Wire stories category, Page 99
U.S. workers’ compensation growth slowed a bit in 2019
WASHINGTON — Americans’ pay and benefits rose at a solid pace last year, but at a slower rate than in 2018, the Labor Department said Friday. Total salaries and benefits such as health insurance rose 2.7% in 2019, according to the government’s employment cost index, down from 2.9% in the...
Amazon is big … really, really big; workforce hits 500K
NEW YORK — Need more proof that Amazon is big? It came this week. Amazon’s U.S. workforce topped 500,000 for the first time, up 43% from the year before and more than triple what it was five years ago, the company said Friday. It gained 150,000 workers last year, more...
Delta, American and United suspend flights between U.S., China
NEW YORK — Delta Air Lines and American Airlines said Friday they will suspend all flights between the U.S. and China, making them the first U.S.-based airlines to do so and joining several international carriers that have stopped flying to China as the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread. United Airlines...
Stocks sink on fears virus outbreak will dent the economy
Stocks fell sharply on Wall Street Friday as fears spread through the markets that a virus outbreak emanating from China will dent global growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average skidded more than 600 points and the S&P 500 index erased its gains for January. Technology companies, which do a lot...
Commerce secretary: China virus could bring jobs back to the United StatesVideo
WASHINGTON — Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross suggested Thursday that the viral outbreak in China might offer an unexpected benefit for the U.S. economy: It could encourage American manufacturers in China to return to the United States. “I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America....
Dating apps face U.S. inquiry over underage use, sex offenders
SAN FRANCISCO — A House subcommittee is investigating popular dating services such as Tinder and Bumble for allegedly allowing minors and sex offenders to use their services. Bumble, Grindr, The Meet Group and the Match Group, which owns such popular services as Tinder, Match.com and OkCupid, are the current targets...
Chick-Fil-A’s war with Popeyes drains supply of little chickens
CHICAGO — Fast-food titans, embroiled in a chicken-sandwich battle, are trying to beat each other with small weapons. Little chickens, whose quarter-pound breasts fit perfectly inside a bun, are proving essential to the war effort. In the process, they’re getting harder to come by. A shortage of the smaller birds...
NASA chooses company for first habitable commercial space on space station
The International Space Station may soon become a duplex. NASA announced Houston-based Axiom Space has won the contract to begin to build what could become a commercial space station that connects to to the ISS. The first step is letting Axiom Space hook up to the ISS with an initial...
UPS to expand operations in Pennsylvania, hire 1,700 workers
HARRISBURG — Package delivery company United Parcel Service has committed to spending $1.4 billion to expand its operations in Pennsylvania and hire more than 1,700 new full-time employees, Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration said Wednesday. Wolf’s administration said it offered UPS $2.7 million in tax credits and more than $6 million...
Fed leaves key rate alone but sees virus among global risks
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged at a low level Wednesday amid an economy that looks solid but faces potential global threats, including from China’s viral outbreak. The Fed sketched a mostly bright picture of the U.S. economy in a statement it released after its...
Chipotle fined $1.3M over thousands of child labor abuses
BOSTON — Chipotle was hit with a $1.3 million fine over more than 13,000 child labor violations at its Massachusetts restaurants, the state’s attorney general announced Monday. Attorney General Maura Healey ordered the largest child labor penalty ever issued by the state against the Mexican restaurant chain after finding an...
Delta Air Lines fined $50,000 by government for alleged discrimination
ATLANTA — The U.S. Department of Transportation is fining Delta Air Lines $50,000 for alleged discrimination against Muslim passengers in two separate incidents in 2016. Atlanta-based Delta disagrees with the DOT’s contention that it engaged in discriminatory conduct, according to a DOT consent order issued Friday. The consent order comes...
Samsung’s version of Apple’s AirDrop launching next monthVideo
Samsung Galaxy owners may soon be able to directly transfer files between devices. Apple users have long been able to send photos and other files among Macs and iOS devices using the company’s AirDrop service. The function does not use email or texting, but sends files to any Apple device...
Southern burger chain Krystal files for bankruptcyVideo
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Krystal Co., the Georgia-based restaurant chain known for tiny hamburgers and late-night service across the Southeast, has filed for bankruptcy, but said Tuesday that all of its locations would remain open. Federal court documents showed Krystal sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sunday in Atlanta. The company said...
A new battleground in the web browser wars: Privacy
Google announced a massive shift last week in how it handles cookies, those pesky digital trackers that chase us around the internet and serve up targeted ads that are both creepy yet eerily precise reflections of our wants. The search giant, which just helped Alphabet Inc. surpass a $1 trillion...
Extradition hearing begins for top Huawei exec in Canada
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The first stage of an extradition hearing for a senior executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei started in a Vancouver courtroom Monday, a case that has infuriated Beijing, caused a diplomatic uproar between China and Canada and complicated high-stakes trade talks between China and the United...
Google CEO calls for regulation of artificial intelligence
LONDON — Google’s chief executive called Monday for a balanced approach to regulating artificial intelligence, telling a European audience that the technology brings benefits but also “negative consequences.” Sundar Pichai’s comments come as lawmakers and governments seriously consider putting limits on how artificial intelligence is used. “There is no question...
Banks that shun risky borrowers offer rosy view of U.S. consumerVideo
NEW YORK — With most U.S. households spending more and paying their bills on time, their creditors are feeling more confident than ever. To hear the CEOs of the nation’s largest banks tell it this week, rarely has the American consumer been in better shape. But look deeper and it’s...
U.S. agency examining Tesla unintended acceleration complaint
DETROIT — The U.S. government’s auto safety agency is looking into allegations that all three of Tesla’s electric vehicle models can suddenly accelerate on their own. An unidentified person petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration asking for an investigation into the problem. An agency document shows 127 owner complaints...
Stock indexes rally to more record highs, led by tech gains
Stocks closed broadly higher on Wall Street, pushing major indexes to new record highs. A batch of solid economic data injected more optimism into markets Thursday, a day after the U.S. and China signed an initial trade deal. Technology companies including Microsoft led the gains. Morgan Stanley rose sharply after...
Microsoft: ‘carbon-negative’ by 2030, even for supply chain
Microsoft is pledging to become 100% “carbon-negative” by 2030 by removing more carbon from the environment than it emits. CEO Satya Nadella said Thursday that the commitment will happen “not just across our direct emissions, but across our supply chain, too.” It’s a major step up from Microsoft’s previous green...
GM bids to buy land for a new battery factory in Lordstown
General Motors wants to build a new battery factory in Lordstown, Ohio, right next door to its former car assembly plant that it shuttered and sold last year. The automaker said it has a purchase agreement to buy a 158-acre vacant site in Trumbull County, Ohio. It is land GM...
Warner Bros. breaks ground on massive new studio with Gehry-designed ‘iceberg buildings’
Warner Bros. on Tuesday officially broke ground on a pair of Frank Gehry-designed office towers, which when completed will mark a major expansion of the Burbank, Calif.-based movie and TV studio’s headquarters. The project, first announced in April, was commemorated in a ceremony with Warner Bros. Chief Executive Ann Sarnoff...
Climate is changing. Investing needs to, too, says BlackRockVideo
NEW YORK — A changing climate means dramatic risks for the world — and for investments too, the chief of the world’s largest investment manager said Tuesday. To prepare for and protect against those risks, BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink said in his influential annual letter to CEOs that his firm,...
U.S. drops designation of China as currency manipulator
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is dropping its designation of China as a currency manipulator in advance of the signing Wednesday of a Phase 1 U.S.-China trade agreement. The preliminary pact that the two sides are set to sign includes a section that’s intended to prevent China from manipulating its...
