Business category, Page 16
Google hit with $3.5 billion fine from European Union in ad-tech antitrust case
LONDON — European Union regulators on Friday hit Google with a 2.95 billion euro ($3.5 billion) fine for breaching the bloc’s competition rules by favoring its own digital advertising services, marking the fourth such antitrust penalty for the company. The European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s executive branch and top antitrust...
Towne Drugs Pharmacy a community fixture in Aspinwall since 1956
As some U.S. pharmacies struggle to stay afloat amid ongoing turmoil in the prescription reimbursement industry, one independent family-owned pharmacy in Aspinwall is dedicated to remaining open. Towne Drugs Pharmacy in Aspinwall is co-owned by father/son pharmacist duo Bob Akanowicz and Jon Akanowicz, both of Hampton. Both men know just...
U.S. employers likely added a modest 80,000 jobs last month, a sign that the labor market has cooled
WASHINGTON — When the Labor Department put out a disappointing jobs report a month ago, an enraged President Donald Trump responded by firing the economist in charge of compiling the numbers and nominating a loyalist to replace her. Nothing quite so dramatic is likely Friday when the department releases hiring...
Trump administration ditches Biden-era plan to make airlines pay compensation for flight disruptions
The Trump administration said Thursday it is abandoning a Biden-era plan that sought to require airlines to compensate stranded passengers with cash, lodging and meals for flight cancellations or changes caused by a carrier. The proposed rule would have aligned U.S. policy more closely with European airline consumer protections. It...
U.S. Steel, Nippon Steel end litigation against Cleveland-Cliffs
Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel have ended its lawsuit against steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs and the head of the United Steelworkers union. Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel merged in June. A federal lawsuit was filed in March alleging Cleveland-Cliffs, its president, Lourenco Goncalves, and United Steelworkers President David McCall, were conspiring to...
Applications for U.S. jobless benefits rise but remain in a healthy range
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans seeking jobless benefits rose modestly last week, suggesting that employers are still retaining workers even as the economy has showed signs of slowing. Applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending Aug. 30 rose by 8,000 to 237,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s...
Transgender federal employees say they face fear and discrimination under Trump
Marc Seawright took pride in his job at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, where he worked for more than eight years and most recently oversaw technology policy to support the agency’s mission of combating workplace harassment and discrimination. But then President Donald Trump began targeting transgender and nonbinary people...
Online grocer Harvie, indebted and short on cash, seeks bankruptcy protection
Harvie, a farm-to-doorstep food delivery service based in Pittsburgh, is seeking bankruptcy protection as it grapples with around $2.4 million in debt. At least $144,000 is owed to small farmers in Pennsylvania and Maryland, according to filings last month in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Pittsburgh. Its largest creditor, JPMorgan Chase,...
School board to vote on renewing tax incentive program for Greensburg developers
Greensburg Salem school board will vote next week on renewing a tax incentive program intended to encourage commercial developments in Greensburg. The LERTA — Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance — program is a 10-year property tax abatement available to those building new developments or expanding the footprint of existing ones,...
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to quickly take up tariffs case after appeals court loss
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration took the fight over tariffs to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, asking the justices to rule quickly that the president has the power to impose sweeping trade penalties under federal law. The government called on the court to reverse an appeals court ruling that most...
Conservative news network Newsmax files antitrust lawsuit against Fox News
NEW YORK — The conservative news network Newsmax filed an antitrust lawsuit against Fox News on Wednesday, saying Fox has sought to maintain its market dominance through intimidation and exclusionary business practices designed to stifle competition. Fox has sought to block television distributors from carrying Newsmax or minimize its exposure,...
U.S. job openings slip to 7.2 million in July, more evidence the American labor market is cooling
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers posted 7.2 million job vacancies in July as the American labor market continues to cool. The Labor Department reported Wednesday that job openings fell from 7.4 million in June and came in modestly below what economists had forecast. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS)...
