Wire stories category, Page 39
IMF upgrades its outlook for the global economy in 2023
WASHINGTON — The outlook for the global economy is growing slightly brighter as China eases its zero-covid policies and the world shows surprising resilience in the face of high inflation, elevated interest rates and Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. That’s the view of the International Monetary Fund, which now expects...
FAA adds safeguards to U.S. flight system to prevent new outages
The U.S. government has added new protections to the aviation notice system that led to thousands of disruptions earlier this month in an attempt to prevent such failures in the future, the Federal Aviation Administration told lawmakers. A federal manager must now be present anytime a contractor works with the...
Ex-Twitter execs to testify on block of Hunter Biden story
WASHINGTON — Former Twitter employees are expected to testify next week before the House Oversight Committee about the social media platform’s handling of reporting on President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. The scheduled testimony, confirmed by the committee Monday, will be the first time the three former executives will appear...
Ford cuts price on Mustang Mach-E after Tesla trims pricesVideo
DETROIT — Ford is cutting prices on its Mustang Mach-E electric SUV by as much as $6,000 just weeks after market leader Tesla took similar steps. The Detroit automaker is increasing production of the Mach-E this year and is taking advantage of streamlined costs to reduce prices across the board,...
Stocks sink as markets brace for big week with Fed, earnings
NEW YORK — Stocks sank Monday as Wall Street prepped for a week full of potentially market-moving events, from decisions on interest rates around the world to earnings reports from the biggest U.S. companies. The S&P 500 dropped 1.3%, giving back some of the gains that had carried it last...
Elon Musk’s mysterious ways on display in Tesla tweet trial
SAN FRANCISCO — Elon Musk’s enigmatic personality and unconventional tactics are emerging as key exhibits in a trial revolving around one of his most polarizing pursuits — tweeting. The trial, centered on a pair of tweets announcing Musk had obtained the money to take Tesla private in 2018, reeled the...
Lots of sound and fury on U.S. debt, but not a crisis — yet
WASHINGTON — For all the sound and fury about raising the nation’s debt limit, most economists say federal borrowing is not at a crisis point … at least not yet. The national debt is at the core of a dispute about how to raise the government’s legal borrowing authority, a...
House GOP seeks new restrictions on use of U.S. oil stockpile
WASHINGTON — For the second time this month, House Republicans have advanced a measure to restrict presidential use of the nation’s emergency oil stockpile — a proposal that has already drawn a White House veto threat. A GOP bill approved Friday would require the government to offset any non-emergency withdrawals...
Chipotle looks to hire 15,000 amid continuing labor shortage
Restaurants are beginning the new year with a recurring problem: labor shortages. Chipotle said Thursday it’s looking to hire 15,000 people in North America to ensure its stores are staffed up ahead of its busy spring season. Other chains are also looking for workers: Taco Bell has more than 25,000...
Wall Street climbs to hit best level in nearly eight weeksVideo
NEW YORK — Stocks rose Thursday to send Wall Street to its highest level in nearly eight weeks following reports suggesting the economy and corporate profits may be doing better than feared. The S&P 500 climbed 1.1% to clinch its highest finish since Dec. 2. The Dow Jones Industrial Average...
How will we know if the U.S. economy is in a recession?
WASHINGTON — The second consecutive quarter of economic growth that the government reported Thursday underscored that the nation isn’t in a recession despite high inflation and the Federal Reserve’s fastest pace of interest rate hikes in four decades. Yet the U.S. economy is hardly in the clear. The solid growth...
Wall Street opens higher; Tesla jumps after strong results
NEW YORK — Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street as traders were able to find encouraging signs in some of the earnings reports that big U.S. companies are putting out. Tesla jumped 10% in the early going Thursday after reporting results that were better than analysts were expecting and...
