Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Business Highlights

by Associated Press

A jab on the job: Companies, unions offer COVID-19 vaccines

NEW YORK (AP) — A growing number of companies and labor unions are securing coronavirus vaccines for their workers. Amazon and some other large companies have hosted on-site inoculations, while smaller operations have helped book appointments for their workers. For the employers, the vaccines are a critical step toward restoring normalcy at a time when customer demand for their services is expected to skyrocket. For some workers, on-site injections can provide access they may not have had in their own communities amid persistent racial and socioeconomic gaps in vaccine distribution. Vaccination drives also allow companies to keep track of how many workers are vaccinated, although few employers are requiring the shots at this point.


Miners’ union backs shift from coal in exchange for jobs

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s largest coal miners’ union says it would accept President Joe Biden’s plan to move away from coal and other fossil fuels in exchange for a “true energy transition” that includes thousands of jobs in renewable energy and spending on technology to make coal cleaner. Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America, says ensuring jobs for displaced coal workers is crucial to any infrastructure bill taken up by Congress. At least 7,000 coal workers lost their jobs last year amid continued declines in the industry. Roberts says Congress needs “to provide a future for anybody that loses their job because of a transition in this country.″


Foxconn, Wisconsin reach new deal on scaled back facility

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Foxconn Technology Group has reached a new deal with reduced tax breaks for its scaled back manufacturing facility in southeast Wisconsin. Gov. Tony Evers and the world’s largest electronics manufacturer announced the new deal on Monday. Details of the new agreement were not immediately released. A person with knowledge of the new contract who was not authorized to speak publicly about the deal said that it will reduce the potential tax breaks by billions of dollars and still have potential tax breaks worth more than $10 million for the company. It was scheduled to be approved at a Tuesday meeting of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. The original deal with nearly $4 billion in state and local tax incentives was struck in 2017 by then-Gov. Scott Walker.


Scrutiny of Tesla crash a sign that regulation may be coming

DETROIT (AP) — A fiery crash near Houston with no one behind the wheel of a Tesla is drawing scrutiny from federal agencies that could bring new regulation of electronic systems that take on some driving tasks. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Transportation Safety board are investigating the Saturday night crash that killed two men in a Model S. Neither was found in the driver’s seat. Experts say the crash is drawing attention to Tesla’s Autopilot driver-assist system and full-self driving promises made by CEO Elon Musk. The safety administration says that with President Joe Biden’s election it is reviewing the regulations.


Apple signals return of right-wing ‘free speech’ app Parler

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple said it has an agreement to reinstate Parler, the social network popular with supporters of former President Donald Trump it kicked off its app store in January over ties to the deadly siege on the U.S. Capitol. In a letter to two Republican lawmakers in Washington, Apple said it has been in “substantial conversations” with Parler over how it plans to moderate content on its site, and that a Parler proposal for revising its app . Before its removal from the app store, Parler was a hotbed of hate speech, Nazi imagery and conspiracy theories. Apple declined to comment beyond the letter.


Stocks close lower, pulling indexes below record highs

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed broadly lower on Wall Street Monday, pulling major indexes below the latest record highs they reached last week. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1%. Small-company stocks did worse than the rest of the market. Technology stocks had some of the biggest pullbacks, but the losses were shared broadly by a mix of banks, energy companies and others that depend on spending by consumers. Investors are turning their focus to company earnings reports, and looking to see if the upbeat forecasts for strong results hold true. Treasury yields rose.


United loses $1.36 billion as business travel remains weak

United Airlines is still losing money, and it’s waiting for a turnaround in lucrative business and international travel to get it back to profitability. United said Monday that it lost $1.36 billion in the first quarter. The loss would have been wider without federal payroll aid, but it was still slightly worse than expected. United executives aren’t commenting on the results until Tuesday, but they have said recently that bookings for future flights are looking better heading into the summer vacation season. Still, United and its fellow large airlines depend on the return of high-fare business and international travelers, and nobody knows exactly when they will come back.

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