Business category, Page 226
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....
U.S. new home sales jump 13.8% in June
WASHINGTON — Sales of new homes rose a sharp 13.8% in June, the second straight increase after two months when sales plunged as the country went into lockdown because of the coronavirus. The Commerce Department reported Friday that the June gain pushed sales of new homes to a seasonally adjusted...
New poll shows optimism fading that jobs lost to virus will returnVideo
WASHINGTON — Nearly half of Americans whose families experienced a layoff during the coronavirus pandemic now believe those jobs are lost forever, a new poll shows, as temporary cutbacks give way to shuttered businesses, bankruptcies and lasting payroll cuts. It’s a sharp change after initial optimism the jobs would return....
Garmin fitness tracking service goes down, frustrating users
LONDON — GPS device-maker Garmin’s online fitness tracking service has gone down, leaving runners and cyclists struggling to upload data from their latest workouts. Garmin Connect, an app and website that works with the company’s popular line of fitness watches, remained out of service on Friday. The U.S. company had...
Target store coming to old Kaufmann’s building in Downtown Pittsburgh
If the old Macy’s and Kaufmann’s building was the target, the Minneapolis-based chain of discount retail stores has hit it. A Target store is moving into the first floor of the largely vacant building at 400 Fifth Ave. The store will take up approximately 22,000 square feet. It’s a welcome...
Wall Street stumbles after rise in layoffs, tech weakness
NEW YORK — Wall Street is stumbling on Thursday, undercut in part by a discouraging report showing that layoffs are picking up across the country with coronavirus counts. Technology stocks had the sharpest losses after a better-than-expected profit report from Microsoft wasn’t enough to satisfy investors expecting even more. The...
Ann Taylor owner files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
NEW YORK — The operator of Ann Taylor and Lane Bryant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday, the latest retailer to do so during the pandemic. Mahwah, New Jersey-based Ascena Retail Group Inc., which operates nearly 3,000 stores mostly at malls, had been dragged down by debt and...
Hempfield restaurant closed after mistaken covid-19 case, looks to reopen Friday
Rodney Yemc is at his wits’ end. His 25-year-old Hempfield business, Rodney’s Restaurant, has been closed for a week as he awaits coronavirus test results from as many as 25 employees who erroneously believed they were exposed to covid-19 by another worker. “This really puts you in a situation,” Yemc...
Pandemic grips commerce and hits railroader Union Pacific
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific’s second-quarter profit fell 28% from a year ago as carload revenue tumbled in the coronavirus pandemic. The railroad expects improvement in the second half with full-year carload volumes to be down around 10% compared with 2019, assuming there isn’t a second wave of virus-related economic...
Tesla makes $104M profit in 2Q despite factory shutdown
Tesla overcame a seven-week pandemic-related shutdown at its California assembly plant to post a surprising $104 million net profit for the second quarter. It was the electric car and solar panel maker’s fourth-straight profitable quarter, qualifying it to be included in the S&P 500 index of corporate titans. That decision...
1.4 million seek jobless aid, first increase since MarchVideo
WASHINGTON — The number of laid-off Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose last week for the first time since the pandemic struck in March, evidence of the deepening economic pain the outbreak is causing to the economy. The rise in weekly jobless claims to 1.4 million underscores the outsize role the...
World in isolation, a surge of new users for Twitter
LONDON — The global pandemic is forcing a pullback by advertisers on Twitter, but it’s also led to an unprecedented surge of users. Average daily user growth spiked 34% in the second quarter, the company said Thursday, the largest jump in users ever recorded by the company. Shares of Twitter...
Chestnut Ridge golf resort near Blairsville going up for auction
A former U.S. Steel executive is selling a 345-acre golf course and resort just across the Westmoreland County line near Blairsville. The online auction for Chestnut Ridge Golf Resort & Conference Center, planned for noon Saturday, has attracted local and national attention. “We are seeing quite a bit of interest...
