Wire stories category, Page 95
Bitter business for maple syrup makers amid virus outbreak
MARSHFIELD, Vt. — The sap has been flowing for weeks in trees in maple country, but syrup sales may not be so swift, with restaurants and specialty food shops closed, sugaring events canceled and fans staying home to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. In the largest maple-producing state,...
Nissan recalls over 250K vehicles to replace Takata air bags
DETROIT — Nissan is recalling more than a quarter-million SUVs, trucks and vans worldwide to replace potentially dangerous Takata air bag inflators. The vehicles have air bags with volatile ammonium nitrate that can explode with too much force and hurl shrapnel. But they have a moisture-absorbing chemical that was supposed...
Fine Wine & Good Spirits losing $6.5 million a day, restarts online sales
Record sales on the eve of Gov. Tom Wolf’s temporary closure of state-run wine and liquor stores won’t be enough to offset growing losses — which threaten to end a two-decade streak of new revenue highs, a Tribune-Review analysis shows. Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores shuttered two weeks ago,...
Stocks fall, closing out their worst quarter since 2008Video
NEW YORK — Stocks are down in subdued trading Tuesday, as Wall Street’s wraps up its worst quarter of performance since the 2008 financial crisis. The S&P 500 is down in afternoon trading after flipping between modest losses and gains, pushing its loss for the first three months of the...
Macy’s to furlough majority of its 130,000 workers
Macy’s says it will stop paying tens of thousands of employees who were thrown out of work when the chain closed its stores in response to collapsing sales during the pandemic. The majority of its 130,000 employees, including stock people and sales clerks, will still collect health benefits, but the...
Instacart workers seek strike as jobs get busier, riskierVideo
NEW YORK — A possible strike by Instacart workers highlights the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the grocery delivery business, where workers are worried about their safety as they try to meet a surge in demand for online groceries. A group called the Gig Workers Collective is calling for...
New Jersey pizzeria borrows to keep workers on job, spurs donationsVideo
BELMAR, N.J. — This is a story about bosses and their workers, in the dark days of covid-19. It’s also a story about how one good turn deserves another and yet another. And this being New Jersey, it’s also a story about pizza. Bryan Morin and his brother Michael operate...
Trump seeks to force General Motors to produce ventilators
DETROIT — President Donald Trump issued an order Friday that seeks to force General Motors to produce ventilators for coronavirus patients under the Defense Production Act. Trump said negotiations with General Motors had been productive, “but our fight against the virus is too urgent to allow the give-and-take of the...
Gov. Wolf vetoes petrochemical plant tax break bill
Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday followed through on his threat to veto a bill to provide potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks for petrochemical plants that use natural gas extracted in Pennsylvania. In his veto message, Wolf said he could support awarding an incentive like the one...
Stocks move lower on Wall Street following a big 3-day rallyVideo
Stocks are lower Friday on Wall Street, remaining little changed after Congress voted to pass a big financial rescue package aimed at cushioning ailing businesses and households from the coronavirus crisis. The selling erased some of the market’s gains after a strong three-day rally that has the major stock indexes...
Peeps production stops, but Easter is coveredVideo
No more Peeps are being hatched for at least a couple of weeks — but it shouldn’t affect Easter baskets. The Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based Just Born confections company said its production facilities there and in Philadelphia closed Wednesday through April 7. But the company says it had already produced and shipped...
Ford pushes for factory restart, union not so sure
DETROIT — Ford says it wants to reopen five North American assembly plants in April that were closed due to the threat of coronavirus. The three Detroit automakers suspended production at North American factories March 19 under pressure from the United Auto Workers union, which had concerns about members working...
Dow has best day since 1933 as Congress nears deal on coronavirus aid
NEW YORK — The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged to its best day since 1933 as Congress and the White House neared a deal on Tuesday to inject nearly $2 trillion of aid into an economy ravaged by the coronavirus. The Dow burst 11.4% higher, while the more closely followed...
Many airline flights nearly empty as virus undercuts travel
Airline service in the United States is teetering on the brink of collapse, with near-empty planes and coronavirus outbreaks that have left some air traffic control towers empty. Even with sharply reduced schedules, airlines are consolidating some of the remaining flights because passengers aren’t showing up. An official of one...
Despite Fed help, stocks wobble as traders wait on Congress
NEW YORK — The Federal Reserve did what it could to help financial markets and the economy Monday. But investors are still waiting for Congress and White House to do the same. The uncertainty about Washington’s response to the coronavirus crisis caused another day of jostled trading. An initial jump...
Coronavirus business fallout: Air Canada lays off 5,000, France tries to save food supply
The rapid spread of the coronavirus since it was first reported in China has dealt an unparalleled shock to the world economy. Following are business developments Monday related to the outbreak as governments attempt to stabilize their economies, companies struggle to cope and millions of people face job losses and...
Stock futures fall sharply at open of trading
NEW YORK — Futures for U.S. stocks fell sharply at the start of trading Sunday as investors watch to see if Congress can agree on a huge rescue package to try to stem the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Futures for the S&P 500 fell by 5%, triggering a halt...
Virus outbreak poses massive challenges for US charities
NEW YORK — With its global scope and its staying power, the coronavirus outbreak poses unprecedented challenges for charities and nonprofit groups that rely on donations. The American Red Cross faces a severe blood shortage due to the cancellation of nearly 2,700 blood drives. The Girl Scouts’ annual cookie sale...
Business Fallout: Starbucks limits access, Target raises pay
Less than three months ago came the first reports of cases of pneumonia related to a virus first detected in Wuhan, China. The outbreak of the virus that causes COVID-19 has caused unprecedented disruptions that have brought an unparalleled shock to the global economy. Following are developments Friday related to...
Dow drops more than 900 points, ending worst week since 2008
Wall Street ended the week the same way it began: in full retreat from the coronavirus. Stocks fell sharply and the price of oil sank Friday as federal and state governments moved to shut down bigger and bigger swaths of the nation’s economy in the hope of limiting the spread...
High-stakes negotiations begin on $1 trillion economic rescue
WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trump administration officials launched high-stakes negotiations Friday with Senate Republicans and Democrats racing to draft a $1 trillion-plus economic rescue package amid the coronavirus outbreak. It’s the biggest effort yet from Washington to shore up households and the U.S. economy as the pandemic...
U.S. home sales jumped to 13-year high before viral outbreak
WASHINGTON — U.S. home sales jumped in February to their highest level in 13 years, a trend that will almost certainly be reversed as people stop showing their property out of fear of infection in the coronavirus outbreak. The National Association of Realtors said Friday that home sales jumped 6.5%...
Cautious optimism on Wall Street sends stocks higher
NEW YORK — Stocks capped a wobbly day on Wall Street with solid gains Thursday, reflecting cautious optimism among investors that emergency action by the U.S. government and central banks will cushion the global economy from a looming recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The swings in the market were...
U.S. seeks $3 billion to boost oil producers as prices plunge
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said Thursday that it is seeking $3 billion from Congress to top up the country’s strategic petroleum reserves, potentially propping up U.S. oil producers after crude prices crashed globally. President Trump had directed the Energy Department last week to fill the United States’ emergency stash...
Layoffs spike in U.S., Europe as virus shuts businesses
WASHINGTON — Just a couple of weeks ago, Erika Vega hoped her temp job at a cafeteria would soon become permanent. But instead, the viral outbreak shut down the building where she worked and left her wondering where her next paycheck will come from. Like millions of Americans and people...
