AP National Business

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Thursday: Macy’s, Kohl’s rise; Toyota, Red Robin fall.

The Associated Press Closing prices for crude oil, gold and other commodities, and foreign exchange levels.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Workers at a General Motors plant in Mexico have voted to end a collective bargaining contract negotiated by an old guard union accused of intimidation tactics in earlier votes. It was an early display of the effectiveness of labor mechanisms negotiated under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement. Nearly 6,000 workers at the

By RYAN J. FOLEY Associated Press IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A pair of new lawsuits contend the office of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is illegally delaying the release of public records related to its $26 million, no-bid coronavirus testing contract. Reynolds and her office’s public records custodian are the latest officials to be accused

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Solid stock market gains through much of the pandemic and workers putting more of their pay toward their golden years are paying off for many retirement savers. The average 401(k) plan balance grew 24% to a record $129,300 in the second quarter from a year

By GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press The family that owns Purdue Pharma had hoped a reformulated version of Oxycontin would help rein in the burgeoning opioid crisis a decade ago, a member of the Sackler family said Thursday in court testimony that once again stopped short of an apology or acceptance of responsibility for the epidemic.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The number of U.S. tourists who came to Florida in the second quarter of this year has returned to pre-pandemic levels, though the international market is still lagging. Figures released Thursday show 30.6 million domestic visitors came to Florida from April through June of this year. That’s a 6% increase over

The Associated Press Facebook is trying to pull in workplace users with a new virtual-reality app called Horizon Workrooms. Workrooms lets people meet remotely in a virtual space populated by avatars. It’s an app for Facebook’s headset, which costs at least $300 and weighs a pound. People without a headset can join with a video

By MARCY GORDON AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators have sharpened their antitrust attack against Facebook, alleging in a revised complaint Thursday that the social network giant pursued a laser-focused strategy to “buy or bury” rivals to suppress competition. It is the Federal Trade Commission’s second antitrust run at the company. A federal

HENRICO, Va. (AP) — Hundreds of workers at a Mondelez International bakery in Virginia are on strike, seeking to block the company’s contract negotiation concession demands and end what the union calls the outsourcing of jobs to Mexico. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that about 400 workers from the Henrico plant started striking Monday. The plant

By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of the Lebanese Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group says that an Iranian fuel tanker will sail toward Lebanon “within hours,” and is warning Israel and the United States not to intercept it. The delivery, organized by Hezbollah, would be an apparent violation of U.S. sanctions imposed

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer Rowdy airline passengers have now racked up a record $1 million in potential fines this year, a toll of the tumult in the sky as travelers have returned after most were grounded by the pandemic in 2020. The Federal Aviation Administration announced the latest cases Thursday, involving 34 travelers

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Help is on the way for dairy farmers who got a lower price for their products because of pandemic-related market abnormalities, the U.S. Department of Agricullture said Thursday. The department will provide about $350 million in assistance payments to eligible farmers, it said. The effort is “to try and compensate a

By MICHAEL CASEY and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — When Ryan David bought three rental properties back in 2017, he expected the $1,000-a-month he was pocketing after expenses would be regular sources of income well into his retirement years. He also was counting on the rent money from the properties in Dupont,

By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. officials launched a review Thursday of climate damage and other impacts from coal mining on public lands as the Biden administration expands its scrutiny of government fossil fuel sales that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. The review also will consider if companies are paying fair

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Toyota is scaling back production in North America and Japan as the surging coronavirus pandemic in Southeast Asia and elsewhere crimps supplies. Japan’s top automaker said Thursday that it will cut back production at home by 40%, affecting 14 auto assembly plants in the country. In

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week for a fourth straight time to a pandemic low, the latest sign that America’s job market is rebounding from the pandemic recession as employers boost hiring to meet a surge in consumer demand. The Labor Department

By ZEN SOO Associated Press SINGAPORE (AP) — Singapore will launch its first quarantine-free travel program for vaccinated people arriving from Germany and Brunei, and ease restrictions for visitors from Hong Kong and Macao as it seeks to reopen its borders after fully vaccinating over 75% of its population. Previously, only Singapore residents and those

By ANNE D’iNNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A return, at least temporarily, to near normalcy is giving a boost two of America’s largest department stores hit hard by the pandemic last year. Macy’s and Kohl’s raised their projections for 2021 Thursday after easily beating expectations in the just-ended second quarter. Americans are

By RANDA KRISS of NerdWallet Scammers and predatory lenders continue to try to take advantage of small businesses searching for COVID-19 recovery funding — especially with the end of the Paycheck Protection Program. To protect themselves from potential bad actors, business owners should watch out for financing sold exclusively on speed, as well as any