Business category, Page 94
U.S. consumer inflation eased in October, driven lower by cheaper gas, cars and airfares
WASHINGTON — Inflation in the U.S. slowed last month in a sign that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes are continuing to cool the consumer price spikes that have bedeviled consumers for the past two years. Tuesday’s report from the Labor Department showed that prices either fell or rose only...
Giant Eagle to merge fuel discounts with newer myPerks loyalty program
Giant Eagle customers who have been earning GetGo gasoline discounts through the supermarket’s fuelperks+ loyalty program will be switched to the store’s newer myPerks program next year. Giant Eagle announced on its website that it will retire the fuelperks+ program effective Jan. 25 and will automatically move customers with accounts...
Moody’s lowers U.S. credit outlook, though keeps triple-A rating
WASHINGTON — The credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service lowered its outlook on the U.S. government’s debt on Friday to “negative” from “stable,” citing the cost of rising interest rates and political polarization in Congress. Moody’s retained its top triple-A credit rating on U.S. government debt, though it is the...
Highmark CEO’s pay tops $9.47 million in 2022
Highmark President David Holmberg took home about $9.47 million in 2022, an increase of 9.6% over his compensation in the previous year, according to financial statements filed Friday. For Holmberg, who also serves as board chairman, that pay package includes a base compensation of about $1.57 million and bonuses and...
Pittsburgh’s URA to help fund Oakland housing development for low-income LGBTQ+ seniors
Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority is providing a $1.6 million loan to developers who want to build a six-story apartment building in South Oakland that caters to low-income LGBTQ+ seniors. The Oakland Pride development on Forbes Avenue, approved in September by the Planning Commission, will have 48 apartments, all of them...
Pittsburgh office market stabilized in 3rd quarter after being pummeled by pandemic
Office vacancies in Pittsburgh stabilized in the third quarter after the market was pummeled by a pandemic that forced many workers out of offices and into their homes, according to reports from two real estate firms. “One of the reasons why you haven’t seen much adjustment to the overall vacancy...
From Hollywood to auto work, organized labor is flexing its muscles. Where do unions stand today?
NEW YORK — Once again, U.S. labor unions are flexing their muscles in the national spotlight. In Hollywood, the actors union reached a tentative deal with major studios late Wednesday to end a months-long strike. Las Vegas hotel workers also scored breakthough agreements with Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International...
Hollywood’s strikes are both now over as actors reach deal with studios, return to work with writers
LOS ANGELES — On Thursday, for the first time in more than six months, neither Hollywood’s actors nor its writers will be on strike. The long-awaited clearing in the industry’s stormiest season in decades comes as a deal was reached late Wednesday to end what was, at nearly four months,...
SAG-AFTRA committee approves deal with studios to end historic strike
LOS ANGELES — SAG-AFTRA’s negotiating committee has approved a a tentative deal with the major studios that would end a nearly four-month-long strike that has sidelined thousands of workers. The tentative contract — which still must be ratified by the union’s board and members — would boost minimum pay for...
First lady Jill Biden highlights Western Pa. workforce development efforts during Pittsburgh stop
First lady Jill Biden visited Pittsburgh on Wednesday and praised the region’s efforts in expanding workforce development programs and other career training initiatives. Pittsburgh was designated a “workforce hub” in May. That provided federal funding and other assistance to existing workforce training programs in the region. Pittsburgh is one of...
Nextdoor lays off 25% of its full-time staff as neighborhood social network works to cut costs
NEW YORK — Nextdoor is laying off 25% of its full-time staff as the neighborhood-focused social network company cuts costs with its losses widening. The job eliminations are part of a larger cost reduction plan that aims to slash Nextdoor’s current personnel expenses by up to $60 million annually, the...
John Dorfman: What’s up most in 2023? Cipher Mining, Carvana
Some of the biggest gainers this year are so obscure that many investors won’t have heard of them. On Nov. 4, I checked the biggest gainers year-to-date among all stocks with a market value of $1 billion or more. And the winners are…. 1. Cipher Mining Inc., up 632% 2....
