered exclusive talks early this month with Franchise Group, the owner of Vitamin Shop and other retail outlets, on a deal worth...
Air travelers brace for turbulence over Fourth of July weekend
Scott Vargo was among those Thursday at Pittsburgh International Airport taking their chances and hoping for the best. Amid the airline industry’s nationwide struggles with cancellations and delays, Vargo nonetheless forged ahead with travel plans to fly to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., for the Fourth of July holiday weekend to celebrate...
Auto sales could hit below pandemic 2020 levels amid low inventory challenges
Low inventory levels led Cox Automotive analysts to again revise their full-year U.S. 2022 new-vehicle sales forecast downward. At a discussion Tuesday with media, analysts projected 14.4 million sales this year, below the 14.6 million sold in pandemic year 2020. Cox initially forecast 16 million sales for the year before...
U.S. Steel to make $150M investment in Minnesota operations
U.S. Steel plans to invest $150 million in a new Iron Range facility in Minnesota that would make taconite pellets tailored for electric arc steel mills. The Pittsburgh-based company said Tuesday it plans to break ground this fall on the facility, which will be located at one of its two...
2 Seattle startups racing to transform next-gen space travel
The phrase “nuclear energy” conjures images of large steaming towers or Tony Stark’s arc reactor from the iconic “Iron Man” movies. But two Seattle-based startups are designing nuclear technologies small enough to pick up and carry that, thanks in part to buy-in from the Defense Department, they hope will fuel...
