Business category, Page 240
CBO says deficit to reach $3.7 trillion in economic decline
WASHINGTON — A recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic and a burst of government spending on testing, health care and aid to businesses and households will nearly quadruple the government’s budget deficit to $3.7 trillion, the Congressional Budget Office said Friday. The 2020 budget deficit will explode after four coronavirus...
Wall Street ends a bumpy week with a gain, led by technology
NEW YORK — Stocks are closing out a tumultuous week with broad gains, led by familar names in technology, including Apple. The S&P 500 rose 1.4% Friday, but still ended the week lower, breaking a two-week winning streak. Stocks meandered between gains and losses for much of the morning then...
Self-employed Pennsylvanians report confusion, glitches when applying for financial assistance
More than 78,000 self-employed Pennsylvanians have applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance since the state introduced the program last week — but several who were interviewed say the process has been marred by confusion and technical glitches. “You’re just kind of in the dark, and just hoping that something comes through,”...
Dismal report on covid-19 drug sends markets downward
NEW YORK — An early rally on Wall Street suddenly vanished Thursday, the latest example of how fragile the hopes underpinning the stock market’s monthlong recovery are. The S&P 500 shot higher in the morning, completely brushing aside another stunning report showing millions of workers are losing their jobs by...
Coronavirus pushes U.S. unemployment toward highest since DepressionVideo
WASHINGTON — Unemployment in the U.S. is swelling to levels last seen during the Great Depression of the 1930s, with 1 in 6 American workers thrown out of a job by the coronavirus. More than 4.4 million laid-off Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, the government said Thursday. In...
Tyson Foods idles largest pork plant as virus slams industryVideo
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Tyson Foods suspended operations Wednesday at an Iowa plant that is critical to the nation’s pork supply but was blamed for fueling a massive coronavirus outbreak in the region. The Arkansas-based company said the closure of the plant in Waterloo would deny a vital market to...
In Great Lakes region, EPA enforcement of clean water laws slackens
CHICAGO — Two months after President Trump took office, U.S. Steel dumped a plume of cancer-causing metal into a Lake Michigan tributary 20 miles away from a Chicago drinking water intake. The company reported another spill of hexavalent chromium six months later, around the same time public interest lawyers dug...
Auto insurance companies sending money directly to customers as result of covid-19
Auto insurance companies are offering financial relief to customers while stay-at-home directives reduce the number of people driving during the coronavirus pandemic. Companies offering relief assistance include Erie Insurance, GEICO, Progressive, State Farm, Allstate and Travelers. Erie Insurance said it would provide $200 million in dividends directly to personal and...
Trump Organization, written out of U.S. bailout, taps European aid
The Trump Organization is seeking U.K. and Irish bailout money to help cover wages for bartenders, bagpipers and other employees furloughed from its European golf properties because of the coronavirus lockdown. Overseas businesses owned by President Trump can tap government funds meant to help retain workers. In the U.S., by...
Delta Air Lines posts $534 million in losses, with even bigger losses looming
Delta Air Lines, the biggest and most profitable U.S. airline, lost $534 million in the first quarter, a setback that will appear trivial when the full force of the pandemic is revealed in the current quarter. Delta warned Wednesday that revenue during the April-through-June quarter, typically a period of harried...
Stocks claw higher on Wall Street, oil prices regain ground
NEW YORK — Stocks around the world are clawing higher on Wednesday, and the S&P 500 climbed toward the first gain in what’s been a dismal week for markets. Even the oil market gained ground. Prices for crude have been turned upside down because of how much extra oil is...
Trump bars new immigration green cards, not temporary visas
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced what he described as a “temporary suspension of immigration into the United States.” But the executive order would bar only those seeking permanent residency, not temporary workers. Trump said Tuesday he would be placing a 60-day pause on the issuance of green cards in...
