Business category, Page 241
‘Limping along’: Air travel still struggling to get off the ground in Western Pa.Video
Air travel through Pittsburgh International Airport and Arnold Palmer Regional Airport is showing modest signs of improvement but remains largely crippled as the industry continues to grapple with allaying passengers’ fears. Passenger volume at Pittsburgh International in June was up 113% over May, but the number of passengers — about...
Spirit Airlines warns of layoffs, ExpressJet’s fate in doubt
Spirit Airlines has warned up to 30% of its employees that they will lose their jobs in October, and regional carrier ExpressJet’s future is in doubt after losing a key contract as the virus pandemic continues to hammer the airline industry. Spirit is the latest airline to deliver layoff warnings...
U.S. consumer spending up 5.6%, but virus could stall gains
WASHINGTON — American consumers increased their spending in June by a solid 5.6%, helping regain some of record plunge that occurred after the coronavirus struck hard in March and paralyzed the economy. But the virus’ resurgence in much of the country could impede further gains. Last month’s rise in consumer...
Exxon lost $1B in second quarter as oil use dries up
NEW YORK — Exxon lost $1.1 billion in the second quarter, its economic pain deepening as the pandemic kept households on lockdown, diminishing the need for oil around the world. The Irving, Texas-based oil giant brought in $32.6 billion in revenue during the second quarter, less than half of what...
Amid the pandemic, Big Tech reports mixed earningsVideo
Big Tech companies reported mixed quarterly earnings on Thursday, a day after their top executives faced a tough congressional grilling over their market power and alleged monopolistic practices. All four were affected by the pandemic, although in strikingly different ways. Google and Facebook reported slowing growth in the April-June quarter...
Dunkin’ to shut down about 800 stores by end of 2020
Dunkin’ said it plans to shut down about 800 of its U.S. stores by the end of 2020, according to a release posted Thursday. There was no word on which stores would be closing. A new Dunkin’ store is set to open soon in East Huntingdon’s Countryside Plaza. The doughnut...
Record surge in daily shipping volumes for UPS in 2Q
A boom in online shopping during the pandemic pushed revenue higher at United Parcel Service Inc., which reported a $1.77 billion profit for the second quarter. UPS said Thursday that shipping volume jumped 23% to more than 21 million packages a day. Crucially, shipments from businesses to U.S. consumers soared...
1.4 million seek jobless aid as virus keeps forcing layoffs
WASHINGTON — More than 1.4 million laid-off Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, further evidence of the devastation the coronavirus outbreak has unleashed on the U.S. economy. The continuing wave of job cuts is occurring against the backdrop of a spike in virus cases that has led many states...
4 Big Tech CEOs tell Congress they don’t stifle competitionVideo
WASHINGTON — The leaders of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google fended off accusations Wednesday that their companies stifle competition, under intense questioning from lawmakers who have been i nvestigating Big Tech’s market dominance for the past year. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, in his first appearance before Congress, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar...
U.S. expected to report record-breaking economic plunge
WASHINGTON — Having endured what was surely a record-shattering slump last quarter, the U.S. economy faces a dim outlook as a resurgent coronavirus intensifies doubts about any sustained recovery the rest of the year. A huge plunge in consumer spending as people stayed home and avoided shopping, traveling or gathering...
More Americans signed contracts to buy homes in June
SILVER SPRING, Md. — The number of Americans signing contracts to buy homes rose for the second straight month after a devastating spring freeze brought on by the coronavirus outbreak. The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that its index of pending sales rose 16.6%, to 116.1 in June. That’s...
Local lawmaker calling for end to sportsbook tax
A Pennsylvania lawmaker is calling for the elimination of “unnecessary” taxes on legal sportsbook operators. Regulated sports betting operators are required by the Internal Revenue Code to pay a 0.25% federal excise tax on all wagers as well as a $50 annual tax for every employee engaged in receiving bets,...
Coronavirus-related plant closings send GM into 2Q net loss
DETROIT — Even though General Motors was able to reopen its U.S. factories for the last half of the second quarter, the company still lost $806 million in the three months between April and June. The Detroit automaker had to close its plants from March 18 to May 18 because...
