FINANCIAL MARKETS
Stocks give up early gains
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks have turned lower, giving up an early gain in afternoon trading. The market had started higher after the latest data on inflation came in better than economists had expected.
The S&P 500 was down 0.1% and The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%. Bond yields continued to ease following the report, which showed that U.S. consumer prices rose a lower-than-expected 0.3% last month. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.28%. It was trading at 1.34% just before the report was released.
CONSUMER PRICES
US consumer prices rise 0.3% in August, lowest in 7 months
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer prices rose a lower-than-expected 0.3% last month, the smallest monthly increase in seven months and a hopeful sign that inflation pressures may be cooling.
The Labor Department reports that the August gain was down from a 0.5% increase in July and a 0.9% surge in June. It was the smallest increase since a similar 0.3% rise in January. The August slowdown in prices was seen as offering hope that Americans were finally starting to see some relief from a price surge earlier in the year.
AMAZON-HIRING
Amazon eyes 125K more hires, $18+ per hour average salary
UNDATED (AP) — Amazon is looking to offer an average starting wage of more than $18 per hour to fill some transportation and fulfillment roles, with some of the positions receiving up to $22.50 hourly.
The wages are being offered so Amazon can try to fill an additional 125,000 local jobs throughout the U.S., on top of the 40,000 corporate and technology jobs it announced earlier this month. There’s also sign-on bonuses of up to $3,000 available in certain locations.
UNITED STATES-CYBERSECURITY
General promises US ‘surge’ against foreign cyberattacks
WASHINGTON (AP) — The general who leads U.S. efforts to thwart foreign-based cyberattacks says he’s mounting a new “surge” to fight incursions that have at times debilitated government agencies and companies responsible for critical infrastructure.
In an interview, Gen. Paul Nakasone broadly describes “an intense focus” by government specialists to better find and share information about cyberattacks and “impose costs when necessary.” He says those costs include publicly linking adversarial countries to high-profile attacks and exposing the means by which those attacks were carried out.
Nakasone spoke today to The Associated Press.
CENSUS-POVERTY
Census: Relief programs staved off hardship in COVID crash
WASHINGTON (AP) — Massive government relief passed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic moved millions of Americans out of poverty last year, even as the official poverty rate increased slightly. That’s according to Census Bureau reports released today.
The official poverty measure showed an increase of 1 percentage point in 2020, with 11.4% of Americans living in poverty, or more than 37 million people. It was the first increase in poverty after five consecutive annual declines.
But the Census Bureau’s supplemental measure of poverty, which takes into account government benefit programs and stimulus payments, showed that the share of people in poverty dropped significantly after the aid was factored in.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BRITAIN
UK recommends COVID-19 booster shots for over 50s
LONDON (AP) — The U.K. will offer a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine to everyone over 50 and other vulnerable people after an an expert panel said the boosters were needed to protect against waning immunity this winter.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid told lawmakers that the government had accepted the recommendation of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization and would start offering booster shots next week. The World Health Organization has asked wealthy nations to delay booster shots until every country has vaccinated at least 40% of their populations.
EU-BREXIT
UK delays post-Brexit border checks, citing pandemic impact
LONDON (AP) — Britain says it is delaying the start of post-Brexit border checks on food imports from the European Union. The government cited disruption from the coronavirus pandemic.
The delay means checks on EU agricultural and animal products that were due to start in October won’t be introduced until next year. The U.K. said Tuesday that the “pragmatic new timetable” would ease pressure on businesses grappling with supply chain disruptions from the pandemic.
Britain left the EU’s single market at the end of 2020 and imports from the bloc are supposed to be subject to the same checks as goods from everywhere else in the world. This is the second time the U.K. has put off introducing some of the agreed checks.
KROGER-INSTACART
Kroger, Instacart team on new 30-minute delivery service
UNDATED (AP) — Kroger is teaming up with Instacart on a new delivery service that can get grocery items to customers in as few as 30 minutes.
