Facebook is launching the first electronic device to bear its brand, a screen and camera-equipped gadget intended to make video calls easier and more intuitive. It’s unclear if people will open their homes to an internet-connected camera sold by a ...
Read More »Record imports push US trade gap to $53.2 billion
Record imports drove the U.S. trade deficit up for the third straight month in August. The deficit in the trade of goods with China and Mexico hit records. The Commerce Department said Friday that the trade gap — the difference ...
Read More »Not since 1969: US regains ultra-low 3.7 pct. unemployment
The last time the U.S. unemployment rate was roughly as low as the 3.7 percent it is now — December 1969 — the economy was overheating, inflation was spiking and a short recession soon followed. Could that happen again? Probably ...
Read More »Women get financial help in pursuing MeToo cases
A dollar-store cashier from Brooklyn. Five paramedics in Chicago. An aspiring singer shunned by Nashville’s country-music establishment. Thanks to a $22 million legal fund, they’ve now teamed up with top-notch lawyers to pursue #MeToo-style sex-harassment cases that they otherwise couldn’t ...
Read More »Mortgage rates edge lower; 30-year rate at 4.71 percent
Long-term U.S. mortgage rates edged slightly lower this week, taking a pause after five straight weeks of increases. Costs for would-be homebuyers have been climbing, and the key 30-year rate has been running at its highest levels in more than ...
Read More »Holiday sales expected to grow in a strong economy
The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, says it expects sales in November and December to rise between 4.3 percent and 4.8 percent to $717.45 billion to $720.89 billion as shoppers continue to be in a spending ...
Read More »Ripple effect? Amazon’s $15 wage may help lift pay elsewhere
After years of sluggish pay gains, the economy may be starting to work for America’s low-wage workers. Amazon’s announcement Tuesday that it will raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour will intensify pressure on other companies to lift their ...
Read More »Fed Chair Powell says gradual rate hikes best
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Tuesday that he sees no need to drop the central bank’s gradual approach to raising interest rates. Powell said the combination of steady, low inflation and very low unemployment shows the country is going ...
Read More »Poll: Half of young Americans see better financial future
About half of young Americans expect to be financially better off than their parents, according to a new poll, a sign that the dream of upward mobility is alive though somewhat tempered. The poll, by The Associated Press-NORC Center for ...
Read More »Amazon ups hourly wage to $15, will advocate for higher pay
Amazon, which has faced political and economic pressure to raise pay for thousands of employees, is boosting its minimum wage for all U.S. workers to $15 per hour starting next month and said it will push for an increase in ...
Read More »Company wants some boat-death lawsuits dropped
The company that owns the Ride the Ducks operation in Branson asked a judge Monday to dismiss some of the lawsuits filed after one of its boats sank in a Missouri lake in July, killing 17 people. Ripley Entertainment said ...
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