Business category, Page 44
Facing competition from Big Tech, states dangle incentives and loosen laws to attract power plants
HARRISBURG — Facing projections of spiking energy demand, U.S. states are pressing for ways to build new power plants faster as policymakers increasingly worry about protecting their residents and economies from rising electric bills, power outages and other consequences of falling behind Big Tech in a race for electricity. Some...
Deluzio urges fellow Democrats to rethink stance on tariffs
A Democratic congressman from Western Pennsylvania has found some common ground — albeit, a small patch of it — with Republican President Donald Trump on the issue of tariffs. In an op-ed published Friday in The New York Times, U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Fox Chapel, said members of his party...
Amazon to install automated vehicle inspection device at Aleppo Township Industrial Park
Amazon wants to add an automated vehicle inspection facility on its property in Aleppo Township Industrial Park. Company spokesman Sam Fisher on Feb. 26 said he did not have any township-specific information but shared a report with an overall look at the devices. The machine uses a series of plates...
U.S. employers add a solid 151,000 jobs last month though unemployment up to 4.1%
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added solid 151,000 jobs last month, but the outlook is cloudy as President Donald threatens a trade war, purges the federal workforce and promises to deport millions of immigrants. The Labor Department reported Friday that hiring was up from a revised 125,000 in January. The unemployment...
Trump’s erratic trade policies are baffling businesses, threatening investment and economic growth
WASHINGTON — Marc Rosenberg, founder and CEO of The Edge Desk in Deerfield, Illinois is getting ready to introduce a fancy ergonomic chair designed to reduce customers’ back pain and boost their productivity. He figures the most expensive one will sell for more than $1,000. But he can’t settle on...
Walgreens agrees to be acquired by private equity firm for almost $10 billion
NEW YORK — Walgreens Boots Alliance says it has agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Sycamore Partners as the struggling retailer looks to turn itself around after years of losing money. Walgreens said Thursday that Sycamore will pay $11.45 per share, giving the deal an equity value just...
‘This is to keep all of us safe’: Officials urge travelers to get Real ID before deadline
The countdown is on: In just two months, U.S. travelers will need a gold star on their driver’s license to fly domestically — the symbol of a Real ID. Starting on May 7, anyone 18 years of age or older will need a Real ID or another acceptable form of...
Allegheny County touts ‘competent and compassionate’ government for job prospects
Allegheny County’s portal to entice federal employees to explore their options with the county launched Thursday. A similar portal was also created by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. The idea is to provide a soft landing for any of the 16,000 federal employees in the Pittsburgh region who may lose their...
The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits falls as labor market remains sturdy
Applications for U.S. jobless benefits fell last week as the labor market remains sturdy ahead of an expected purge of federal government employees. The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits fell by 21,000 to 221,000 for the week ending March 1, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s significantly fewer...
Mortgage rates have declined but could stay at a level that makes it tough to afford a home
LOS ANGELES — Mortgage rates have been mostly declining in recent weeks, helping encourage prospective home shoppers just as the spring homebuying season gets going. But the same factors that have pulled mortgage rates to their lowest level since December — signs that the U.S. economy is slowing and uncertainty...
The U.S. penny costs nearly 4 cents to make. But for 1 sector of souvenir sellers, it’s a living
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump talks of big change in his second term of office. But he’s not forgetting small change, either. Trump ordered the Treasury Department to stop making pennies with a Feb. 10 sentence on his social media account that followed years of conservatives pointing out that...
Cracker plant in Beaver County could be sold as Shell looks to offload chemical assets
Shell is considering a sale of its chemical assets in the U.S. and Europe, including the cracker plant in Beaver County. The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, has reported one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies could offload its less-profitable chemicals division as part...
Wall Street rebounds after Trump pulls back on some of his tariffsVideo
NEW YORK — Stocks climbed Wednesday after President Donald Trump pulled back on some of his tariffs temporarily. The move revived hope on Wall Street that Trump may avoid a worst-case trade war that grinds down economies and sends inflation higher. The S&P 500 rose 1.1% to bounce back from...
