Business category, Page 57
Grocery chains vie for place on Thanksgiving tables with turkey dinner deals, store brands
NEW YORK — With Thanksgiving less than two weeks away, Walmart, Target, Aldi and other grocers are competing for a place on holiday tables with turkey dinner deals and other promotions to tempt Americans who haven’t recovered from recent food price inflation. Walmart, the nation’s largest food retailer, first bundled...
Spirit Airlines files for bankruptcy as financial losses pile up and debt payments loom
Spirit Airlines said Monday that it has filed for bankruptcy protection and will attempt to reboot as it struggles to recover from the pandemic-caused swoon in travel, stiffer competition from bigger carriers, and a failed attempt to sell the airline to JetBlue. Spirit, the biggest U.S. budget airline, filed a...
Former HGTV star set to expand business footprint in Sewickley
A historic building is slated to be transformed into a new restaurant, thanks to a celebrity interior designer with a penchant for putting the spotlight on Sewickley. Plans for a proposed new restaurant cleared a hurdle Nov. 5 when Sewickley zoning board officials unanimously (5-0) approved a zoning variance request...
McDonald’s investing $100 million to bring customers back after E. coli outbreak
McDonald’s is investing $100 million to bring customers back to stores after an outbreak of E. coli food poisoning tied to onions on the fast-food giant’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers. The investments include $65 million that will go directly to the hardest-hit franchises, the company said. The U.S. Centers for Disease...
Wall Street falls toward worst loss since Election Day as vaccine makers sink
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks are falling Friday toward their worst loss since Election Day as the big bump Wall Street got from last week’s victory for Donald Trump and cut to interest rates by the Federal Reserve keeps fading. The S&P 500 sank 1.4% and was heading for a...
Inflation Explained: With the TV industry in flux, customers see the uncertainty reflected in their bills
As traditional cable television fades and online streaming services grow in popularity, users have a common burden: rising bills. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows almost 30 straight years of consumers paying more for cable, satellite and — since they were introduced in the late 2000s — livestream...
Developer of North Shore’s $740M Esplanade seeks massive tax break
The for-profit company behind the planned $740 million Esplanade development on Pittsburgh’s North Shore is asking the city, Allegheny County and Pittsburgh Public Schools for a long-term massive tax break. Canonsburg-based Piatt Companies is requesting a deal that would take nearly $54 million in property tax revenue and plow it...
Ford agrees to pay up to $165 million penalty to U.S. government for moving too slowly on recalls
DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. will pay a penalty of up to $165 million to the U.S. government for moving too slowly on a recall and failing to give accurate recall information. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in a statement Thursday that the civil penalty is the second-largest...
U.S. wholesale inflation picks up slightly in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
WASHINGTON — Wholesale prices in the United States rose last month, remaining low but suggesting that the American economy has yet to completely vanquish inflationary pressure. Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that its producer price index — which tracks inflation before it hits consumers — rose 0.2% from...
Bluesky has added 1 million users since U.S. election as people seek alternatives to X
LOS ANGELES — Social media site Bluesky has gained 1 million new users in the week since the U.S. election, as some X users look for an alternative platform to post their thoughts and engage with others online. Bluesky said Wednesday that its total users surged to 15 million, up...
U.S. inflation rose slightly last month after 2 years of steady cooling but remained low
WASHINGTON — Inflation in the United States ticked up in October, driven by costlier rents, used cars and air fares, a sign that price increases might be leveling off after having slowed in September to their lowest pace since 2021. Consumer prices rose 2.6% from a year earlier, the Labor...
Trump’s economic agenda for his 2nd term is clouding the outlook for mortgage rates
LOS ANGELES — Donald Trump’s election win is clouding the outlook for mortgage rates even before he gets back to the White House. The president-elect campaigned on a promise to make homeownership more affordable by lowering mortgage rates through policies aimed at knocking out inflation. But his proposed economic agenda...
