U.S. retail sales flat in July as households spent more cautiously
Consumers remained wary of spending much on non-essentials: Sales were down 0.5% at department stores and 0.6% at clothing stores.
Associated Press
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Walmart easily tops sales expectations as shoppers seek discounts
With inflation hovering near levels not seen in 40 years, higher-income Americans turned to Walmart to cut costs on groceries while its lower-income customers swapped out deli meats for less expensive hot dogs and canned tuna.
Amazon to raise seller fees for holidays amid rising costs
It’s the second fee hike imposed on merchants this year by the online retail behemoth. In April, the company added a 5% “fuel and inflation” surcharge to offset rising gas costs and inflation.
Airbnb rolling out new screening tools to stop parties
Airbnb has been under growing pressure to clamp down on parties since 2019, when a Halloween house party in a San Francisco suburb ended with five people dead in a shooting.
Biden signs major climate, health care legislation
The measure is expected to be paid for by new taxes on large companies and stepped-up IRS enforcement of wealthy individuals and entities, with additional funds going to reduce the federal deficit.
Former ITT Tech students get $3.9B in debt cancellation
Students who used federal loans to attend Carmel-based ITT Technical Institute as far back as 2005 will automatically get that debt canceled after authorities found “widespread and pervasive misrepresentations” at the defunct for-profit college chain.
Companies facing first tax on stock buybacks in Biden bill
Under the bill, companies will face a new 1% excise tax on purchases of their own shares, effectively paying a penalty for a maneuver that they have long used to return cash to investors and bolster their stock price.
American Airlines places deposit on 20 supersonic planes
American becomes the second U.S. customer for Boom after a similar announcement last year from United Airlines for 15 of the proposed planes, called the Overture.
Starbucks asks labor board to halt union votes temporarily
Starbucks on Monday asked the National Labor Relations Board to halt all union elections at its U.S. stores, citing allegations from a board employee that regional NLRB officials improperly coordinated with union organizers.
Indiana Fever close season with 18-game losing streak
The Fever finished the season with a 5-31 record, tying the WNBA mark for most regular-season losses.
Expanded IRS free-file system one step closer in Dems’ bill
Now that the IRS is set to receive nearly $80 billion through the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act,” the agency has the means to develop new systems to help Americans pay their taxes.
Climate bill: Could coal communities shift to nuclear?
A major economic bill headed to the president has “game-changing” incentives for the nuclear energy industry, experts say, and those tax credits are even more substantial if a facility is sited in a community where a coal plant is closing.
Indianapolis Star parent Gannett axes staff to cut costs
The layoffs are the latest sign of the unrelentingly tough times in the newspaper industry, which has been steadily shrinking for more than a decade as more advertising shifts from print to digital and readers turn to other online outlets for information.
FTC looking at rules to corral tech firms’ data collection
Federal regulators are looking at drafting rules to crack down on what they call harmful commercial surveillance and lax data security.
FBI: Data from mall gunman’s laptop cannot be recovered
The gunman placed his laptop in the oven at his apartment with a can of butane before departing for the shooting, police have said. The oven was on and set to a high temperature.
CDC drops quarantine, screening recommendations for COVID-19
The changes are driven by a recognition that an estimated 95% of Americans 16 and older have acquired some level of immunity, either from being vaccinated or infected, agency officials said.
U.S. unemployment claims hit highest level since November
Applications for jobless aid have risen in five out of the last six weeks, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
U.S. wholesale inflation shows first month-to-month decline in 2 years
Inflation at the wholesale level still jumped 9.8% in July compared with a year earlier, suggesting that inflation will remain at painful levels for months to come.
Travelers starting to see small breaks from rising airfares
Before celebrating by splurging on a fancy trip, travelers should be aware that July’s average ticket was still 27.7% higher than in July of last year.
Tests show Indiana 3rd graders below pre-pandemic reading levels
Nearly one in five students “have not mastered foundational reading skills by the end of third grade,” according to data from IREAD, an Indiana Department of Education reading assessment given to third graders.