The announcement comes at a time when many people are having groceries delivered for convenience and want their items to arrive quickly. Kroger Co. says the service, called Kroger Delivery Now, will offer 25,000 items and reach up to 50 million homes.
BOEING-OUTLOOK
Pandemic hasn’t dimmed Boeing’s rosy prediction for planes
UNDATED (AP) — Despite the pandemic’s damage to air travel, Boeing says it’s optimistic about long-term demand for airplanes.
Boeing says it expects the aerospace market to be worth $9 trillion over the next decade. That includes planes for airlines and military uses and other aerospace products and services. That outlook is even rosier than the one that Boeing gave in 2019, when it predicted industrywide sales of $8.7 billion over the next decade.
In the U.S. and around the world, air travel within countries is picking up faster than cross-border travel, as the U.S. and many other countries maintain high barriers to international travel.
BACKPAGE TRIAL
Judge declares mistrial at trial of Backpage.com founders
PHOENIX (AP) — A judge has declared a mistrial at the trial of the founders of the lucrative classified site Backpage.com on charges of facilitating prostitution and laundering money.
U.S. District Judge Susan Brnovich said prosecutors had too many references to child sex trafficking in a case where no one faced such a charge.
Michael Lacey and James Larkin were accused of taking part in a scheme to knowingly sell ads for sex on the site. Lacey and Larkin said the site never allowed ads for sex and used people and automated tools to try to delete such ads.
The new trial date was set for Oct. 5.
SOUTH KOREA-GOOGLE
SKorea to fine Google $177M for forcing software on devices
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s competition watchdog says it plans to fine Google at least $177 million for allegedly blocking smartphone makers like Samsung from using other operating systems. Google said it plans to challenge the ruling.
The announcement came as South Korea began enforcing a revised telecommunications law that prohibits app market operators like Google and Apple from requiring smartphone users to pay with their in-app purchasing systems.
South Korea has always closely scrutinized how foreign technology companies behave in its market. Much of the focus in recent years has been on Google and Apple, with officials vowing to prevent them from abusing their dominant market positions in mobile internet.
AMAZON-PALM-CONCERT TICKET
Amazon brings palm-swiping tech to Red Rocks concert venue
NEW YORK (AP) — Your palm could soon be your ticket into a concert. Amazon says it is bringing its palm-recognition technology to the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver and it will be available at other venues in the coming months.
It’s the first time the technology, called Amazon One, will be used outside some of Amazon’s stores, where shoppers can pay for groceries and snacks by swiping their palms. Starting today, concertgoers at Red Rocks can sign up to connect their palm to a ticketing account by hovering their hand over a device. An Amazon account is not needed to use the technology, called Amazon One.
SUBWAY-ROBBERY-VIDEO
Subway worker: Franchise owner suspended her after robbery
ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — A woman who struggled with a robber inside an Illinois Subway shop says the owner suspended her from work after surveillance video of the fight became public.
Araceli Sotelo told The Rockford Register Star that she was working alone in the Rockford sandwich shop Sept. 5 when a man came in with a gun and demanded money. The 20-year-old said she had been working at the shop for about a month and didn’t have any training or guidance about what to do if someone attempted to rob the Subway.
The Subway franchise owner declined to comment. Subway’s corporate office says the company is “deeply concerned” and the restaurant owner and management “are fully cooperating with the police investigation.”
TURNPIKE’S UNCOLLECTED TOLLS
Free rides take $104M toll on Pennsylvania Turnpike finances
CARLISLE, Pa. (AP) — More than $104 million in Pennsylvania Turnpike tolls went uncollected last year as the agency fully converted to all-electronic tolling.
Turnpike records show the millions of motorists who don’t use E-ZPass have a nearly 1 in 2 chance of riding without paying under the “toll-by-plate” license plate camera system. The turnpike says nearly 11 million out of the total of about 170 million turnpike rides generated no revenue for the agency last year and its bad debt expense has more than quadrupled in the past seven years.
About 10,000 Pennsylvania vehicle registrations are currently suspended for overdue toll bills, but that doesn’t apply to out-of-state drivers.
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