Millions of retired Americans aren’t coming back to work as predicted
More than three-and-a-half years after covid struck, the U.S. still has around 2 million more retirees than predicted, in one of the most striking and enduring changes to the nation’s labor force. The so-called Great Retirement induced by covid-19 is evident in the divergence between the actual number of retirees...
WeWork seeks bankruptcy protection, a stunning fall for a firm once valued at close to $50 billion
NEW YORK — WeWork has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a stunning fall for the office sharing company once seen as a Wall Street darling that promised to upend the way people went to work around the world. In a late Monday announcement, WeWork said it entered into a...
Fortnite maker accuses Google of bullying and bribing to block competition to its Android app store
SAN FRANCISCO — Google on Monday confronted the second major U.S. antitrust trial in two months to cast the internet powerhouse as a brazen bully that uses its immense wealth and people’s dependence on one of its main products to stifle competition at consumers’ expense. The trial that opened in...
Starbucks increases U.S. hourly wages and adds other benefits for non-union workers
Starbucks is increasing pay and benefits for most of its U.S. hourly workers after ending its fiscal year with record sales. But the company said Monday that unionized workers won’t be eligible for some of those perks, a sign of the continuing tension between the Seattle coffee giant and the...
What would recreational marijuana legalization do for Pennsylvania tax revenue?
Seven years after Pennsylvania legalized marijuana for medical use, lawmakers are debating whether to allow recreational use — and what that would look like. It has created quite a buzz in the evolving industry. “Pennsylvania has a lot of market potential,” said Brendan Mitchel- Chesebro, a marketing content manager for...
Tyson recalls 30,000 pounds of chicken nuggets after consumers report finding metal pieces
Tyson Foods is recalling nearly 30,000 pounds of breaded chicken “”Fun Nuggets” after consumers complained of finding metal pieces in the dinosaur-shaped patties. The nuggets, sold in 29-ounce bags, were produced on Sept. 5 by the Berryville, Ark., company. Tyson informed the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection...
More fruit pouches for kids are being recalled because of illnesses that are linked to lead
Federal health officials are expanding an investigation into potentially lead-tainted pouches of apple cinnamon fruit puree marketed for children amid reports of more illnesses and additional product recalls. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it has received reports of seven illnesses in at least five states possibly linked to...
Californians bet farming agave for spirits holds key to weathering drought and groundwater limits
MURRIETA, Calif. — Leo Ortega started growing spiky blue agave plants on the arid hillsides around his Southern California home because his wife liked the way they looked. A decade later, his property is now dotted with thousands of what he and others hope is a promising new crop for...
Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial exposed crypto fraud but Congress has not been eager to regulate the industry
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — The conviction of former cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried for stealing at least $10 billion from customers and investors is the latest black mark for the cryptocurrency industry, but in Washington, there seems to be little to no interest in pushing through regulation. When cryptocurrencies collapsed and...
AGH, nurses strike deal on 3-year contract
After a final 26-hour negotiation meeting, unionized nurses at Allegheny General Hospital struck a deal with hospital management on a new contract. The three-year agreement between the 1,200 nurses and nurse practitioners represented by SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania and AGH’s parent company, Allegheny Health Network, will make significant investments in wages...
U.S. employers pulled back on hiring in October, adding 150,000 jobs
WASHINGTON — The nation’s employers slowed their hiring in October, adding a modest but still decent 150,000 jobs, a sign that the labor market may be cooling but remains resilient despite high interest rates that have made borrowing much costlier for companies and consumers. Last month’s job growth, though down...
Biden will host Americas summit that focuses on supply chains, migration and new investment
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is gathering leaders from 11 other countries across the Americas on Friday in the U.S. capital to discuss the tightening of supply chains and address migration issues. In a preview of the first Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity Leaders’ Summit, White House National Security Council...
Amazon and Meta settle U.K. investigations with pledges to refrain from unfair practices
LONDON — Amazon and Meta settled separate U.K. antitrust investigations by agreeing to stop practices that give them an unfair advantage over merchants and customers using their platforms, the watchdog said Friday. The Competition and Markets Authority said it accepted the committments from the U.S. tech companies to close the...
