Business News

Retail sales fall 0.8% in January from December as shoppers pause after strong holiday season

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans pulled back their spending in January after splurging during the holiday season. Retail sales fell 0.8% from the strong pace in December when retail sales were up a revised 0.4%, according to the Commerce Department. The decline was bigger than the 0.10% drop that economists expected and marked the lowest monthly figure since March of last year. Economists had expected consumers to pull back on spending late last year under the weight of credit card debt and delinquencies and lower savings. Yet despite those challenges, along with higher borrowing costs, tighter credit conditions and still high price increases, household spending had been been fueled by strong job and rising wages.

US applications for jobless benefits fall as labor market continues to show resilience

Fewer Americans filed for jobless claims last week as the labor market continues to show resilience in the face of elevated interest rates. Applications for unemployment benefits fell by 8,000 to 212,000 for the week ending Feb. 10, the Labor Department reported Thursday. In total, 1.9 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits during the week that ended Feb. 3, an increase of 30,000 from the previous week. Weekly unemployment claims are seen as a proxy for the number of U.S. layoffs in a given week. They have remained at extraordinarily low levels despite efforts by the U.S. Federal Reserve to cool the economy.

UK fell into recession at the end of 2023 as output shrank more than expected in the fourth quarter

LONDON (AP) — The British economy fell into recession at the end of 2023 as output shrank more than anticipated in the final three months of the year. The Office for National Statistics said Thursday that economic activity, as measured by gross domestic product, declined by 0.3% in the fourth quarter of the year from the previous three-month period, with all three main sectors — services, industrial production and construction — down. That was far more than the 0.1% decline anticipated by economists. The quarterly decline followed a 0.1% fall in the previous three-month period. A recession is officially defined as two straight quarters of economic decline.

Treasury promoting new rules to stop money laundering ahead of Europe meetings

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is stepping up efforts to stop dirty money from flowing through the U.S. financial system by crafting a slew of new rules aimed at increasing corporate transparency and regulating occupations that are exploited for money laundering. A top treasury official will be in Paris next week to lay out the U.S. efforts at meetings of an international task force that sets international standards on how to combat money laundering and illicit finance. The international community is expecting the U.S. to improve its corporate transparency rules in order to maintain its status as a safe haven for investment.

Stock market today: Stocks drift, and yields ease after weak report on retail sales

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting as this week’s big swings on Wall Street calm a bit. The S&P 500 was 0.1% higher Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 158 points, and the Nasdaq composite was down 0.2%. Treasury yields sank in the bond market after a report showed sales at U.S. retailers weakened by more last month than economists expected. That helped bolster hopes for cuts to interest rates from the Federal Reserve later this year. TripAdvisor’s stock rose after it reported better results than expected. So did Cisco Systems, but its stock fell after cutting its profit forecast.

Ford CEO says company will rethink where it builds vehicles after last year’s autoworkers strike

DETROIT (AP) — Ford’s top executive says that last fall’s contentious United Auto Workers’ strike changed the company’s relationship with the union to the point where it will “think carefully” about where it builds future vehicles. CEO Jim Farley told the Wolfe Research Global Auto Conference in New York Thursday that the company always took pride in its relationship with the UAW, having avoided strikes since the 1970s. But last year, Ford’s highly profitable factory in Louisville, Kentucky, was the first truck plant that the UAW shut down with a strike. Farley said as the company looks at the transition from internal combustion to electric vehicles, “we have to think carefully about our (manufacturing) footprint.”

Japan slips into a recession and loses its spot as the world’s third-largest economy

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s economy is now the world’s fourth-largest after it contracted in the last quarter of 2023 and fell behind Germany. The government reported the economy shrank at an annual rate of 0.4% in October to December, though it grew 1.9% for all of 2023. Japan’s economy was the 2nd largest until 2010, when it was overtaken by China’s. Japan’s nominal GDP totaled $4.2 trillion last year, while Germany’s was $4.4 trillion, or $4.5 trillion, depending on the currency conversion. A weak yen was a key factor in the drop to fourth place, since comparisons of nominal GDP are in dollar terms. But Japan’s relative weakness also reflects a decline in its population and lagging productivity and competitiveness.

Microsoft says US rivals are beginning to use generative AI in offensive cyber operations

BOSTON (AP) — Microsoft says U.S. adversaries — chiefly Iran and North Korea and to a lesser extent Russia and China — are beginning to use generative artificial intelligence in mounting and organizing offensive cyber operations. Techniques that Microsoft says it observed along with partner OpenAI, represent an emerging threat as large-language models are used to more effectively breach networks and conduct influence operations.

House blocks effort from New York Republicans to boost ‘SALT’ tax deduction

WASHINGTON (AP) — A longshot bid to temporarily double a $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions for most married couples went down to defeat in the House. The cap was put in place as part of the sweeping tax cuts that a Republican-led Congress passed during then-President Donald Trump’s administration. The so-called SALT cap has led to bigger tax bills for many residents of New York, New Jersey, California and other high-cost, high-tax states, and is a top campaign issue. While unsuccessful, Wednesday’s vote gave Republicans in swing congressional districts the chance to show they’re trying to get tax relief for constituents. Democrats called the effort an election ploy to help vulnerable Republicans in New York.

Carmaker Stellantis’ second-half profits hit by North American strikes

MILAN (AP) — Carmaker Stellantis on Thursday reported an 13% decrease in net profits in the second half of 2023 due to the impact of strikes in North America, its profit center, as it heads into a year it expects to be “turbulent.” The world’s third-largest carmaker, formed three years ago through the Peugeot PSA-FCA FiatChrysler merger, reported net profits of 7.7 billion euros in the second half, down from 8.8 billion in the same period. Full-year profits were up 11% to 18.6 billion euros . Strikes in North America idled plants at all three Detroit automakers for six weeks last fall, leading to a deal that increased pay across the industry and forced automakers to absorb higher vehicle costs as it shifts away from gasoline-fueled vehicles.