Business News

The US didn’t just avoid a recession — it’s adding hundreds of thousands of new jobs

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s employers delivered a stunning burst of hiring to begin 2024, adding 353,000 jobs in January in the latest sign of the economy’s continuing ability to shrug off the highest interest rates in two decades. Last month’s job gain — roughly twice what economists had predicted — topped the December gain of 333,000, a figure that was itself revised sharply higher. The unemployment rate stayed at 3.7%, just above a half-century low. Wages rose unexpectedly fast in January, too. The latest gains showcased employers’ willingness to keep hiring to meet steady consumer spending. It comes as the intensifying presidential campaign is pivoting in no small part on views of President Joe Biden’s economic stewardship.

Stock market today: Worries about a hot economy keep Wall Street in check, even as tech giants climb

NEW YORK (AP) — Worries about the downside of a too-hot job market are keeping Wall Street in check, drowning out some big gains for Big Tech stocks. Leaps for Meta Platforms and Amazon had the S&P 500 index 0.3% higher Friday. They also pushed the Nasdaq composite up 0.8%. The Dow fell 116 points as stocks felt pressure from higher yields in the bond market. Yields jumped after a report showed employers hired many more workers last month than expected. While the strength is a boon for workers, the worry is that it could mean a longer wait for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.

Tesla recalling nearly 2.2M vehicles for software update to fix warning lights that are too small

DETROIT (AP) — Tesla is recalling nearly all of the vehicles it has sold in the U.S. because some warning lights on the instrument panel are too small. Documents posted Friday by U.S. safety regulators say the recall will be done with an online software update. It covers the 2012 through 2023 Model S, the 2016 through 2023 Model X, the 2017 through 2023 Model 3, the 2019 through 2024 Model Y and the 2024 Cybertruck. The agency says in the documents that the brake, park and antilock brake warning lights have a smaller font size than required by federal safety standards. That can make critical safety information hard to read, increasing the risk of a crash. Tesla has already started releasing the software update.

Exxon overcomes hefty charge and falling crude prices in fourth quarter to top profit expectations

Exxon Mobil’s fourth-quarter revenue and profits declined as the oil giant was weighed down by a hefty impairment charge tied to regulatory issues in California. Still, it posted a healthy adjusted profit. Shares rose 2% before the market open on Friday. And smaller rival Chevron also posted quarterly earnings that beat results. Both companies also raised their dividends. Oil markets are being stretched by cutbacks in oil production from Saudi Arabia and Russia, and the war between Israel and Hamas still potentially runs the risk of igniting a broader conflict in the Middle East.

Think the news industry was struggling already? The dawn of 2024 is offering few good tidings

NEW YORK (AP) — Hardly a day goes by without news of another set of layoffs or business failure in journalism, an industry in the midst of a decades-long decline that has only seemed to accelerate lately. The news website The Messenger, in business for less than a year, folded abruptly on Wednesday. That follows announcements of job cuts at all manners of publications like the Los Angeles Times, Business Insider and Time. Popular digital outlets Pitchfork, Jezebel and BuzzFeed News have disappeared or been folded into other publications. A severe advertising downturn, along with a host of problems new, old and unique to certain outlets, is at play.

China pledges more help for its ailing property market, as IMF forecasts economy will slow

BANGKOK (AP) — Chinese markets have retreated despite a fresh flurry of measures to help prop up the ailing property sector. Shanghai’s Composite index dropped 1.5% after dipping sharply lower earlier in the afternoon. The retreat came after the International Monetary Fund forecast that China’s economy will expand at a 4.6% annual pace this year, down from 5.2% in 2023. The IMF said persisting weakness in the property market could pull growth even lower. The industry’s downturn followed a crackdown on excessive borrowing that began several years ago. Recent moves to help renters and increase the supply of affordable housing to spur demand come just weeks before officials will gather in Beijing for the annual meeting of the national congress.

US lawmakers call on Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán to immediately approve Sweden’s NATO membership

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers are urging Hungary to immediately ratify Sweden’s application to join NATO. They say that patience with the Central European country is “wearing thin.” Hungary is the only country in the 31-nation military alliance that hasn’t yet backed Sweden’s membership bid. Frustration has mounted within NATO as Budapest has repeatedly pushed back a vote on ratification. U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Thom Tillis released a joint statement on Thursday. They called on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to advance Sweden’s bid without delay. Shaheen and Tillis also said that continuing to hold up the process would harm Budapest’s relations with its allies. U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin in a separate statement called Orbán “the least reliable member of NATO.”

German lawmakers approve contested cuts to farmers’ fuel subsidies and a revamped 2024 budget

BERLIN (AP) — German lawmakers have approved cuts to fuel subsidies for farmers that prompted angry protests, along with a 2024 budget the government had to revamp after a court ruling blew a hole in its financial plans. Parliament’s lower house on Friday voted in favor of both the overhauled 476.8 billion ($516 billion) budget for Europe’s biggest economy and legislation including measures taken to fill the gap, including the subsidy cuts. The government had to rework its budget plans after Germany’s highest court annulled its decision to repurpose billions of euros originally meant to cushion the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic for measures to help combat climate change and modernize the country.

Why Apple is pushing the term ‘spatial computing’ along with its new Vision Pro headset

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — With Apple’s hotly anticipated Vision Pro headset hitting store shelves Friday, you’re probably going to start to see more people wearing the futuristic googles that are supposed to usher in the age of “spatial computing.” It’s an esoteric mode of technology that Apple executives and their marketing gurus are trying to thrust into the mainstream while avoiding other more widely used terms such as “augmented reality” and “virtual reality” to describe the transformative powers of a product that’s being touted as a tipping point that could become as monumental as the changes wrought after the iPhone came out in 2007. The Associated Press explored the history and underlying concepts of spatial computing.

Martin Lawrence shows off his strength in new Super Bowl commercial with Shannon Sharpe

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Martin Lawrence will star alongside Hall of Fame football player Shannon Sharpe in a new Super Bowl commercial. Lawrence and Sharpe pair up for a friendly game of golf — until their cart rolls into a pond. That’s when Lawrence shows off his strength to the muscle-bound, retired NFL player, who watches the digitally-enhanced comedian walk into the pond, pick up the cart and carry it out. The 30-second commercial is for Oikos yogurt. Lawrence says he’s looking forward to returning back to comedy soon and the fourth “Bad Boy” film, which is released June 14.