Business category, Page 153
Small businesses are facing ‘summer of uncertainty’
NEW YORK — Small businesses that depend on outdoor crowds and free-spending tourists aren’t sure what to expect this summer. Consumers likely have a lot of pent-up demand after more than two years of the pandemic. But they’re also facing some significant financial headwinds because of the highest inflation in...
Sriracha hot sauce maker warns of shortage
IRWINDALE, Calif. — Bottles of the popular Sriracha hot sauce could be hard to find on store shelves this summer. Southern California-based Huy Fong Inc., told customers in an email earlier this year that it would suspend sales of its famous spicy sauce over the summer because of a shortage...
Teslas with Autopilot a step closer to recall after wrecks
DETROIT — Teslas with partially automated driving systems are a step closer to being recalled after the U.S. elevated its investigation into a series of collisions with parked emergency vehicles or trucks with warning signs. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday that it is upgrading the probe to...
Biden pushing to lower ocean shipping costs, fight inflation
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden launched a renewed push Thursday to reduce the costs of shipping goods across oceans, a major challenge for retailers that the White House said has pushed up prices as the world emerges from the coronavirus pandemic. The White House released a video featuring Biden talking...
Europe’s central bank to hike rates in July — 1st in 11 years
AMSTERDAM — The European Central Bank said Thursday that it would carry out its first interest rate increase in 11 years in July, followed by another hike in September, as it catches up with other central banks worldwide in pivoting from supporting the economy during the pandemic to squelching soaring...
No, you’re not imagining it — package sizes are shrinking
It’s the inflation you’re not supposed to see. From toilet paper to yogurt and coffee to corn chips, manufacturers are quietly shrinking package sizes without lowering prices. It’s dubbed “shrinkflation,” and it’s accelerating worldwide. In the U.S., a small box of Kleenex now has 60 tissues; a few months ago,...
Facing huge inventory, Target cuts vendor orders, prices
NEW YORK — Target is canceling orders from suppliers, particularly for home goods and clothing, and it’s slashing prices further to clear out amassed inventory ahead of the critical fall and holiday shopping seasons. The actions, announced Tuesday, come after a pronounced spending shift by Americans, from investments in their...
U.S. investigating complaints that Honda engines won’t restart
DETROIT — The U.S. government’s road safety agency is investigating complaints that the fuel-saving stop-start system on some Honda Pilot SUVs can fail to restart. Owners complained that the engine won’t restart on its own from a complete stop at a traffic light or intersection with the stop-start feature in...
John Dorfman: 3 bank CEOs gobble up their own stock
Chief executives at three regional banks have bought their own companies’ stock last month. That, coupled with the fact that bank stocks were strong in May, suggests that adding a bank stock to your portfolio now might be a good move. First Citizens First Citizens BancShares Inc. (FCNCA) is a...
Musk threatens to walk away from Twitter deal
DETROIT — Elon Musk is threatening to end his $44 billion agreement to buy Twitter, accusing the company of refusing to give him information about its spam bot accounts. Lawyers for the Tesla and SpaceX CEO made the threat in a letter to Twitter dated Monday that the social platform...
Bidding war for Spirit Airlines heats up ahead of vote
The bidding war over Spirit Airlines is ramping up again with JetBlue boosting its offer for the discount carrier just days after rival Frontier upped its own bid for Spirit. Spirit shareholders are also scheduled to vote Friday on Frontier’s offer. JetBlue said Monday that it will now provide a...
Inflation divide: The wealthy splurge, the poorest pull back
NEW YORK — Americans at the low end of the income rung are once again struggling to make ends meet. A confluence of factors — the expiration of federal stimulus checks and surging inflation on staples like gas and food — are driving an even bigger wedge between the haves...
Abbott restarts baby formula plant linked to contamination
WASHINGTON — Abbott Nutrition has restarted production at the Michigan baby formula factory that has been closed for months due to contamination, the company said Saturday, taking a step toward easing a nationwide supply shortage expected to persist into the summer. The February shutdown of the largest formula factory in...
