Business category, Page 186
Once fading, mask sales starting to rebound
NEW YORK — Masks, which had started to disappear from store shelves, may be front and center again. A spot check of businesses and other data sources are showing that mask sales have been rising in recent weeks as Americans worry about the surging cases of the delta variant of...
U.S. economy accelerated at a solid 6.5% rate last quarter
WASHINGTON — Fueled by vaccinations and government aid, the U.S. economy grew at a solid 6.5% annual rate last quarter in another sign that the nation has achieved a sustained recovery from the pandemic recession. Thursday’s report from the Commerce Department estimated that the nation’s gross domestic product — its...
GDP roars past pre-pandemic levels. Where does the economy go from here?
WASHINGTON — Even with production glitches, transportation bottlenecks and labor shortages, the U.S. economy grew in the second quarter at one of the fastest rates in decades, lifting the nation’s total output above where it was before covid-19 hit, according to government data released Thursday. “That we were able to...
Google delays return to office, mandates vaccines
SAN RAMON, Calif. — Google is postponing a return to the office for most workers until mid-October and rolling out a policy that will eventually require everyone to be vaccinated once its sprawling campuses are fully reopened. The announcement Wednesday came as the more highly contagious delta variant is driving...
Stocks end mixed after Fed notes progress on the economy
Stock indexes capped a wobbly day of trading on Wall Street with mixed results Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said it was seeing improvement in the economy, but not enough to start dialing down its support measures. The S&P 500 slipped less than 0.1% after giving up a brief afternoon...
How UPMC’s new CEO Leslie Davis plans to lead the health giant
Forward motion is the ultimate goal for Leslie Davis as she takes over as chief executive of health care giant UPMC, whether it be in patient services, insurance or academics. Davis, 62, becomes the first woman to head the multibillion-dollar operation. She takes over officially on Sunday, though outgoing CEO...
Contour to offer new flights from Pittsburgh International to Indianapolis, Milwaukee
Contour Airlines will begin nonstop flights from Pittsburgh to Indianapolis and Milwaukee on Oct. 12, the airline announced Wednesday. “Pittsburgh is a new market for us,” said Matt Chaifetz, CEO of the Smyrna, Tenn.-based airline. Contour had been in talks with Indianapolis Economic Development Corp. about adding flights to certain...
UPMC President Jeffrey Romoff to retire
Jeffrey Romoff, the architect of UPMC’s vast empire of hospitals in Western Pennsylvania and beyond, is set to retire Aug. 1, officials announced Wednesday. Romoff will be succeeded by Leslie C. Davis, who most recently served as executive vice president of UPMC and president of the health services division, where...
Robinhood IPO asks customers to play big role as investors
LOS ANGELES — Robinhood is disrupting another stock market norm — and taking a big risk — by giving ordinary investors access to a huge slice of its initial public offering. The popular online brokerage is taking the unusual step of allowing users of its trading app to buy up...
$15 wage becoming a norm as employers struggle to fill jobs
The signs and banners are dotted along suburban commercial strips and hanging in shop windows and restaurants, evidence of a new desperation among America’s service-industry employers: “Now Hiring, $15 an hour.” It is hardly the official federal minimum wage — at $7.25, that level hasn’t been raised since 2009 —...
Pittsburgh economy adds 9,300 jobs in June; jobless rate drops slightly
The Pittsburgh region’s economy continued to show signs of a slow recovery, adding 9,300 jobs in June, most of which were in the leisure and hospitality sector. “We are scuffling along, jobs wise. There’s still some of the labor force that’s deciding not to go back to work,” said Frank...
Weakness in tech stocks pulls Wall Street back from records
A slide in technology and consumer-oriented companies helped pull stocks lower Tuesday on Wall Street, dragging the major indexes below the record highs they set a day earlier. The S&P 500 fell 0.5%, snapping a five-day winning streak. The selling was most pronounced in technology and communication stocks, and in...
