AP National Business

By The Associated Press Airlines are responding to high sickout numbers during the pandemic by trimming their schedules. Alaska Airlines said Thursday that it will cut its schedule by about 10% for the rest of January. The move comes as nationwide flight cancellations top 2,100, the 12th straight day above 1,000. Seattle-based Alaska Airlines says

By VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Amnesty International says it has independently confirmed that an Israeli company’s powerful spyware was used to hack a Polish senator when he was running the opposition’s 2019 parliamentary election campaign. The Associated Press reported last month that an internet watchdog group at the University of Toronto

By KEN RITTER Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — Two former investment executives from Japan have pleaded guilty in Las Vegas in what prosecutors have called a $1.5 billion international Ponzi scheme with 10,000 victims in the U.S. and abroad. Junzo Suzuki and his son, Paul Suzuki, entered their pleas Wednesday in U.S. District Court.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates rose in the past week to start the new year. They reached their highest level since May 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, yet remained historically low. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan increased to 3.22%

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — New data from the music industry confirms what a lot of people long suspected — 2021 was a very good year for Morgan Wallen, Adele and vinyl. MRC Data’s year-end report, presented in collaboration with Billboard, shows that Wallen’s “Dangerous: The Double Album” ended 2021

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — New data from the music industry confirms what a lot of people long suspected — 2021 was a very good year for Morgan Wallen, Adele and vinyl. MRC Data’s year-end report, presented in collaboration with Billboard, shows that Wallen’s “Dangerous: The Double Album” ended 2021

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fierce competition, low mortgage rates and soaring prices helped raise the amount borrowers took on to buy homes last year to an all-time high, eclipsing the mid-2000s housing bubble. Banks issued an estimated $1.61 trillion in home purchase loans last year, up about 9% from

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Stocks are wobbling in afternoon trading on Wall Street Thursday as investors consider the outlook for rising interest rates and inflation. The S&P 500 rose 0.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% and the Nasdaq rose 0.3%. Bond yields continued to rise a day

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer COVID-19 vaccines and testing boosted Walgreens store sales growth to its highest level in more than two decades, as the drugstore chain beat fiscal first-quarter expectations. Walgreens doled out 15.6 million vaccines in the quarter that ended in November 30, as more Americans sought booster shots and vaccine eligibility

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer Bed Bath & Beyond’s fiscal third-quarter loss widened, with the home goods retailer saying supply chain issues are continuing to squeeze its business. The Union, New Jersey-based company lost $276.4 million, or $2.78 per share, for the three months ended Nov. 27. That compares with a loss of $75

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Growth in the U.S. service industry, where most Americans work, pulled back in December after expanding at a record pace the previous two months. The Institute for Supply Management reported Thursday that its monthly survey of service industries declined to a reading of 62

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Prince William has appealed for innovators around the world to submit nominations for his Earthshot Prize, a competition aimed at finding new ways to tackle climate change. William and his charity, The Royal Foundation, launched the prize in 2020 inspired by U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s 1962 “Moonshot” speech that challenged

The Associated Press Major indexes are edging higher in early trading on Wall Street Thursday after shaking off some weakness shortly after the opening bell. The S&P 500 was up 0.4% and the Nasdaq also rose 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1%. Bond yields continued to rise a day after the Federal

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s prime minister has denounced a Facebook ban imposed on a far-right party for allegedly violating the social network’s rules on the fight against COVID-19 and hate speech. Facebook’s owner, Meta, removed the profile of Poland’s Confederation Freedom and Independence party on Wednesday, over posts criticizing vaccination and the wearing of

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer Bed Bath & Beyond’s fiscal third-quarter loss widened, with the home goods retailer saying supply chain issues are continuing to squeeze its business. The Union, New Jersey-based company lost $276.4 million, or $2.78 per share, for the three months ended Nov. 27. That compares with a loss of $75

By BARRY HATTON Associated Press LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal’s government has announced new incentives for people to get COVID-19 booster shots. People who had a booster jab two weeks previously will from next Monday no longer need to show a negative coronavirus test result to attend events and enter places where it otherwise would

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week but remained at historically low levels, suggesting that the job market remains strong. U.S. jobless claims rose by 7,000 last week to 207,000.  The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week gyrations, rose by

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Europe’s sky is filling up with near-empty flights that even airlines admit serve no purpose except securing valuable time slots at some of the world’s biggest airports. The practice comes as the European Union has committed to being a global leader in combating climate change and flights

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit surged to a near-record high of $80.2 billion in November as exports slowed  while imports jumped sharply. The  November deficit was 19.3% higher than the October deficit of $67.2 billion and was just below the all-time monthly record of $81.4 billion set

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer COVID-19 vaccines and testing boosted Walgreens store sales growth to its highest level in more than two decades, as the drugstore chain beat fiscal first-quarter expectations. Walgreens doled out 15.6 million vaccines in the quarter that ended in November 30, as more Americans sought booster shots and vaccine eligibility