Business category, Page 12
Starbucks to close 3 Pittsburgh locations
Barista Josh Nicklow showed up Thursday at Starbucks’ South Side location for work as usual. By noon, the district manager told him he’d be out of a job by the weekend. After four years behind the counter, Nicklow joined countless employees caught in Starbucks’ sweeping shutdown of stores across the...
Fed’s Bowman says decisive rate cuts needed to offset labor market risks
Federal Reserve Vice-chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman reiterated Friday that she believes decisive interest rate cuts are needed to ward off rising trouble in the job market. “Recent data show a materially more fragile labor market along with inflation that, excluding tariffs, has continued to hover not far above our...
Trump’s energy pivot accelerates U.S. solar and wind power mergers, asset sales
The Trump administration’s rapid retreat from renewable energy has kicked off consolidation and asset sales among smaller U.S. solar and wind power companies as they scramble to stay afloat, industry insiders and analysts said. President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) has overhauled tax credits and sharply shortened...
Spirit Airlines plans to furlough one-third of its flight attendants
Spirit Airlines, the budget-friendly airline that has experienced recent financial turmoil, is furloughing more than 1,000 flight attendants ahead of the holiday season. This week, the company said it is making arrangements to furlough 1,800 out of 5,200 flight attendants to “align staffing with our fleet size and expected flight...
Trump says U.S. will impose new tariffs on heavy trucks, drugs and kitchen cabinets
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday took aim at a broad range of imported goods in announcing a new round of punishing tariffs, saying the U.S. will impose 100% duties on imported branded drugs, 25% tariffs on heavy-duty trucks and 50% tariffs on kitchen cabinets. Trump has launched numerous...
$100M recycling facility to replace ‘primitive’ slag pits at U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson plant
U.S. Steel’s notoriously outdated Edgar Thomson Works handles the molten substance left behind by smelting iron ore the same way it did 150 years ago: by dumping it into slag pits. They’re as low-tech as they sound. First, molten iron comes flowing from the blast furnaces. The slag, which rides...
Trump signs order declaring TikTok sale ready and values it at $14 billion
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday declaring that his plan to sell Chinese-owned TikTok’s U.S. operations to U.S. and global investors will address the national security requirements in a 2024 law. The new U.S. company will be valued at around $14 billion, Vice President JD...
Fed’s Lisa Cook urges Supreme Court to reject Trump’s bid to fire her
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook urged the Supreme Court on Thursday to reject Donald Trump’s attempt to fire her, telling the justices the Republican president’s unprecedented move would destroy the central bank’s independence and disrupt financial markets. Lawyers for Cook filed a written response opposing the Justice Department’s...
Instagram’s ‘deliberate design choices’ make it unsafe for teens despite Meta promises, report finds
Despite years of congressional hearings, lawsuits, academic research, whistleblowers and testimony from parents and teenagers about the dangers of Instagram, Meta’s wildly popular app has failed to protect children from harm, with “woefully ineffective” safety measures, according to a new report from former employee and whistleblower Arturo Bejar and four...
Amazon to pay $2.5 billion to settle FTC allegations it duped customers into enrolling in Prime
SEATTLE — Amazon has reached a historic $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, which said the online retail giant tricked customers into signing up for its Prime memberships and made it difficult for them to cancel after doing so. The Seattle company will pay $1 billion in civil...
Hamburger Helper sales rise as shoppers seek cheaper meals
Hamburger Helper’s mascot, “Lefty” — the iconic talking glove — is popping up in kitchens once again. With economic uncertainty and rising grocery prices, sales of the boxed pasta and seasoning mix have jumped 14.5% through August, as more consumers look for ways to cut down on unnecessary spending. The...
Starbucks to close hundreds of stores, lay off 900 workers as part of turnaround plan
Starbucks said Thursday it’s closing hundreds of U.S. and Canadian stores and laying off 900 nonretail employees as it focuses more of its resources on a turnaround. The Seattle coffee giant said store closures would start immediately. The company wouldn’t give a number of stores that are closing, but it...