Airlines cite concerns about fuel shortages at some airports
The fuel needle is moving closer to “empty” at some U.S. airports. American Airlines says it’s running into fuel shortages at some smaller and mid-size airports, and in some cases the airline will add refueling stops or fly fuel into locations where the supply is tight. The airline said that...
John Dorfman: The market is expensive, but some stocks aren’t
Clients and prospects often say to me, “With the market at all-time highs, isn’t this a bad time to invest?” They are worrying about the wrong thing. If you don’t invest when the market is at an all-time high, you will miss some excellent returns. A study by J.P. Morgan...
Stocks shake off a wobbly start and finish slightly higher
Wall Street capped a wobbly day for stocks with modest gains Monday, nudging the major indexes further into record territory. The S&P 500 shrugged off an early slide and gained 0.2%. Consumer-oriented companies, banks and energy and communications stocks helped lift the market. Those gains were kept in check by...
UFCW, Giant Eagle announce new contract with wage increases
A new four-year contract that Giant Eagle employees ratified last week includes wage increases, continues no-cost health care benefits and provides new protections for LGBTQ+ workers, according to a joint statement released Monday by the company and union. The agreement covers about 5,300 employees who are members of United Food...
GM issues 2nd Bolt recall; faulty batteries can cause fires
General Motors is recalling some older Chevrolet Bolts for a second time to fix persistent battery problems that can set the electric cars ablaze. Until repairs are done, GM says owners should park the cars outdoors, limit charging to 90% of battery capacity, and not deplete batteries below 70 miles...
Indexes inch higher on Wall Street, preserving weekly gainsVideo
Stocks eked out modest gains Thursday on Wall Street, extending the market’s winning streak into a third day and keeping the major indexes on pace to end the week higher. The S&P 500 shrugged off a midday slide and rose 0.2%. Banks, energy companies and industrial stocks weighed on the...
Amazon’s mission: Getting a ‘key’ to your apartment building
Amazon is tired of ringing doorbells. The online shopping giant is pushing landlords around the country — sometimes with financial incentives — to give its drivers the ability to unlock apartment-building doors themselves with a mobile device. The service, dubbed Key for Business, is pitched as a way to cut...
FirstEnergy to pay $230M in settlement in Ohio bribery case
The energy giant at the center of a $60 million bribery scheme in Ohio admitted to riveting new details of its role in the conspiracy Thursday as part of a settlement agreement with federal prosecutors, including how it used secret dark money groups to fund the effort and paid a...
Biden says high inflation is temporary, but economists aren’t so sureVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said this week that “no serious economist” is suggesting price increases could spiral out of control, as he sought to reassure Americans that the current spikes are temporary. But some nonpartisan economic experts say they see cause for concern that inflation will continue to climb...
Ford, Argo AI to deploy autonomous vehicles on Lyft network
DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. and a self-driving vehicle company it partly owns will join with the Lyft ride-hailing service to offer autonomous rides on the Lyft network. The service using Ford vehicles and a driving system developed by Pittsburgh-based Argo AI will begin in Miami later this year and...
Netflix confirms move into video games as its growth slowsVideo
SAN RAMON, Calif. — Netflix reported its worst slowdown in subscriber growth in eight years as people emerge from their pandemic cocoons. So it’s adding a new attraction to its marquee: Video games. On Tuesday, the video streaming giant announced it will offer video games in its existing subscription plans...
John Dorfman: Netgear, AutoNation appear seemingly cheap based on this ratio
Suppose you had the opportunity to buy a big, lumbering company with huge sales but slender profits. Would you do it? You would if you thought you could turn the company around. Perhaps you could improve the product, raise prices, cut expenses or find other ways to improve those puny...
Pennsylvania casino income continues to break records
Pennsylvania casinos continue to see year-over-year growth, with the industry posting a record $3.87 billion in revenues last fiscal year, according to state regulators. The influx of revenues for casino operators comes after covid-related restrictions had facilities shuttered for several months during the 2019-20 fiscal year, with casinos reporting $2.7...
