Business category, Page 89
U.S. Steel workers in Western Pa. unsure what Nippon deal means for local mills, their future
Third-generation steelworker Don Jackson said he’s seen how mill owners weathering an economic downturn can cripple a city. In Pittsburgh in 1984, a year after Jackson graduated from high school, J&L Steel shuttered the 140-year-old South Side mill that sat just a mile from Jackson’s Arlington home. At its peak,...
How to manage holiday spending when you’re dealing with student loan debt
NEW YORK — For Nicole Plauché and her family, Christmas is the time of the year where they can use their preferred love language: gift giving. This year, however, Plauché is worried about how much she can afford to spend on gifts. Her main struggle? Student loan payments. “It just...
Love it or hate it, self-checkout is here to stay. But it’s going through a reckoning
NEW YORK — The promise of self-checkout was alluring: Customers could avoid long lines by scanning and bagging their own items, workers could be freed of doing those monotonous tasks themselves and retailers could save on labor costs. All that has happened since the rollout of self-checkout but so has...
U.S. Steel to be bought by Japanese company for $14.9B, but will keep name, Pittsburgh HQVideo
U.S. Steel would retain its name and headquarters in Western Pennsylvania under a $14.9 billion deal announced Monday with Japan’s largest steelmaker, but ownership of the venerable Pittsburgh company would be shipped overseas. The deal comes after months of speculation and U.S. Steel weighing multiple offers from suitors. In the...
Federal Reserve on cusp of what some thought impossible: Defeating inflation without steep recession
WASHINGTON — It was the most painful inflation Americans had experienced since 1981, when “The Dukes of Hazzard” and “The Jeffersons” were topping the TV charts. Yet the Federal Reserve now seems on the verge of defeating it — and without the surge in unemployment and the deep recession that...
Christmas-delivery shipping deadlines are fast approaching
People are running out of time to have gifts shipped in time for Christmas, with at least one deadline arriving as early as this weekend. Saturday is the last day you can have something shipped by the U.S. Postal Service in time for the holiday. The Postal Service’s first-class or...
Retailers, shoppers gear up for final holiday rush
Shoppers had their pick of products and parking Friday ahead of what retailers hope will be a chaotic and profitable weekend — the last full weekend before Christmas celebrations get underway. “It’s not very crowded. I was thinking it would’ve been busier on a nice Friday,” said Karen Belin of...
Christmas-delivery shipping deadlines are fast approaching
People are running out of time to have gifts shipped in time for Christmas, with at least one deadline arriving as early as this weekend. Saturday is the last day you can have something shipped by the U.S. Postal Service in time for the holiday. The Postal Service’s first-class or...
Pittsburgh’s URA to invest more than $2M in affordable housing preservation
Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority plans to spend more than $2 million to preserve over 420 apartments as affordable housing. The money comes from the URA’s Housing Preservation Program, which the authority created in April with $8.9 million in pandemic relief money. Wood Street Commons in Downtown is set to receive...
5 questions that can help guide your holiday tipping
Service workers help make our lives easier throughout the year — whether it’s by keeping our lawns immaculate or babysitting during date nights. The holidays are an ideal time to show gratitude for the work they do throughout the year. But how much do you tip service workers during the...
Chelsea Holding to expand operations to Westmoreland industrial park; 150 employees could be added
An Oakmont-based building products manufacturer will spend nearly $1.8 million to buy a 30-acre lot at Commerce Crossing industrial park in Sewickley Township, Westmoreland County commissioners said Thursday. Chelsea Holding Co. will buy one of five lots at the 206-acre industrial park. The company, which develops, manufactures and distributes exterior...
Proposed apartment building in Pittsburgh’s Bluff would feature local art on facade
A proposed six-story apartment building in Pittsburgh’s Bluff neighborhood would prominently feature 10 large panels of artwork on the building’s façade. Pittsburgh-based GSX Ventures has proposed the 211-unit apartment building on a 1.4-acre site that occupies nearly an entire city block bounded by Forbes Avenue and Watson, Marion and Van...
Retail sales rise 0.3% in November as Americans hit gas rather than brakes on spending
NEW YORK — Americans picked up their spending from October to November unexpectedly as the unofficial holiday season kicked off, underscoring the power of shoppers despite elevated prices. Retail sales rose 0.3%, in November from October, when sales were down a revised 0.2% according to the Commerce Department on Thursday....
