Business News

Union push pits the United Farm Workers against a major California agricultural business

A battle is underway in California between a unit of the Wonderful Co. and United Farm Workers over how a group of workers organized under a recently-enacted labor law. Since the law took effect, four groups of farm workers have filed to unionize including the workers at Wonderful Nurseries in Wasco, Calif. Experts say more are expected to do so. Farmers are concerned the filings will affect how they run their businesses. California has a lengthy history of protecting farm workers’ right to organize but few are in unions.

Bank of England edges closer to rate cut, possibly in June, as it predicts below-target inflation

LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England is keeping its main U.K. interest rate at a 16-year high of 5.25% though it gave a broad hint that a reduction could be on the cards as soon as June as inflation is forecast to fall below target. In a statement Thursday, the bank’s nine-member Monetary Policy Committee voted 7-2 to keep rates unchanged, with the 2 dissenters backing a quarter-point reduction. Last time, only one member voted for a cut. Bank Gov. Andrew Bailey said a cut at the next meeting in June has “not been ruled out” but insisted that it was “not a fait accompli.”

Stock market today: Wall Street limps toward second straight day of losses before the bell

Wall Street’s lull threatened to stretch into a second day Thursday as more corporate earnings are released ahead of the government’s weekly layoffs data. Futures for the S&P 500 ticked down 0.1% and futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell less than 0.2%. Airbnb tumbled 9.6% in premarket Thursday after the online rental gave a cautious second-quarter forecast despite easily beating Wall Street’s first quarter targets. Beyond Meat, the maker of plant-based meat substitutes, fell 12.9% after it posted a much wider loss than analysts expected. Later Thursday, the government issues its weekly tally of U.S. layoffs.

Guns are being stolen from cars at triple the rate they were 10 years ago, a report finds

WASHINGTON (AP) — The rate of guns stolen from cars in the U.S. has tripled over the last decade, making them the largest source of stolen guns in the country. That’s according to an analysis of FBI data by the gun safety group Everytown. The rate of stolen guns from cars climbed nearly every year and spiked during the coronavirus pandemic along with a major surge in weapons purchases. The findings are in a report provided to The Associated Press that analyzed FBI data from 337 cities in 44 states. The director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says the alarming trend underscores the need for Americans to safely secure their firearms.

Japanese automaker Nissan reports 92% jump in profit as sales surge

TOKYO (AP) — Nissan’s profit for the fiscal year through March has jumped 92% to 426.6 billion yen, or $2.7 billion, as the Japanese automaker’s sales grew in all major global markets except China. Nissan reported Thursday annual sales surged nearly 20%. Quarterly profit edged down slightly, while quarterly sales rose 13%. Nissan hopes to maintain its leadership in electric vehicles in the Japanese market with its Ariya sports-utility vehicle. Nissan sold 3.44 million vehicles globally for the year, up from 3.3 million vehicles the year before. Nissan has said it will mass produce electric vehicles powered by next-generation batteries by early 2029, offering solid-state batteries in a range of models, including pickup trucks.

US weekly jobless claims rise to highest level since August of 2023

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits jumped to its highest level in more than eight months last week in another sign that the labor market may be softening. The Labor Department reported Thursday that unemployment claims for the week ending May 4 rose by 22,000 to 231,000. Last week’s claims were the most since the final week of August 2023. In total, 1.79 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits during the week that ended April 27. That’s up 17,000 from the previous week. Weekly unemployment claims are considered a proxy for the number of U.S. layoffs in a given week.

Biden lauds new Microsoft center on the same site where Trump’s Foxconn project failed

STURTEVANT, Wis. (AP) — President Joe Biden has laced into Donald Trump over a failed project that was supposed to bring thousands of new jobs into southeastern Wisconsin. Now on that site, construction will start on a new data center from Microsoft, whose president credits the Biden administration’s economic policies. For Biden, it offers another point of contrast between him and Trump, who had promised a $10 billion investment by the Taiwan-based electronics giant Foxconn that never came. Biden said Wednesday that “Foxconn turned out to be just that — a con.” Republicans respond that Wisconsin voters have been hurt by inflation under the Democratic president’s watch. Foxconn says its current Wisconsin operation “greatly contributes” to the company.

Norfolk Southern shareholders to decide Thursday whether to back investors who want to fire the CEO

Norfolk Southern shareholders will decide Thursday morning whether to back an activist investor’s bid to take over the railroad’s board and replace management. Ancora Holdings picked up significant support during the campaign from major investors like EdgePoint Investment Group, two major rail unions and some customers. But the rest of rail labor, several key regulators and a number of other customers backed management. If all seven of Ancora’s nominees are elected, that would give them the votes they need to move forward with their plan to fire the CEO and overhaul the railroad’s operations. If shareholders only support some of their board candidates, then Ancora won’t be able to make sweeping changes right away.

Fans are following Taylor Swift to Europe after finding Eras Tour tickets less costly there

LONDON (AP) — Thousands of Taylor Swift fans are following her across the pond after missing out on her U.S. concert tour last year or being put off by marked-up ticket prices. Swift is kicking off the 18-city Europe leg of her Eras Tour on Thursday. The Paris arena where she is performing says Americans bought 20% of the tickets. The Chamber of Commerce in Stockholm says about 10,000 people are coming from the U.S. for her shows. Some fans say they justified the expense after noticing that tighter restrictions on ticket fees and resales in Europe made flying overseas to see Swift no more costly and potentially cheaper than catching her closer to home.

FTX will return money to most customers less than 2 years after catastrophic crypto collapse

FTX says that nearly all of its customers will receive the money back that they are owed, two years after the cryptocurrency exchange imploded, and some will get more than that. FTX said in a court filing late Tuesday that it owes about $11.2 billion to its creditors. The exchange estimates that it has between $14.5 billion and $16.3 billion to distribute to them.The interest rate for most creditors is 9%. FTX, which was once the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, filed for bankruptcy protection in November 2022 after it experienced the crypto equivalent of a bank run.