Tenants grapple with rent hikes amid overall inflation spike
LOS ANGELES — At a time when rising gasoline and food prices are already straining Americans’ budgets, many apartment tenants are grappling with soaring rents. The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolitan area in Florida saw overall median rent soar over 50% in April from a year ago, to $3,045 a...
Report: Musk seeks to cut 10% of Tesla workforce
Tesla shares tumbled about 9% Friday on a report that CEO Elon Musk is considering laying off 10% of the company’s workers, as well as new questions from U.S. regulators over complaints of the electric vehicles braking for no reason. In an email Thursday to Tesla executives titled “pause all...
Red-hot summer job market awaits U.S. teens as employers sweat
WASHINGTON — Mary Jane Riva, CEO of the Pizza Factory, has a cautionary message for her customers this summer: Prepare to wait longer for your Hawaiian pie or calzone. The Pizza Factory’s 100 West Coast locations are desperately short of workers. With about 12 employees per store, they’re barely half-staffed...
Ford to add 6,200 jobs near Ohio, Michigan and Missouri
DETROIT — Ford will add 6,200 factory jobs in Michigan, Missouri and Ohio as it prepares to build more electric vehicles and roll out two redesigned combustion-engine models. The company says it will invest $3.7 billion in the three states between now and 2026. It also will convert about 3,000...
Spotify podcasters are making $18,000 a month with nothing but white noise
People on the prowl for a new podcast to consume often go for a stimulating option like a political debate or a true crime mystery to quicken the pulse. But when the din of the world becomes too much, listeners often need the opposite vibe: something soothing and sedating, maybe...
OPEC+ alliance boosts oil production as energy prices soar
LONDON — The OPEC oil cartel and allied producing countries including Russia will raise production by 648,000 barrels per day in July and August, offering modest relief for a global economy suffering from soaring energy prices and the resulting inflation. The decision Thursday steps up the pace by the alliance,...
Stocks slide as strong economic data raises rate worriesVideo
NEW YORK — A swift jump in Treasury yields rattled Wall Street on Wednesday, pulling stocks broadly lower at the start of another month in what’s been a turbulent year for the market. The S&P 500 ended 0.7% lower after an early morning gain quickly gave way to choppy trading....
Sheryl Sandberg, longtime No. 2 executive at Facebook, steps down
SAN FRANCISCO — Sheryl Sandberg, the No. 2 executive at Facebook owner Meta, is stepping down, according to a post Wednesday on her Facebook page. Sandberg has served as chief operating officer at the social media giant for 14 years. She joined from Google in 2008, four years before Facebook...
Pittsburgh area added jobs in April, but still below pre-pandemic levels
The Pittsburgh area economy added about 19,000 nonfarm jobs in April, a bright spot in a seven-county marketplace that has added 173,000 jobs during the past two years, but remains about 52,000 jobs shy of its pre-pandemic levels , according to state data. “This shows weakness in the market,” said...
Highmark reports $150M net loss in 1st quarter, citing market volatility, inflation
Highmark Health reported a net loss of $150 million in the first quarter of 2022, driven by losses from the company’s stock market portfolio and increased costs at the company’s large hospital system, Allegheny Health Network. Financial reports released by Highmark showed the company brought in $6.4 billion in revenue...
Stocks slip on Wall Street as messy May comes to a close
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks are slipping in midday trading on Tuesday, as Wall Street nears the end of a tumultuous month, bruised by worries about a possible recession, inflation and rising interest rates. The S&P 500 was 0.4% lower, after briefly erasing all of an earlier drop of 1.3%...
Air travelers face cancellations over Memorial Day weekend
Airline travelers are not only facing sticker shock this Memorial Day weekend, the kickoff to the summer travel season. They’re also dealing with a pileup of flight cancellations. More than 1,200 flights were canceled as of 2 p.m EST Saturday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. That followed more than...
