Business

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes on Tuesday: Walmart Inc., up $5.50 to $175.86. The nations’ largest retailer reported strong fourth-quarter earnings and raised its dividend. Tactile Systems Technology Inc., down 47 cents to $14.20. The medical device maker’s fourth-quarter revenue fell short of Wall Street forecasts. Sapiens International Corp., up $1.18 to …

If you are battling a video game goblin who speaks with a Cockney accent, or asking a gruff Scottish blacksmith to forge a virtual sword, you might be hearing the voice of actor Andy Magee. Except it’s not quite Magee’s voice. It’s a synthetic voice clone generated by artificial intelligence. As video game worlds get more expansive, some game studios …

DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers union is threatening to go on strike next week at Ford Motor Co.’s largest and most profitable factory in a dispute over local contract language. The union said Friday that nearly 9,000 workers at the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville will strike on Feb. 23 if the local contract dispute is not resolved. …

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks slipped Friday to send Wall Street to a rare losing week, just its second in the last 16. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% from its all-time high set a day earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 145 points, or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.8%. A report in the morning on inflation at …

Fewer Americans filed for jobless claims last week as the labor market continues to show resilience in the face of elevated interest rates intended to cool economic growth in the U.S. Applications for unemployment benefits fell by 8,000 to 212,000 for the week ending Feb. 10, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average of claims, which quiets some of …

NEW YORK (AP) — As some of the world’s biggest economies stumble into recession, the United States keeps chugging along. Both Japan and the United Kingdom said Thursday their economies likely weakened during the final three months of 2023. For each, it would be the second straight quarter that’s happened, which fits one lay definition for a recession. Yet in …

Stuck in a dating app loop with no date in sight? A lawsuit filed Wednesday against Match Group claims that is by design. Tinder, Hinge and other Match dating apps are filled with addictive features that encourage “compulsive” use, the proposed class-action lawsuit claims. The lawsuit filed in federal court in the Northern District of California on Wednesday — Valentine’s …

Thousands of ride-hailing and delivery workers in the U.S. and the U.K. went on strike on Valentine’s Day, calling for higher pay and other changes to their working conditions. In the U.S., Uber and Lyft drivers planned daylong strikes in Chicago; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Miami; Orlando and Tampa, Florida; Hartford, Connecticut; Newark, New Jersey; Austin, Texas; and Providence, Rhode Island. Drivers …

BREWER, Miane (AP) — A state agency on Wednesday rejected a Canadian mining company’s zoning application for a proposed mine on Pickett Mountain in northern Penobscot County, near Baxter State Park and the Katahdin Woods & Waters National Monument. The Maine Land Use Planning Commission voted 5-2 against Wolfenden’s request to rezone on 374 acres (150 hectares), which would’ve been …

NEW YORK (AP) — It turns out there are lots of sharp elbows in the plush toy business. Build-A-Bear and the makers of Squishmallows are facing off in federal court. Kelly Toys and its Berkshire Hathaway -controlled parent company Jazwares have sued Build-A-Bear, saying its new “Skoosherz” toys copy the look and feel of their mega-popular Squishmallows products. The Skoosherz …