Pandemic and chill: Netflix adds a cool 16 million subscribersVideo
BERKELEY, Calif. — Netflix picked up nearly 16 million global subscribers during the first three months of the year, helping cement its status as one of the world’s most essential services in times of isolation or crisis. The quarter spanned the beginning of stay-at-home orders in the U.S. and around...
Chipotle agrees to record $25 million fine over tainted food
LOS ANGELES — Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. agreed Tuesday to pay a record $25 million fine to resolve criminal charges that it served tainted food that sickened more than 1,100 people in the U.S. from 2015 to 2018. The fast food company was charged in Los Angeles federal court with...
Oil’s chaotic collapse deepens; stocks drop worldwideVideo
NEW YORK Oil prices crumpled even further Tuesday, and U.S. stocks sank to their worst loss in weeks as worries swept markets worldwide about the economic carnage caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The market’s spotlight was again on oil, where prices have plummeted because very few people are flying or...
John Dorfman: A handful of ways to invest defensively
I never abandon the stock market utterly, and I don’t think anyone should. But when a recession looms, it makes sense to get more defensive. That means investing in sectors that usually withstand bear markets and recessions fairly well. Traditional choices include consumer staples, gold, health care stocks, tobacco and...
Gov’t relief loans to restaurant chains draw complaints
Some big restaurant chains have obtained loans from the government under a small-business relief program, leading business groups to cry foul even though the loans are within the guidelines of the lending program. The Paycheck Protection Program exhausted its $350 billion in funding last week and many small businesses were...
Oil price goes negative as demand collapses; stocks take a plungeVideo
NEW YORK — Oil futures plunged below zero on Monday, the latest never-before-seen number to come out of the economic coma caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Stocks and Treasury yields also dropped on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 down 1.8%, but the market’s most dramatic action by far was...
10 years after BP spill: Oil drilled deeper; rules relaxed
NEW ORLEANS — Ten years after an oil rig explosion killed 11 workers and unleashed an environmental nightmare in the Gulf of Mexico, companies are drilling in deeper and deeper waters, where payoffs can be huge but risks are greater than ever. Industry leaders and government officials say they’re determined...
Former Treasury Secretary, Alcoa head Paul O’Neill dies at Pittsburgh home at age 84
Paul O’Neill wasn’t the type to put on airs. The plain-speaking former Treasury secretary and retired head of aluminum giant Alcoa was as comfortable in a corporate board room as he was donning blue jeans and hiking several blocks from his home in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood to have breakfast with...
Gov. Tom Wolf lays out plan for reopening Pennsylvania’s economy
The plan to reopen Pennsylvania’s economy will be slow and gradual, hinging on a “regional, sector-based approach,” Gov. Tom Wolf said Friday, though he offered no timetable on when the plan would be enacted. The plan, available on the governor’s website, comes in three phases — relief, reopening and recovery...
Howard Hanna offers pandemic-impacted agents advance pay on future earnings
Getting paid based on commission rather than salary, whether it is selling cars, insurance, or houses, can be tough — especially when the state closes a worker’s business as part of a sweeping effort to stop the spread of coronavirus. Howard Hanna Real Estate Service, the largest real estate firm...
Crisis fund helps Allegheny, Beaver organizations cope with pandemic
A Pittsburgh nonprofit has tapped funding from the Hillman Foundation to provide loans and grants to organizations in Allegheny and Beaver counties that are experiencing economic distress during the covid-19 pandemic. New Sun Rising announced Thursday it has used $100,000 in seed money from the Hillman Foundation to create a...
EPA guts rule credited with cleaning up coal-plant toxic air
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday gutted an Obama-era rule that compelled the country’s coal plants to cut back emissions of mercury and other human health hazards, a move designed to limit future regulation of air pollutants from coal- and oil-fired power plants. Environmental Protection Agency chief Andrew Wheeler...
Workers returning to Pa. liquor stores to boost online sales
To help process online orders, workers will be back on the job at many state-owned wine and liquor stores, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board said Thursday. The stores will not be open to the public. Gov. Tom Wolf’s office gave the OK to reopen more than 100 of the state...