McDonald’s to close 200 U.S. locationsVideo
McDonald’s announced Tuesday it is permanently closing 200 of 14,000 locations across the United States as the fast food giant reported its lowest quarterly profits in 13 years, according to the Financial Times. The Chicago-based company said “low-volume restaurants” in Walmart stores will make up more than half of the...
Air travel expected to not recover before 2024
FRANKFURT, Germany — Global air travel is recovering more slowly than expected and will take until 2024 to return to pre-pandemic levels, the trade association for the airline industry said Tuesday. The International Air Transport Association pushed back its prediction by one year due to the slow containment of the...
Pandemic drives average age of cars in U.S. to a record high
Drivers are holding on to cars and trucks longer during the coronavirus pandemic. The average age of a vehicle on U.S. roads rose by a month this year to a record 11.9 years. The IHS Markit consulting firm says the pandemic has caused consumers to put the brakes on spending...
John Dorfman: Schwab and Lennar exemplify value plus growth
The philosopher’s stone was a myth. So was the fountain of youth. But here’s something that sounds unlikely, yet is feasible. You can get both value and growth in the stock market. Value investors seek bargains. Growth investors seek companies with fast-growing earnings. There’s an inherent tension there. Bargain-priced stocks...
Steelers camp cancellation hits Latrobe-area businesses in bottom lineVideo
Saint Vincent College’s Chuck Noll Field looks green and healthy, unlike many other grassy areas in a region still recovering from recent dry weather. One reason for such a prime condition is that no Bearcats athletes have been on the field since the college campus in Unity closed a few...
Dick’s Sporting Goods joins other retailers closing on Thanksgiving
Dick’s Sporting Goods joined a growing number of retailers that will be closed on Thanksgiving. The Findlay-based national chain announced Monday that all of its stores, including Dick’s, Field & Stream and Golf Galaxy, would be closed for the holiday. “We are so thankful to our teammates for their hard...
Jobless could wait months for stimulus if $600 aid is altered, says Pa. official
If Congress makes drastic changes to the $600-a-week program that has delivered $14.5 billion to the state’s unemployed since the covid-19 shutdowns in mid-March, thousands of Pennsylvania’s jobless workers may not get any extra federal aid for months, a state labor official said Monday. With the state’s unemployment compensation system...
Workers praise Disney virus safety, but will visitors come?
ORLANDO, Fla. — Every week, it seems, Kaila Barker, her husband and their five children change their minds about whether to travel from their home in Connecticut to Florida’s Walt Disney World as planned in September. On the one hand, the lack of crowds means more opportunities to go on...
U.S. meatpackers don’t have many answers for lack of distancing
As part of an investigation into the spread of coronavirus at U.S. meat plants, Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker released responses from major producers that defended their operations during the pandemic. The four biggest meatpackers — Tyson Foods Inc., JBS USA, Cargill Inc. and Smithfield Foods Inc. —...
Nuclear power bailout stalled in Harrisburg as feds allege bribes fueled Ohio aid package
An effort to help Pennsylvania’s nuclear power industry snag an estimated $500 million a year ratepayer bailout should not be hurt by an alleged bribery scandal involving FirstEnergy Corp. in Ohio, a state representative said. Federal prosecutors say the Akron-based company pumped $15 million into a $60 million pot of...
PNC to close 52 branches, including 9 in Western Pa.
PNC Financial Services plans to permanently close 52 branch offices. In a filing with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the financial powerhouse said it intends to close nine branch offices in Western Pennsylvania, including offices in downtown Greensburg, Indiana, North Versailles, Elizabeth, Mt. Lebanon, West Mifflin, Bridgeville...
2 new stores, expanded shop at Ross Park Mall
Ross Park Mall welcomed two stores and unveiled a third newly expanded shop. Fabletics and Evereve are the new stores. H&M expanded its footprint to 21,000 square feet. H&M is known for its on trend merchandise at affordable prices. Fabletics was launched in 2013 by co-founder Kate Hudson....
