AP National Business

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon isn’t just grappling with the easing of pandemic-induced splurges. The online retail behemoth is also contending with surging costs as it navigates a snarled supply chain and labor shortages. Those challenges resulted in Amazon reporting Thursday a shortfall in third-quarter profits and sales. It

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer Workers at three Starbucks stores in Buffalo, New York, will hold union elections next month after winning a case before the National Labor Relations Board. If the effort is successful, the stores would be the first of Starbucks’ 8,000 company-owned U.S. stores to unionize. The Seattle coffee giant opposes

By TOM KRISHER and HOPE YEN Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — The government has reported that the number of U.S. traffic deaths in the first half of 2021 hit 20,160, the highest first-half total since 2006. The estimated number was 18.4% higher than the first half of last year. That percentage increase was the biggest

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Apple’s iPhone sales soared yet again in the past quarter, but didn’t grow as rapidly as analysts anticipated because of supply shortages that have made it more difficult to meet the demand for a wide range of products. Until recently, the shortages that affected

DETROIT (AP) — The government has reported that the number of U.S. traffic deaths in the first half of 2021 hit 20,160, the highest first-half total since 2006 The estimated number was 18.4% higher than the first half of last year. That prompted Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to call the deaths an unacceptable crisis. The

By KATHLEEN RONAYNE Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A California judge has rejected a contract granting permanent access to U.S. government-controlled water for the nation’s largest agricultural water supplier. Environmentalists had blasted the deal with Fresno-based Westlands Water District as an arrangement designed to benefit corporate farm interests over environmental needs and taxpayers. It

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Apple’s iPhone sales soared yet again in the past quarter, but didn’t grow as rapidly as analysts anticipated. That’s a sign that the company’s momentum may be slowing amid supply shortages that have made it more difficult to meet the demand for a wide

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO By AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon is forecasting revenue growth for the holiday quarter that is below analysts’ expectations, the latest evidence that the pandemic-induced online splurging is easing. The disappointing forecast, announced Thursday, comes as the Seattle-based online behemoth posted profits and revenue for the third quarter that

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer Strong U.S. sales helped make up for weakness in other markets in Starbucks’ fiscal fourth quarter. The Seattle coffee giant said its North American same-store sales — or sales at locations open at least a year — jumped 22% in the July-September period. But same-store sales in China fell

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO By AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Online behemoth Amazon reported a drop in third quarter profits and sales as the pandemic-induced online splurging eases. During the three-month period ended Sept. 30, the company reported a profit of $6.2 billion, or $6.12 per share, compared with $6.3 billion, or $12.37 per

By BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says his company is rebranding itself as Meta, an effort to encompass its virtual-reality vision for the future. Experts point out that it also appears to be an attempt to change the subject from the Facebook Papers, a document trove that

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Thursday: Ford, KLA rise; Twilio, eBay fall.

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Stocks closed broadly higher on Wall Street Thursday, marking more record highs for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also rose but landed just shy of the record high it set on Tuesday. Small-company stocks rose more than the rest

By LISA MASCARO, AAMER MADHANI and FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden says he has reached a “historic” framework with Democrats in Congress on his sweeping, though scaled-back domestic policy plan. But he still must nail down votes from a few skeptical fellow Democrats. Biden announced the framework at the White

By AMY FORLITI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The South Dakota Supreme Court has ruled that search warrants will be unsealed in an investigation into billionaire banker-turned philanthropist T. Denny Sanford for possible possession of child pornography. The unanimous ruling, dated Wednesday, upholds a lower court ruling that found the courts can’t seal the search

By MAE ANDERSON AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook Inc. says it is changing its name to Meta Platforms Inc., joining a long list of companies that have tried to rebrand themselves over the years. CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the company will focus on the “metaverse,” a virtual computer-generated space where people can

By BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company is rebranding itself as Meta, an effort to encompass its virtual-reality vision for the future. Experts point out that it also appears to be an attempt to change the subject from the Facebook Papers, a document trove that

By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Top executives of ExxonMobil and other oil giants have denied spreading disinformation about climate change while sparring with congressional Democrats over allegations that the industry concealed evidence about the dangers of global warming. Exxon CEO Darren Woods said his company acknowledges the risks of climate change and