Business News

US wholesale inflation picked up in June in sign that some price pressures remain elevated

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale prices in the United States rose by a larger-than-expected 2.6% last month from a year earlier, a sign that some inflation pressures remain elevated. The increase, the sharpest year-over-year increase since March 2023, comes at a time when other price indicators are showing that inflation has continued to ease. The government’s producer price index — which tracks inflation before it reaches consumers — rose 0.2% from May to June after being unchanged the month before. Excluding food and energy prices, which tend to bounce around from month to month, so-called core wholesale prices were up 0.4% from May and 3% from June 2023.

Data of nearly all AT&T customers downloaded to a third-party platform in security breach

The data of nearly all customers of the telecommunications giant AT&T was downloaded to a third-party platform in a 2022 security breach in a year already rife with massive cyberattacks. The company said Friday that the breach hit customers of AT&T’s cellular customers, customers of mobile virtual network operators using AT&T’s wireless network, as well as its landline customers interacted with those cellular numbers.

Big bank quarterly results show signs of consumers slowing down spending

NEW YORK (AP) — Signs of consumers slowing down spending and falling behind on their bills weighed down shares of the big banks on Friday. It comes after JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo saw their adjusted profits fall, while Citigroup saw sluggish spending on their credit cards. The major banks have benefitted from higher interest rates for the last two years, but those higher interest rates are having the effect of causing consumers and businesses to slow down spending due to the higher costs to finance.

Stock market today: Wall Street rolls toward records as it nears the close of another winning week

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes are rising following some mixed signals on big banks’ profits and on inflation. The S&P 500 climbed 0.9% Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 342 points, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.1% higher. Bank of New York Mellon jumped following its profit report, but Wells Fargo dragged on the market after warning of pressure on a key measure of profits. Nvidia and other influential Big Tech stocks rose following their tumble the day before. Treasury yields swung in the bond market but remained a bit lower after a report showed inflation at the wholesale level was worse than expected.

European Union says X’s blue checks are deceptive ‘dark patterns’ that breach its social media laws

LONDON (AP) — The European Union says blue checkmarks from Elon Musk’s X are deceptive and that the online platform falls short on transparency and accountability requirements. They’re the first charges against a tech company since the bloc’s new social media regulations took effect. The European Commission outlined on Friday the preliminary findings from its investigation into X, formerly known as Twitter, under the 27-nation bloc’s Digital Services Act. The rulebook, also known as the DSA, is a sweeping set of regulations that requires platforms to take more responsibility for protecting users and cleaning up their sites. Regulators said the blue checks constitute “dark patterns” that are not in line with industry best practice.

US senators call out Big Tech’s new approach to poaching talent, products from smaller AI startups

Three U.S. Senators are calling for action against a new practice big technology companies are using to swallow up the talent and products of innovative AI startups without formally acquiring them. Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Peter Welch and Ron Wyden sent a letter Friday urging antitrust enforcers at the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to act against “undue consolidation across the industry,” including a recent deal between Amazon and the AI startup Adept. The practice generally involves a smaller startup sending its key employees to a larger company after they license its products or datasets.

Some smaller news outlets in swing states can’t afford election coverage. AP is helping them

NEW YORK (AP) — The Associated Press says it will provide free campaign and election night coverage to dozens of small and independent newsrooms located in swing states, through a program funded by a Knight Foundation grant. Several newsrooms in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada will qualify. The Institute for Nonprofit News says the material will augment local political coverage at outlets that are often the only source of independent news in a community. The grant comes during troubled financial times for the news industry; the Gannett and McClatchy chain of local news outlets said earlier this year they would stop paying for AP material

China’s exports grow 8.6% in June, beating forecasts despite trade tensions

HONG KONG (AP) — China’s exports beat forecasts in June, while imports grew less than expected. Chinese customs data released Friday showed exports grew 8.6% from the same time last year to hit $307.8 billion. That beat estimates of about 7.4% to 8% growth. Imports, however, fell 2.3% from a year earlier to $208.8 billion. China’s strong exports for June led to its trade surplus widening to $99 billion, up from $82.6 billion in May. The growth in exports comes as China faces escalated trade tensions with the U.S. and Europe. The U.S. and Europe have ramped up tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars.

Increasingly popular ‘parametric insurance’ helps farmers and others hit hard by extreme weather

MINDANAO, Philippines (AP) — A growing type of insurance, called parametric insurance, is helping farmers and others in developing countries respond to extreme weather events. Traditional forms of insurance pay out based on damages, say after a storm, as determined by an on-site inspection. This usually involves a lot of paperwork, bureaucracy and waiting, sometimes for years. Parametric insurance works differently. Automatic payments are based solely on the amount of rainfall and wind speed in a defined area, as measured by satellites. No damage assessment is required. Advocates hope this approach to disaster coverage will improve insurance coverage in poorer, remote areas vulnerable to growing threats from climate change.

IRS collects milestone $1 billion in back taxes from high-wealth taxpayers

WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS has collected $1 billion in back taxes from high-wealth tax cheats — a milestone meant to showcase how the agency is making use of the money it received as part of the Biden administration’s signature climate, health care and tax package signed into law in 2022. The announcement Thursday comes as the much-maligned agency shows the public how much work it is getting done. In a statement, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen praises the Inflation Reduction Act for “increasing tax fairness and ensuring that all wealthy taxpayers pay the taxes they owe, just like working families do.”