Finance

Employers added a half-million fewer jobs in 2018 and early 2019 than previously reported, the Labor Department said Wednesday. The revisions, which are preliminary, are part of an annual process in which survey-based estimates are brought into alignment with more definitive data from state unemployment insurance records. Wednesday’s revision covers the period through March; final […]

Imagine lending money to someone and having to pay for the privilege of doing so. Or being asked to invest and informed of how much money you’ll lose. Sounds absurd, but increasingly that’s the global bond market these days. A rising share of government and corporate bonds are trading at negative interest yields — a

President Donald Trump insisted Wednesday that he doesn’t want another tax cut, a day after the White House signaled that the economy could use a little help. “I am not looking at a tax cut now,” the president told reporters in a reversal. “We don’t need it because we have a strong economy.” Trump and

How do New York Times journalists use technology in their jobs and in their personal lives? Conor Dougherty, who covers economics from San Francisco, discussed the tech he’s using. What tech tools do you rely on most to do your reporting? This isn’t very remarkable or unexpected, but I spend a lot of time on

Federal Reserve officials were widely divided at their meeting last month when they decided to cut rates for the first time in a decade, with some arguing for a bigger rate cut while others insisted the Fed should not cut rates at all. The minutes of the July 30-31 discussions released Wednesday show two officials

U.S. stocks marched broadly higher in midday trading Wednesday as investors welcomed a batch of strong earnings reports from several big retailers. Target and Lowe’s surged, leading a rally in retail stocks, as the market bounced back from its first loss in four days. Technology companies accounted for a big share of the market’s gains.

Yes, your sport utility vehicle has gotten smaller and more fuel efficient over the years. But even with those gains, SUVs still are behind cars when it comes to gas mileage. The reason: SUVs are taller and heavier than cars, and no matter how sculpted their bodies are, they still run into more wind resistance.

Lowe’s blew past second quarter profit expectations, buoyed by strong demand for spring goods and sales to contractors. Even though the home improvement retailer wrestled with lower lumber prices and rough spring weather, CEO Marvin Ellison said Lowe’s saw growth in same-store sales across the U.S. “Our transformation is ongoing, and our future is bright.

Asia stock markets followed Wall Street lower Wednesday as investors looked ahead to a speech by the Federal Reserve chairman for signs of possible plans for more U.S. interest rate cuts. Benchmarks in Tokyo, Shanghai and Australia declined while South Korea was little-changed. U.S. stocks fell Tuesday after another slide in bond yields and a

Hasbro is giving plastic packaging the boot. The toy maker said Tuesday that all its packaging for new products will be mostly plastic free by the end of 2022. It plans to stop using plastic bags, elastic bands and the shrink wrap that’s usually found around Monopoly, Scrabble and other board games. But Hasbro’s toys,