Business category, Page 180
Southwest cancels hundreds more flights, denies sickout
DALLAS — Southwest Airlines canceled more than 350 flights Monday following a weekend of major disruptions that it blamed on bad weather and air traffic control issues. The pilots union accused the company of a botched response to what it said would have been a minor challenge for other airlines....
Amazon to allow employees to work remotely indefinitely
SEATTLE — Amazon said Monday it will allow many tech and corporate workers to continue working remotely indefinitely, as long as they can commute to the office when necessary. The new policy was announced in a blog post and is a change from Amazon’s previous expectation that most employees would...
Instacart CEO Fidji Simo says online grocery shopping has room to grow
When the pandemic hit the U.S. last year, grocery delivery company Instacart suddenly became a lifeline for millions of consumers. Sales volumes skyrocketed; in one month, the company added 300,000 drivers to keep up with its orders. “We saw five years of growth packed into one year,” Instacart CEO Fidji...
Stocks give up an early gain and end lower on Wall Street
Stocks closed broadly lower after a day of choppy trading Monday on Wall Street as investors prepare for a busy week of corporate earnings and inflation updates. The major indexes made early gains, but slowly fizzled as the day progressed. The S&P 500 fell 30.15 points, or 0.7%, to 4,361.19....
Most John Deere workers reject contract offer from tractor maker
MOLINE, Ill. — The vast majority of United Auto Workers union members rejected a contract offer from Deere & Co. on Sunday that would have delivered at least 5% raises to the workers who make John Deere tractors and other equipment. “The tentative agreement reached by the UAW and John...
Small businesses navigate ever-changing covid-19 reality
NEW YORK — For a brief moment this summer, it seemed like small businesses might be getting a break from the relentless onslaught of the pandemic. More Americans, many of them vaccinated, flocked to restaurants and stores without needing to mask up or socially distance. But then came a surge...
Southwest Airlines flight cancellations continue into Monday
DALLAS — Southwest Airlines canceled hundreds more flights Monday following a weekend of major service disruptions. By late morning Monday, Southwest had canceled about 365 flights — 10% of its schedule for the day — and more than 600 others were delayed. The Dallas-based airline blamed air traffic control issues...
Small businesses navigate ever-changing covid-19 reality
NEW YORK (AP) — For a brief moment this summer, it seemed like small businesses might be getting a break from the relentless onslaught of the pandemic. More Americans, many of them vaccinated, flocked to restaurants and stores without needing to mask up or socially distance. But then came a...
Explainer: 5 key takeaways from the September jobs report
WASHINGTON — September wasn’t exactly the robust month for hiring that many had expected and hoped for. With the delta variant still disrupting the economy and employers struggling to find enough workers, the gain for the month amounted to 194,000 jobs — not even half of what economists had expected....
Nearly 140 countries reach deal on corporate minimum tax
LONDON — Nearly 140 countries have agreed on a tentative deal that would make sweeping changes to how big multinational companies are taxed and deter them from stashing profits in offshore havens where they pay little or no tax. Under the agreement announced Friday, countries would enact a global minimum...
Trump hotel lost $70M during presidency, got help from bank
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump’s company lost more than $70 million operating his Washington, D.C., hotel while in office, forcing him at one point to get a reprieve from a major bank on payments on a loan, according to documents released Friday by a House committee investigating his...
U.S. employers add a weak 194,000 jobs as delta maintains hold
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added just 194,000 jobs in September, a second straight tepid gain and evidence that the pandemic still has a grip on the economy with many companies struggling to fill millions of open jobs. Friday’s report from the Labor Department also showed that the unemployment rate fell...
Google to keep climate denial ads away from other content
LONDON — Google will ban digital ads promoting false climate change claims from appearing next to the content of other publishers, hoping to limit revenue for climate change deniers and stop the spread of misinformation on its platform. The company said Thursday in a blog post that the new policy...
Stocks close higher as receding debt fears spur rally
Technology companies helped lift stocks Thursday on Wall Street broadly higher as investors welcomed the end of a standoff in Congress over extending the federal debt ceiling. An agreement to temporarily extend the government’s borrowing authority into December gives lawmakers more time to reach a permanent solution, averting for now...
U.S. jobless claims fall to 326,000, first drop in 4 weeks
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week, another sign that the U.S. job market and economy continue their steady recovery from last year’s coronavirus recession. Unemployment claims fell by 38,000 to 326,000, the first drop in four weeks, the Labor Department said Thursday. Since...
Shell warns of possible $500 million hit from Hurricane Ida
LONDON — Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell warned Thursday that it will take an earnings hit of up to $500 million as a result of the disruptions caused by Hurricane Ida, which hit the Gulf of Mexico in late August. In an update to shareholders, the company said the hurricane,...
AT&T reportedly played major role building, funding far-right channel One America News
Far-right media outlet One America News Network, known for promoting conspiracy theories about covid-19 and the 2020 presidential election, would likely not exist without the support and funding from telecom giant AT&T — whose executives reportedly came up with the idea of starting the channel. The world’s largest communications company...
Stocks edge higher as Wall Street shakes off volatility
Stocks recovered from an early slide on Wall Street to close with modest gains Wednesday as investors held out hope that Congress may yet be able to temporarily extend the federal government’s debt ceiling and buy lawmakers time to reach a more permanent resolution. The market rallied back from a...
Outage highlights how vital Facebook has become worldwide
NEW YORK — The six-hour outage at Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp was a headache for many casual users but far more serious for the millions of people worldwide who rely on the social media sites to run their businesses or communicate with relatives, fellow parents, teachers or neighbors. When all...
Workers at all of Kellogg’s U.S. cereal plants go on strike
OMAHA, Neb. — Work at all of the Kellogg Company’s U.S. cereal plants came to a halt Tuesday as roughly 1,400 workers went on strike, but it wasn’t immediately clear how much the supply of Frosted Flakes or any of the company’s other iconic brands would be disrupted. The strike...
Ex-Facebook manager criticizes company, urges more oversightVideo
WASHINGTON — While accusing the giant social network of pursuing profits over safety, a former Facebook data scientist told Congress Tuesday she believes stricter government oversight could alleviate the dangers the company poses, from harming children to inciting political violence to fueling misinformation. Frances Haugen, testifying to the Senate Commerce...
Whistleblower: Facebook chose profit over public safety
NEW YORK — A data scientist who was revealed Sunday as the Facebook whistleblower says that whenever there was a conflict between the public good and what benefited the company, the social media giant would choose its own interests. Frances Haugen was identified in a “60 Minutes” interview Sunday as...
Stocks fall as tech retreats; price of oil hits 7-year high
Technology companies led a broad slide for stocks Monday on Wall Street, as rising bond yields and energy prices stoked investors’ concerns about higher inflation. The S&P 500 fell 1.3%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.9% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 2.1%. The price of oil hit a seven-year...
U.S. decides not to open formal probe of Tesla battery fires
DETROIT — U.S. automobile safety regulators have denied a petition seeking an investigation into Tesla software updates, saying it’s unlikely a probe would find a safety defect. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Monday denied the 2019 petition, which alleged that over-the-internet software updates cut battery range in response...
Amid global energy crunch, OPEC+ weighs how much oil to pump
FRANKFURT, Germany — With oil prices near three-year highs, OPEC and allied countries are deciding whether to stay with their plans to gradually restore production that was cut back during the pandemic recession — or to pump more oil to a recovering global economy that’s increasingly thirsty for it. Analysts...