What is phantom energy? The hidden electricity drain explained
The lights are off, the house is quiet and nothing seems to be running. But electricity is silently flowing through the plugs in your home. This hidden drain is known as phantom energy. Also called vampire energy, the wasted electricity comes from leaving devices plugged in when they’re not in...
Trump to ask Supreme Court for expedited ruling on tariffsVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said his administration would ask the Supreme Court for an expedited ruling in hopes of overturning a federal court decision that many of his tariffs were illegally imposed, arguing it is essential to keep his trade policy intact. Trump told reporters that the U.S. would...
John Dorfman: Value stocks showed some life in August: 5 to consider
Maybe, just maybe, the moment that value investors have been waiting for has arrived. In August, value stocks were up more than 3%, while growth stocks returned a little over 1%. The value revival, if it’s real, has been a long time coming. Growth has outperformed value in eight of...
Google avoids breakup in search monopoly case, but judge orders other changes in landmark ruling
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered a shake-up of Google’s search engine in a crackdown aimed at curbing the corrosive power of an illegal monopoly while rebuffing the U.S. government’s attempt to break up the company and impose other restraints. The 226-page decision made by U.S. District...
4 rules for cash: How to manage your money the smart way
Let’s talk about cash. It might not be the most exciting part of your portfolio, but it’s absolutely essential. I often find that people either hold too much cash or not nearly enough. Here are four essential rules for effective cash management, from building the right emergency fund to knowing...
Kraft Heinz says no plans to ditch Pittsburgh while undergoing corporate breakup
At least some part of Kraft Heinz will stay in Pittsburgh as the processed food conglomerate divides its brands into two new companies. Kraft Heinz said Tuesday while announcing the split it has no plans to move its co-headquarters in Pittsburgh and Chicago. That’s about all the company offered on...
Stocks sink under the weight of rising pressure from bond marketVideo
NEW YORK — Wall Street sank on Tuesday as rising pressure from the bond market pulled U.S. stocks further from their records. The S&P 500 fell 0.7% for its worst day in a month after paring a loss that earlier reached 1.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 249 points,...
Anna Wintour taps Chloe Malle as Vogue successor — but she’s still in charge
NEW YORK — Anna Wintour ended weeks of fashion-world speculation Tuesday when she named Chloe Malle her successor as head of editorial content at Vogue — but the most powerful person in the business isn’t going anywhere. Wintour, 75, remains chief content officer for Condé Nast and global editorial director...
Coming price cuts at McDonald’s may signal a broader fast food price war
McDonald’s is cutting prices on some combo meals to woo back customers who’ve been turned off by the rising costs of grabbing a fast food meal. The price drop may induce its rivals, who have run into some of the same pricing issues, to follow. Starting Sept. 8, McDonald’s will...
Kraft Heinz splits — undoing blockbuster merger after a decade of changing tastes
NEW YORK — Kraft Heinz is splitting into two companies a decade after a merger of the brands created one of the biggest food manufacturers on the planet. One of the companies, currently called Global Taste Elevation Co., will include brands such as Heinz, Philadelphia cream cheese and Kraft Mac...
How a West Deer company is helping kids with autism and sensory needs through play
Sometimes, you just fall in love with a place. And that, sort of, is how West Deer became home to an international company’s only U.S. location. Not widely-known to many in the community, TFH Special Needs Toys is a transatlantic company producing toys and other gadgets that make life better...
1.2M immigrants are gone from the U.S. labor force under Trump, preliminary data shows
It’s tomato season and Lidia is harvesting on farms in California’s Central Valley. She is also anxious. Attention from U.S. Immigration Control and Enforcement could upend her life more than 23 years after she illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border as a teenager. “The worry is they’ll pull you over when...
How the Fed losing its independence could affect Americans’ everyday lives
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s attempt to fire a member of the Federal Reserve’s governing board has raised alarms among economists and legal experts who see it as the biggest threat to the central bank’s independence in decades. The consequences could impact most Americans’ everyday lives: Economists worry that if...