Economy slowed but still grew at 2.9% rate last quarterVideo
WASHINGTON — The economy expanded at a 2.9% annual pace from October through December, ending 2022 with momentum despite the pressure of high interest rates and widespread fears of a looming recession. The estimate Thursday from the Commerce Department showed that the nation’s gross domestic product — the broadest gauge...
Goldman Sachs signals partial retreat from consumer banking
NEW YORK — Goldman Sachs no longer wants to be the bank for everyone. The storied investment bank spent eight years attempting to expand its business beyond corporations and the wealthy. But in recent months, Goldman has signaled a partial retreat from those efforts by scrapping plans for a checking...
AmazonSmile’s end is alarming, say nonprofits that benefited
Amazon’s surprise decision to shut down its AmazonSmile donation program has left thousands of its nonprofit beneficiaries disappointed and concerned about finding ways to replace the funding. The e-commerce giant had launched AmazonSmile in 2013, contributing 0.5% of every purchase made by participating customers to the charity of their choosing....
Why do so many older adults choose Medicare Advantage?
In 2022, 48% of Medicare beneficiaries were enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans instead of original Medicare, and experts predict that number will be higher in 2023. Medicare Advantage plans are offered by private insurers and bundle Medicare benefits in a way many people find appealing — but they also limit...
Murdoch pulls plug on possible merger of News Corp., Fox
NEW YORK — Rupert Murdoch has pulled the plug on a proposal to bring back together his News Corp. and Fox Corp., saying the merger isn’t coming at the right time for shareholders. In similar statements Tuesday, the companies said their boards received letters from Murdoch withdrawing the plan. “Mr....
Justice Department sues Google over digital advertising dominance
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department and several states sued Google on Tuesday, alleging that its dominance in digital advertising harms competition. The government alleges that Google’s plan to assert dominance has been to “neutralize or eliminate” rivals through acquisitions and to force advertisers to use its products by making it...
Elon Musk defends his tweets about taking Tesla private
SAN FRANCISCO — Elon Musk returned to federal court Monday in San Francisco, testifying that he believed he had locked up financial backing to take Tesla private during 2018 meetings with representatives from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund — although no specific funding amount or price was discussed. The billionaire...
Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes
NEW YORK — Across the country, there’s a silent frustration brewing about an age-old practice that many say is getting out of hand: tipping. Some fed-up consumers are posting rants on social media complaining about tip requests at drive-thrus, while others say they’re tired of being asked to leave a...
Gyms that survived pandemic steadily get back in shape
NEW YORK — One day in January, a once-regular customer at Fuel Training Studio in Newburyport, Massachusetts, stopped in to take a “shred” class. She hadn’t stepped foot in the gym since before the pandemic. The customer told owners Julie Bokat and Jeanne Carter that she had been working out...
U.S. ends probe into Ford SUV exhaust issues without a recall
DETROIT — The U.S. government’s road safety agency has closed a more than six-year investigation into exhaust odors in Ford Explorer passenger cabins, determining that the SUVs don’t have high levels of carbon monoxide and don’t need to be recalled. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it reviewed more...
Justice Department investigating Abbott baby formula plant
NEW YORK — The U.S. Justice Department is investigating the Abbott Laboratories infant formula plant in Michigan that was shut down for months last year due to contamination, the company confirmed. The factory’s closure in February 2022 was a key cause of a nationwide baby formula shortage that forced parents...
2022 was slowest year for U.S. home sales in nearly a decade
LOS ANGELES — U.S. home sales tumbled to the slowest pace in nearly a decade as soaring mortgage rates and sky high prices in 2022 pushed homeownership out of reach for many Americans. The National Association of Realtors said Friday that existing U.S. home sales totaled 5.03 million last year,...
GM to sink over $900M into 4 plants, Flint to get new engine
FLINT, Mich. — General Motors says it will spend more than $900 million to update four factories, with the bulk going to an engine plant in Flint, Michigan, to build the next-generation V8 for big pickup trucks and SUVs. Factories in Rochester, New York; Defiance, Ohio; and Bay City, Michigan;...