U.S. economy expanded at a surprising 3.8% pace in significant upgrade of 2nd quarter growth
WASHINGTON — An uptick in consumer spending helped the U.S. economy expand at a surprising 3.8% from April through June, the government reported in a dramatic upgrade of its previous estimate of second-quarter growth. U.S. gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services — rebounded in the...
U.S. home sales remained sluggish in August despite late-summer mortgage rate slide
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes remained sluggish in August, even as a late-summer slide in mortgage rates brought home loan borrowing costs to a 10-month low. Existing home sales slipped 0.2% last month from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4 million units, the National Association of...
How to navigate social media trends without derailing your budget
NEW YORK — Did you buy a new pink dress to watch the Barbie movie, only to never wear it again? An Oura ring because your favorite TikTok influencer had it? A new pair of baggy jeans because ’90s fashion is making a comeback? Niche trends fueled by social media...
Giant Eagle plans to invest $100M in strategic push amid heavy competition
Flush with cash after selling GetGo for $1.6 billion, Giant Eagle is prepared to spend more than $100 million to renovate stores and show customers it’s serious about lowering prices. The investment spree started Thursday and will run through 2026, marking the start of a “new era” for Giant Eagle,...
U.S. Steel says it will invest $100 million in Braddock works
After its acquisition by Japanese giant Nippon Steel earlier this year, U.S. Steel says it will invest $100 million in a new slag recycler at its Edgar Thomson Works in Braddock. The company said in a release it has submitted an “air construction permit” to the Allegheny County Health Department,...
New businesses bolster ongoing reawakening efforts in Homestead
The Eighth Avenue corridor in Homestead continues to add new businesses, most recently with the addition of a coffee house and co-working space, thanks in part to Steel Valley Accelerator, a nonprofit offering launch and growth opportunities for businesses in Munhall, Homestead and West Homestead. “Our organization’s goal is to...
Kentucky distillery bounces back from massive flood that briefly halted bourbon production
FRANKFORT, Ky. — The long history of bourbon production at Buffalo Trace Distillery has been connected to the Kentucky River — summed up as a blessing and curse by a plaque on the grounds. In the 1800s, long before the Buffalo Trace name was attached to the distillery, the river...
TikTok’s algorithm to be licensed to U.S. joint venture led by Oracle, Silver Lake
WASHINGTON — Tech giant Oracle will spearhead U.S. oversight of the algorithm and security underlying TikTok’s video popular platform under the terms of a deal laid out Monday by President Donald Trump’s administration. All the final details still need to be nailed down among several joint venture partners that will...
Spirit Airlines to furlough 1,800 flight attendants amid 2nd bankruptcy
Spirit Airlines plans to furlough 1,800 flight attendants before the end of the year, the cash-strapped budget carrier said Monday. The company said it made the “difficult decision” to put cabin crew members on temporary leave to match staffing needs with expected flight demand during Spirit’s second bankruptcy in a...
Federal judge lifts Trump administration’s halt of nearly complete offshore wind farm in New England
WASHINGTON — A federal judge ruled Monday that a nearly complete offshore wind project halted by the administration can resume, dealing President Donald Trump a setback in his ongoing effort to restrict the fledgling industry. Work on the nearly completed Revolution Wind project for Rhode Island and Connecticut has been...
White House says it blocked U.S. Steel’s decision to stop processing steel at Illinois plant
HARRISBURG — The White House said Monday that it intervened under the terms of a 3-month-old national security agreement with Japan-based Nippon Steel to block a decision to stop processing raw steel at U.S. Steel’s Granite City Works plant in Illinois. In a statement, the White House said Commerce Secretary...
Trump appointee to Federal Reserve calls for steeper rate cuts
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s appointee to the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors said Monday that the central bank’s key interest rate should be much lower than its current 4.1% level, staking out a position far different than his colleagues. Stephen Miran, who is also a top economic adviser to...
No casino in Manhattan after community board rejects proposed Mohegan Sun resort near United Nations
NEW YORK — There will be no casino in Manhattan after a community panel rejected a proposed Mohegan Sun resort near the United Nations headquarters. The Freedom Plaza development, which also called for hotels, retail, dining, entertainment and housing, was denied by a state-commissioned community advisory committee on a 4-2...