GM recalling big pickups and SUVs because the rear wheels can lock up, increasing risk of a crash
DETROIT — General Motors is recalling nearly 462,000 pickup trucks and big SUVs with diesel engines because the rear wheels can lock up, increasing the risk of a crash. The recall in the U.S. covers certain Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickups from the 2020 through...
Kraft Heinz stops serving school-designed Lunchables because of low demand
Food and beverage manufacturer Kraft Heinz said Tuesday that it no longer is serving the Lunchables meals it created for U.S. schools. The company introduced the two packaged meals — one starring pizza and the other a turkey, cheddar cheese and cracker plate — at the beginning of the 2023-2024...
North Shore’s Esplanade development gets green light, giant Ferris wheel and all
Pittsburgh’s Planning Commission on Tuesday approved the master plan for a riverfront development that intends to bring a nearly 200-foot-tall Ferris wheel, housing, entertainment and shopping to the city’s North Shore. Dubbed Esplanade, the development would revitalize a roughly 15-acre brownfield along the Ohio River in Pittsburgh’s Chateau neighborhood. Canonsburg-based...
President’s impact on election
President-elect Donald Trump made many promises on the campaign trail. He said he would eliminate taxes on tips and overtime pay, deport masses of undocumented immigrants and solve the conflict in the Middle East. His supporters have celebrated his victory Tuesday, hoping a second Trump administration will mean a better...
Federal judge hears evidence on blocking Pyrex plant closure in Charleroi
A federal judge will decide by the end of Thursday whether to block the closure of a Pyrex-making glassware plant in Charleroi that is a major employer in the Mon Valley. The Pennsylvania Attorney General is seeking a preliminary injunction to prohibit Centre Lane Partners, a private equity firm working...
Trump has promised to ‘save TikTok’; what happens next is less clear
After a tumultuous year filled with anxiety and a legal battle about its future in the U.S., TikTok may have just been thrown a lifeline by the man who was once its biggest foe: Donald Trump. President-elect Trump, who tried to ban the social media platform the last time he...
Citizens and Molson Coors look good based on book value
Stocks that are cheap relative to book value appeal to me a great deal. What’s book value? It’s basically a company’s net worth — its assets minus its liabilities. The figure is often expressed per share of common stock. General Motors Co. (GM), for example, has a book value of...
Frustrated Americans await economic changes they voted for with Trump
WASHINGTON — Fed up with high prices and unimpressed with an economy that by just about any measure is a healthy one, Americans demanded change when they voted for president. They could get it. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to topple many of the Biden administration’s economic policies. Trump campaigned...
Hempfield semiconductor plant tabbed for possible $3 million federal investment
A Hempfield manufacturer of semiconductor chips for military and commercial aircraft, solar power projects and windmills is in line to receive $3 million in federal funding. A company official said Friday the money will be used to almost double its capacity and add jobs. “This (funding) helps to ensure the...
Federal Reserve cuts its key interest rate by a quarter-point amid postelection uncertaintyVideo
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Thursday by a quarter-point in response to the steady decline in the once-high inflation that had angered Americans and helped drive Donald Trump’s presidential election victory this week. The rate cut follows a larger half-point reduction in September, and it...
Slightly more Americans apply for unemployment benefits last week, but layoffs remain at low levels
The number of Americans applying for jobless aid ticked up last week but layoffs remain at historically low levels. The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claim applications rose by 3,000 to 221,000 for the week of Nov. 2. That’s fewer than the 227,000 analysts forecast. The four-week average of...
Average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. rises for 6th straight week
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. rose for the sixth straight week, returning to its highest level since early July. The rate ticked up to 6.79% from 6.72% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. That’s still down from a year ago, when the rate...
Immersive ‘selfie’ bar set to open in Robinson
Selfie lovers will soon have a new place to snap creative content in Pittsburgh. Catwalk Selfie Bar is a new custom selfie experience set to host a grand opening celebration on Nov. 11 in Robinson. The selfie concept invites paying guests to elevate their selfie content by purchasing hour-long selfie...