Trudeau not willing to lift Canada’s retaliatory tariffs if Trump leaves some tariffs on Canada
TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is unwilling to lift Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on the United States if President Donald Trump leaves any U.S. tariffs on Canada, a senior government official told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The official confirmed Trudeau’s stance on the condition of anonymity because they...
Judge denies Elon Musk’s request to block OpenAI for-profit conversion but welcomes trial
OAKLAND, Calif. — A federal judge has denied Elon Musk’s request for a court order blocking OpenAI from converting itself to a for-profit company but said she could expedite a trial to consider Musk’s claims against the ChatGPT maker and its CEO. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled late...
3 Western Pa. federal buildings listed, then removed, to be closed or sold
The Trump administration on Tuesday released a list of hundreds of federal properties it says it could close or sell, including offices for the Social Security Administration and Internal Revenue Service, after deeming them “not core to government operations.” The list, which has since been taken down from the General...
Businesses scramble to contain fallout from Trump’s tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico
A Minnesota farmer worries about the price of fertilizer. A San Diego entrepreneur deals with an unexpected cost increase of remodeling a restaurant. A Midwestern sheet metal fabricator bemoans the prospect of higher aluminum prices. Businesses knew that Trump’s import taxes — tariffs — on America’s biggest trading partners were...
Cybercrime crew stole then resold hundreds of tickets to Swift concerts, prosecutors say
NEW YORK — A cybercrime crew stole then resold more than 900 digital tickets to Taylor Swift concerts and other pricey events on StubHub, according to prosecutors in New York. The international scam involved people working in Jamaica for a firm contracted by the online ticket marketplace, Queens District Attorney...
BlackRock strikes deal to bring ports on both sides of Panama Canal under American control
A Hong Kong-based conglomerate has agreed to sell its controlling stake in a subsidiary that operates ports near the Panama Canal to a consortium including BlackRock Inc., effectively putting the ports under American control after President Donald Trump alleged Chinese interference with the operations of the critical shipping lane. In...
IRS drafting plans to cut as much as half of its 90,000-person workforce
WASHINGTON — The IRS is drafting plans to cut its workforce by as much as half through a mix of layoffs, attrition and incentivized buyouts, according to two people familiar with the situation. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to disclose the plans. The layoffs...
Wall Street wipes out all post-election gains for S&P 500Video
Stocks racked up more losses on Wall Street Tuesday as a trade war between the U.S. and its key trading partners escalated, wiping out all the gains since Election Day for the S&P 500. The Trump administration imposed tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico starting Tuesday and doubled tariffs...
Western Pa. braces for sticker shock as tariffs bring uncertainty for consumers, businesses
Ami Robinson said she had been pinching pennies before President Donald Trump’s new tariffs against America’s three biggest trading partners took effect Tuesday. “I think things were already more expensive than they were last year,” Robinson, 40, of Dormont said after leaving the Target store in Downtown Pittsburgh. “It’s just...
Here’s what tariffs are and how they workVideo
WASHINGTON — Tariffs are in the news at the moment. Here’s what they are and what you need to know about them: Tariffs are a tax on imports Tariffs are typically charged as a percentage of the price a buyer pays a foreign seller. In the United States, tariffs are...
Starbucks brings in new finance chief as part of turnaround strategy
Starbucks named a new chief financial officer on Tuesday as part of a larger turnaround strategy. Cathy Smith, who has been Nordstrom’s CFO since 2023, will join Starbucks in the next month, Starbucks Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol said in a letter to employees. Smith previously served as the chief...
Wall Street’s losing streak deepens as Trump’s tariffs kick in
NEW YORK — Stocks tumbled in morning trading on Wall Street on Tuesday as a trade war between the U.S. and its key trading partners escalated, wiping out all the gains for the S&P 500 since Election Day. The tariffs between the U.S., China, Canada, and Mexico has helped to...