Amazon won’t have to pay hundreds of millions in back taxes after winning EU case
LONDON — Amazon won’t have to pay about 250 million euros ($273 million) in back taxes after European Union judges ruled in favor of the U.S. e-commerce giant Thursday, dealing a defeat to the 27-nation bloc in its efforts to tackle corporate tax avoidance. The ruling by the EU’s top...
U.S. applications for jobless benefits fall again as labor market continues to thrive
The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits fell last week as the labor market continues to thrive despite high interest rates and elevated costs. Applications for unemployment benefits fell by 19,000 to 202,000 for the week ending Dec. 9, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Analysts were expecting around 224,000....
John Dorfman: Bunny Portfolio returned 44% in past year
“Still going.” That was the punchline in the Energizer battery commercials, featuring the Energizer Bunny, which kept going long after you would have expected it to stop. It’s also the idea behind my Bunny Portfolio. This hypothetical portfolio contains companies that have averaged 25% profit growth in the past five...
AHN expands services at Downtown Pittsburgh clinic
Allegheny Health Network is adding services to its primary care clinic in Downtown Pittsburgh. The Express Care services at its clinic on Penn Avenue are available for minor health conditions such as cold, flu and covid-19 symptoms; rashes and infections; and other afflictions. Testing also is available for covid, flu,...
Dow hits a record high and Treasury yields drop after the Fed signals rate cutsVideo
NEW YORK — A powerful rally across Wall Street sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a record on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve indicated that the cuts to interest rates investors crave so much may be coming next year. The Dow jumped 512 points, or 1.4%, to top 37,000...
PPG expands in Europe with new facility in France
Pittsburgh-based paint and coatings company PPG has opened a facility in France to improve its operations in Southern Europe and North Africa. The $17 million aerospace application support center in Toulouse, France, will provide filling and packaging capabilities for aerospace materials, including coatings and sealants for aircraft, according to the...
Tesla recalls nearly all vehicles sold in U.S. to fix system that monitors drivers using Autopilot
DETROIT — Tesla is recalling nearly all of the vehicles it sold in the U.S., more than 2 million across its model lineup, to fix a defective system that’s supposed to ensure drivers are paying attention when they use Autopilot. Documents posted Wednesday by U.S. safety regulators say the company...
Hasbro cuts 1,100 jobs, or 20% of its workforce, prompted by the ongoing malaise in the toy business
NEW YORK — Toy maker Hasbro said Monday it is cutting about 1,100 jobs, or 20% of its workforce, as the malaise in the toy business extends through another holiday shopping season. The nearly century-old Rhode Island-based company behind Monopoly, Play-Doh and My Little Pony toys disclosed the layoffs in...
Company proposes underground limestone mine in Washington County
A Clarion County company is hoping to expand its limestone mining operations in Washington County. A public meeting will be held Wednesday night to discuss a proposal for the underground facility. The 336.7-acre mine, proposed by Neiswonger Construction Inc., would be dug beneath the Maggie Lynn Quarry that the company...
How rising prices for restaurants, car repair and other services kept inflation up last month
WASHINGTON — Held down by sinking gas prices, U.S. inflation was mostly unchanged last month. But underlying price pressures — from apartment rents, restaurant meals, auto insurance and many other services — remained stubbornly high. Last month’s inflation data arrived just a day before the Federal Reserve will end a...
Choice Hotels goes hostile in $8 billion takeover bid for Wyndham after being repeatedly rebuffed
Choice Hotels is launching a hostile takeover offer for Wyndham Hotels & Resorts after repeated attempts to reach a deal with the rival hotel chain were rebuffed. Choice Hotels said Tuesday that its exchange offer to shareholders of Wyndham, which runs Days Inn, La Quinta, Ramada and a host of...
Developer plans apartments, townhouses at UPMC South Side hospital site
A developer is planning to replace a former hospital on Pittsburgh’s South Side with apartments and townhouses. Walnut Capital has acquired the 5.5-acre former UPMC South Side hospital complex on Mary, Jane and Josephine streets in the South Side Flats for $9.3 million. The deal was inked in November through...
