AP National Business

By DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The head of the European Central Bank says record inflation could linger for “longer than expected” and appeared to open the door at least a crack for an interest rate increase this year. Asked twice by journalists Thursday, Christine Lagarde declined to repeat previous comments

By BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — When COVID-19 shuttered much of the economy in 2020, Bill Thomas sold off his whiskey inventories to keep his Washington, D.C., whiskey bar afloat. By the next year, he was replenishing inventories. Thomas’ restocked supplies reflect the start of a comeback for on-premise spirits sales at

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates were flat for a third straight week after rising about a half percent early in the year. The average rate on the 30-year loan held at 3.55% from last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday. It stood at 2.73% a

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Last month, U.S. employers might have shed jobs for the first time in about a year, potentially raising alarms about the economy’s trajectory. Yet even if the January employment report coming Friday were to show a deep loss of jobs, there would be little mystery about

By DAMIAN J. TROISE AP Business Writer Stocks fell on Wall Street as Facebook parent company Meta plunged 24.9%, erasing more than $220 billion in market value, the largest drop in history. Meta sank after forecasting revenue well below analysts’ expectations, a disappointment for a company that investors have become accustomed to delivering spectacular growth.

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks have swerved scarily this year, with big swings and sharp drops. It’s particularly jarring for the millions of people who got their first taste of investing in recent years. The average day last month saw a swing twice as big for the S&P 500

The Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — Stellantis is recalling nearly 202,000 Ram heavy-duty pickups and chassis cabs to tighten a loose nut that can stop the windshield wipers from working properly. The recall covers certain Ram 2500 and 3500 pickups and some 3500, 4500 and 5500 chassis cabs. They’re all from 2019 and 2020, and

By KATHLEEN FOODY and JILL BLEED Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — A major winter storm has left about 350,000 homes and businesses without power across the U.S. The multiday storm dumped more than a foot of snow in parts of the Midwest and caused a tornado in Alabama that killed one person and critically injured

By DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The head of the European Central Bank says record inflation could linger for “longer than expected” and avoided repeating that an interest rate increase was all but ruled out this year. Asked twice by journalists Thursday, Christine Lagarde declined to reiterate her previous statement that

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Pushing back against critics, a key nominee to the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors says in testimony before a Senate panel that she would not make it harder for any industry to obtain bank loans. Sarah Bloom Raskin, a former Fed governor and deputy Treasury Secretary,

By SUZAN FRASER Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has again offered to mediate between Russia and Ukraine after talks with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, as Turkey walks a tightrope balancing its relations with both countries. A key NATO member in the Black Sea region, Turkey has been

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits for the second week in a row after three straight weeks of increases. The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims fell by 23,000 to 238,000 last week, from 261,000 the previous week. The four-week average for claims, which compensates

BRUSSELS (AP) — At least two energy companies in the Belgian ports of Antwerp and Ghent have been hit by cyberattacks and Belgian authorities have opened an investigation, one day after Germany opened a probe into similar attack. In Germany, prosecutors have said they opened an investigation into suspected blackmail after two companies involved in

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer Biogen expects “minimal” revenue this year from its Alzheimer’s treatment initially hailed as potentially a breakthrough drug, but one with an eye-popping price tag that drew immediate criticism from  doctors and patient advocates. The drugmaker on Thursday released a forecast for 2022 that caught investors off guard, sending shares

By DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has the job of explaining why the bank isn’t raising interest rates despite record high inflation as it left its key economic stimulus programs in place. The bank for the 19 countries that use the euro is moving more

By The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. markets were poised to open lower Thursday as tech stocks dragged the broader market down after Facebook parent company Meta reported disappointing earnings a day earlier. Futures for the S&P 500 slipped 1%, while the same for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 0.2%. Meta

By LORNE COOK and SUZAN FRASER Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is concerned about Russia’s continued military buildup around Ukraine. He says Moscow has now deployed more troops and military equipment to neighboring Belarus that at any time in the last 30 years. More than 100,000 Russian troops are stationed near

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer The blockbuster cancer treatment Keytruda pushed Merck past fourth-quarter expectations, and the drugmaker’s COVID-19 treatment debuted with nearly $1 billion in sales. A 50% jump in sales for the Gardasil vaccine, which protects against cancer-causing human papilloma virus infections, also helped, Merck said Thursday. Overall, Merck earned $3.76 billion

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England has raised interest rates for the second time in three months. That decision Thursday puts the United Kingdom far ahead of the rest of Europe and the U.S. in moving to tame surging inflation that’s squeezing consumers and businesses. The bank boosted its

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Officials in Northern Ireland have sought legal advice after a government minister ordered them to stop inspecting cargoes arriving from other parts of the U.K., in violation of the Brexit agreement between Britain and the European Union. Shipments continued to move through the port of Belfast on