CNN – Business/Consumer

By Paul R. La Monica, CNN Business The August jobs report was a massive disappointment, with Corporate America hiring far fewer people than expected. But investors largely shrugged off the weaker jobs gains. Stocks were mostly unchanged Friday and remained near all-time highs. The S&P 500 was flat while the Nasdaq rose slightly. Both held

By Paul R. La Monica, CNN Business Here’s another sign that workers are able to command more pay in this Covid-driven economy: Walmart, one of the nation’s largest employers, is giving more than 565,000 workers a raise. Walmart US President and CEO John Furner said in a memo to employees obtained by CNN Business that

By Anneken Tappe, CNN Business America’s jobs recovery hit a major roadblock in August as the Delta variant threatened the labor market recovery, and the US economy added far fewer jobs than expected. Only 235,000 jobs were added back to the economy last month, the lowest number since January, vastly missing economists’ expectations. “Delta is

By Chris Isidore, CNN Business General Motors will shut production at most of its North American plants for a week or two starting next week as the worsening chip shortage takes another bite out of its plans. GM and other automakers had hoped the chip shortage would be mostly behind them by now. But the

By Julia Horowitz, CNN Business All eyes are on the US jobs report for August, due Friday, as the Federal Reserve weighs when to start pulling back support for the economy. What’s happening: Economists polled by Refinitiv predict that 728,000 jobs were added last month. We’ll find out shortly if they’re correct. If that many

By Oliver Darcy, CNN Business A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. You can sign up for free right here. “All you could do for people was cover the stories of their loved ones who were lost. They wanted people to know about this person they loved so much, because

By Chauncey Alcorn Everett Benyard thought he was finally in a strong enough financial position to purchase his first home earlier this year. He’d saved money by living with his parents for a time and secured a higher-paying job in 2020. But the 30-year-old San Diego corrections officer has struggled to compete in one of

By Matt Egan, CNN Business The Biden administration is releasing 1.5 million barrels of crude oil from America’s emergency stockpile of oil as Louisiana’s gas crisis worsens. The decision to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or SPR, comes as two-thirds of the gas stations in New Orleans and Baton Rouge are out of gasoline in

By Paul R. La Monica, CNN Business Call it love in the time of Covid. Those TV commercials for Jared and Kay — as in “every kiss begins with …” — may be cheesy, but they are working. Millennials looking to get hitched are flocking to the two mall-based jewelry chains for engagement rings, and

By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN Business The Audi Grandsphere, revealed Wednesday, is the German automaker’s idea of what self-driving luxury car could be, with controls that fold away and lounge-style seats in the front. Audi has yet to release anything like a fully self-driving car, but the Grandsphere concept plays with the idea of how we

By Paul R. La Monica, CNN Business Online pet supply retailer Chewy got a huge boost during the pandemic as more consumers shopped on their phones and laptops — and adopted more kittens and puppies. But it looks like Chewy’s Covid lift is fading, and that’s sending the stock to Wall Street’s dog house. Shares

Opinion by Gad Levanon for CNN Business Perspectives The sharp decline in Covid cases during the first half of 2021 raised expectations that the pandemic would gradually die down and the jobs market would return to normal by year’s end. But the Delta variant has scrambled that labor market outlook for this year and beyond,

By Julia Horowitz, CNN Business Last month, Before the Bell observed early signs that the red-hot global housing market could be starting to cool, as elevated prices appeared to hurt demand and home improvement spending eased. We may have called the top too soon. What’s happening: US home prices rose 18.6% in June compared to

By Anneken Tappe, CNN Business The US jobs recovery is about to get a reality check. It was a strong summer, with nearly 2.5 million jobs added back between May and July even as the Delta variant started to increase Covid-19 infections — but economists are now growing cautious that August may not have been