Business category, Page 256
S&T Bank branches will open in Philadelphia’s western suburbs in 2020
The S&T Bank purchase of DNB First, which closed last week, will result in 14 new S&T branch offices opening in southeastern Pennsylvania early in 2020, according to the state Department of Banking and Securities. Indiana-based S&T Bancorp Inc., the holding company for S&T Bank, received the necessary regulatory approval...
Fed leaves low rates alone and foresees no moves in 2020
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate alone Wednesday and signaled that it expects to keep low rates unchanged through next year. The Fed’s decision follows three rate cuts earlier this year. It reflects its view that the U.S. economy has so far withstood the U.S.-China trade...
Exxon Mobil prevails in lawsuit over climate regulations
NEW YORK — Exxon Mobil won Tuesday in a closely watched lawsuit over the costs of climate change, with a judge saying there was no proof the energy giant duped investors about the toll that regulations could take on its business. New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office didn’t prove...
U of Phoenix agrees to $50M settlement over false ad claims
The University of Phoenix and its parent company have agreed to pay $50 million in cash and cancel $141 million in student debt to settle allegations of deceptive advertisement brought by the Federal Trade Commission. The deal, announced Tuesday, settles a dispute over an ad campaign the for-profit college unrolled...
Ex-Fed Chair Volcker dies, tamed inflation with recession
Paul Volcker, who as Federal Reserve chairman in the early 1980s elevated interest rates to historic highs and triggered a recession as the price of quashing double-digit inflation, has died, according to his office. He was 92. Volcker took charge of the Fed in August 1979, when the U.S. economy...
Fed is likely to reinforce a message of continued low rates
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve is expected to send a clear message when its latest policy meeting ends Wednesday: Interest rates will likely stay ultra-low for the foreseeable future. Behind that message is a view that has gained support at the Fed as the U.S. economic expansion has entered a...
Oakmont food truck looks to small loans for big expansion
An Oakmont food truck seeking to make the leap to a full restaurant and bar isn’t going about raising money for the jump in the traditional fashion. Ken Shields, a full-time IT worker and grilling hobbyist who founded the Oakmont Barbeque Company food truck, could go to a bank or...
FAA seeks to fine Boeing $3.9 million for faulty jet parts
Safety regulators want to fine Boeing $3.9 million, saying that the company installed wing parts on 133 planes even though it knew the parts were faulty. Boeing said Friday that all the affected planes in use have been inspected and fixed. A spokesman said the company is not aware of...
Jury: Elon Musk did not defame British caver in tweet
LOS ANGELES — Elon Musk defeated defamation allegations Friday from a British cave explorer who claimed he was branded a pedophile when the Tesla CEO called him “pedo guy” in an angry tweet. Vernon Unsworth, who participated in the rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach trapped for weeks...
OPEC countries, Russia to cut oil output, pushing up prices
The OPEC oil-producing countries and ally Russia said Friday they have agreed to cut crude production, prompting a surge in global crude prices that they hope to sustain into next year. The group decided to cut output by an extra 500,000 barrels a day as they try to support the...
Amazon says delivery times back to normal after delays
NEW YORK — Amazon said Friday that it’s back to delivering its packages on time after bad weather and a rush of orders caused some delays earlier in the week. “We quickly rebalanced capacity and it’s all systems go now,” tweeted Amazon executive Dave Clark, who oversees Amazon’s warehouse and...
Ford recalls big pickups; tailgates can open unexpectedly
DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. is recalling nearly 262,000 heavy-duty pickup trucks in the U.S. and Canada because the tailgates can open unexpectedly. The recall covers F-250, F-350 and F-450 trucks from the 2017 through 2019 model years. All the trucks have electric tailgate latch release switches in the tailgate...
U.S. gains a robust 266,000 jobs; unemployment falls to 3.5%
WASHINGTON — Hiring in the United States jumped last month to its highest level since January as U.S. employers shrugged off trade conflicts and a global slowdown and added 266,000 jobs. The unemployment rate dipped to 3.5% from 3.6% in October, matching a half-century low, the Labor Department reported Friday....
Coffee so strong you can build car parts out of it
CHICAGO — McDonald’s coffee bean remnants are getting a second purpose in life in the form of car parts. Researchers from Ford, the Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker, are using McDonald’s coffee chaff — the waste left over after the roasting process — to make headlamp housings and other auto components. Ford...
Uber reports more than 3,000 sexual assaults on 2018 rides
SAN FRANCISCO — More than 3,000 sexual assaults were reported during U.S. Uber rides in 2018, the company said in a long-awaited safety report. That figure includes 229 rapes across the company’s 1.3 billion rides. Uber noted that drivers and riders were both attacked, and that some assaults occurred between...
Pittsburgh woman to lead new nursing school at Grove City College
Janey A. Roach, a Pittsburgh native and former UPMC nursing director, has been named the first director of the new Charles Jr. and Betty Johnson School of Nursing at Grove City College. Roach, who has extensive experience as a nurse, educator and administrator, will oversee the college’s newest academic school...
State grants available to Pa. businesses looking for skilled workers
The state is making $4.6 million in grants available to Pennsylvania businesses that want to form partnerships to improve the quality of worker education and workforce development. The PAsmart Next Generation Industry Partnership Grant program is designed to address the state’s deficit in adequately trained workers in industries such as...
Google co-founders step down as execs of parent AlphabetVideo
SAN FRANCISCO — The co-founders of Google are stepping down as executives of its parent company, Alphabet, ending a remarkable two decades during which Larry Page and Sergey Brin shaped a startup born in a Silicon Valley garage into one of the largest, most powerful — and, increasingly, most feared...
Gun background checks are on pace to break record in 2019Video
Background checks on gun purchases in the United States are climbing toward a record high this year, reflecting what the industry says is a rush by people to buy weapons in reaction to the Democratic presidential candidates’ calls for tighter restrictions. By the end of November, more than 25.4 million...
Workers fired from Google plan federal labor complaint
SAN FRANCISCO — Four workers fired from Google last week are planning to file a federal labor complaint against the company, claiming it unfairly retaliated against them for organizing workers around social causes. The former employees said Tuesday they are preparing to file unfair labor practice charges with the National...
U.S. proposes tariffs on up to $2.4 billion in French imports
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is proposing tariffs on up to $2.4 billion worth of French imports — including Roquefort cheese, handbags, lipstick and sparkling wine — in retaliation for France’s tax on American tech giants like Google, Amazon and Facebook. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative charged Monday...
‘Cyber Monday’ sales on track to hit record
“Cyber Monday” is still holding up as the biggest online shopping day of the year, even though the same deals have been available online for weeks and the name harks back to the days of dial-up modems. Shoppers are expected to spend a record $9.4 billion on purchases made on...
John Dorfman: Insiders buying at Matador, Berry Petroleum
Investors loathe energy stocks, which are down more than 40% since their peak in June 2014. A 2018 rebound proved to be a sucker rally. Two CEOs of small energy companies are defying the trend, buying their companies’ shares recently. Joseph Foran, the CEO of Matador Resources Co. (MTDR), spent...
Facebook tests tool to move photos to Google, other rivals
LONDON — Facebook started testing a tool on Monday that lets users move their images more easily to other online services, as it faces pressure from regulators to loosen its grip on data. The social network’s new tool will allow people to transfer their photos and videos directly to competing...
Trump to tariff steel and aluminum from Argentina and Brazil
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday accused Argentina and Brazil of hurting American farmers through currency manipulation and said he’ll slap tariffs on their steel and aluminum imports to retaliate. Trump also called on America’s central bank to take action to prevent other countries from devaluing their currencies. Both...
