Business News

You aren’t likely to lose a job in the US but may find it harder to land one

WASHINGTON (AP) — The American labor market, red-hot for the past few years, has cooled. The job market is now in an unusual place: Jobholders are mostly secure, with layoffs low, historically speaking. Yet the pace of hiring has slowed, and landing a job has become harder. If you have a job, you aren’t likely to lose it. But if you’re looking for one, good luck. Since peaking in March 2022 as the economy accelerated out of the pandemic recession, the number of listed job openings has dropped by more than a third. On Friday, the government will report on whether hiring slowed sharply again in August after a much-weaker-than-expected July job gain.

Trump says he’d create a government efficiency commission led by Elon Musk

PHOENIX (AP) — Former President Donald Trump says he would create a government efficiency commission to audit the entire federal government. Trump said Thursday the idea was suggested by billionaire Elon Musk, who would lead it. The commission is the latest attention-grabbing alliance between Trump and Musk, who leads companies including Tesla and SpaceX and has become an increasingly vocal supporter of Trump’s bid to return to the White House. Trump says the commission would recommend “drastic reforms” and develop a plan to eliminate fraud and improper payments within six months, which he said would save trillions of dollars.

Verizon is buying Frontier in $20B deal to strengthen its fiber network

Verizon is buying Frontier Communications in a $20 billion deal that helps to strengthen its fiber network. Verizon Communications Inc. said Thursday that the transaction will also help it in the areas of artificial intelligence and IoT. Frontier has concentrated heavily on its fiber network capabilities over about the last four years, investing $4.1 billion upgrading and expanding its fiber network. It now gets more than half of its revenue from fiber products.

Trump says he’ll boost the economy by cutting federal spending and corporate taxes

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump Former has told business leaders he will lead a “national economic renaissance” by slashing regulations to boost energy production, drastically cutting government spending and reducing taxes for companies that produce in the U.S. His speech to the New York Economic Club on Thursday is the latest evidence that he and Democrat Kamala Harris want to take the corporate tax rate in opposite directions while arguing that each is better than the other for American business. It’s one of many ways the two major-party nominees have laid out sharply different views on the economy.

Biden promotes administration’s rural electrification funding in Wisconsin

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden returns to southwest Wisconsin to make good on his promise to provide new investments in rural electrification. Biden will be in Westby on Thursday to announce $7.3 billion in investments for 16 cooperatives that will provide electricity for rural areas across 23 states. The intent is to bring down the cost of badly needed electricity connections in hard-to-reach areas. Money for the project comes from Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law in August 2022. The law invests roughly $13 billion in rural electrification across multiple programs and will create 4,500 permanent jobs and 16,000 construction jobs, according to the White House.

How do you know when AI is powerful enough to be dangerous? Regulators try to do the math

How do you know if an artificial intelligence system is so powerful that it poses a security danger and shouldn’t be unleashed without careful oversight? For regulators trying to put guardrails on AI, it’s mostly about the arithmetic. Specifically, an AI model trained on 10 to the 26th floating-point operations must now be reported to the U.S. government and could soon trigger even stricter requirements in California.

Red Lobster says it will soon exit bankruptcy protection after judge approves seafood chain’s sale

NEW YORK (AP) — After months of dozens of restaurant closings and headlines about “endless shrimp” woes, Red Lobster says it will soon exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Thursday approved the casual seafood chain’s reorganization plan, which includes a sale to a lender group led by asset manager Fortress. The green light arrives under four months after Red Lobster filed for bankruptcy protection. That following years of mounting losses and dwindling customers while it struggled to keep up with competitors. Red Lobster is expected to operate about 544 locations across the U.S. and Canada upon emerging from bankruptcy. Under terms of the acquisition, which is expected to close by the end of September, the chain will continue to operate as an independent company.

New Mexico attorney general sues company behind Snapchat alleging child sexual extortion on the site

AP Technology Writer (AP) — New Mexico’s attorney general has filed a lawsuit against the company behind Snapchat. He says that the site’s design and policies foster the sharing of child sexual abuse material and facilitate child sexual exploitation. Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed the lawsuit against Snap Thursday in state court in Santa Fe. In addition to sexual abuse, the lawsuit claims the company also openly promotes child trafficking, drugs and guns. In a statement, Snap said it shares Torrez’s and the public’s concerns about the online safety of young people and it is deeply committed to Snapchat being a safe and positive place.

Prince Harry and Matt Damon set to address this year’s Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting

Prince Harry, actor Matt Damon, and World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres are set to speak at the 2024 Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting in New York on Sept. 23 and 24, the Clinton Foundation announced Thursday. The theme of this year’s gathering of political, business and philanthropic leaders is “What’s Working” – an effort to shine a spotlight on potential solutions and effective aid in a tumultuous period marked by war and increased income inequality and food insecurity. Former President Bill Clinton told The Associated Press that this year’s Clinton Global Initiative would “double down” on the progress made on the climate crisis, global health, gun violence, and other important issues.

Nearly 2,000 drug plants are overdue for FDA checks after COVID delays, AP finds

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health inspectors are still struggling to address a massive backlog of pharmaceutical plants that went uninspected during disruptions caused by COVID-19. That’s according to an analysis of government data by the Associated Press. The data shows roughly 2,000 drug manufacturing sites around the world have not had a Food and Drug Administration inspection for quality since before the pandemic. The FDA considers plants that have gone more than five years without an inspection to be a significant risk. Agency officials say their work has been hampered by difficulties recruiting and retaining inspectors, who face a grueling schedule of overseas travel.