Finance

The Labor Department weighed in Monday on a question whose answer could be worth billions of dollars to gig-economy companies as they begin selling shares to the public: Are their workers employees or contractors? The department said people finding work through a particular unnamed company were contractors, not employees, meaning that the company does not […]

U.S. stocks edged higher in morning trading on Wall Street Monday after a government report showed a surge in consumer spending last month. The Commerce Department reported the biggest gain in consumer spending in a decade. It is the latest report to raise investor confidence in the market. On Friday, the U.S. government reported a

Boeing shareholders are meeting six months to the day since the first of two deadly crashes involving the company’s 737 Max airliner and as new questions arise about the aerospace giant’s handling of the crisis. Southwest Airlines says it wasn’t told that a safety feature on the Max was turned off until after the first

Student loan debt in the United States has ballooned to $1.5 trillion, prompting calls from some Democratic presidential candidates for free public colleges and debt cancellation. We would like to understand how the experience of paying for college and starting a career varies globally. Tell us your story in the form below. We may include

Asian stock markets were mixed Monday as investors looked ahead to U.S.-Chinese trade talks and the Federal Reserve’s update on its U.S. interest rate outlook. Benchmarks in Hong Kong and Seoul advanced, while Shanghai and Sydney declined. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday. On Wall Street, the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 index hit

When a recession threatens, the Federal Reserve has a trusty method for either preventing it or minimizing its damage: Cut interest rates — by a lot, if necessary. But what happens when interest rates stay near record lows even in good times? With the economic expansion on track to become the longest on record, one

Asian stock markets were mixed on Monday as investors looked ahead to U.S.-Chinese trade talks and the Federal Reserve’s update on its U.S. interest rate outlook. Benchmarks in Hong Kong and Seoul advanced, while Shanghai and Sydney declined. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday and India was closed for elections. On Wall Street, the

Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Friday after an overnight decline on Wall Street spurred by disappointingly weak earnings reports from 3M and other industrial companies. Concern that China may temper its economic stimulus pulled the Shanghai benchmark down 0.8% to 3,099.36. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.5% to 22,193.41 and the Kospi in

Stacy Spikes co-founded MoviePass, a subscription service that lets you frequent movie theaters for a set monthly fee. After MoviePass sold off a majority stake in 2017, Spikes watched as the new owners quickly expanded, only to find the cost of all those movie tickets too high to sustain. Now Spikes has a new idea:

Chinese President Xi Jinping promised Friday to set high standards for Beijing’s sweeping infrastructure-building initiative as fellow leaders praised the effort despite worries it is saddling some countries with too much debt. Xi avoided mentioning debt in a speech at a Belt and Road forum celebrating his signature foreign initiative. But he promised changes in