Category: Business

Europe’s central bank to hike rates in July, 1st in 11 years

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Level : Advanced

(AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

AMSTERDAM (AP) — The European Central Bank will raise interest rates next month for the first time in 11 years and add another hike in September, catching up with other central banks worldwide as they pivot from supporting the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic to squelching soaring inflation.

The surprise move Thursday marks a turning point after years of extremely low interest rates but faces risks from weakening prospects for economic growth. Russia’s war in Ukraine has sent shock waves through the global economy, particularly as energy prices have soared and clobbered Europe, which relies on Russian oil and natural gas.

“Russia’s unjustified aggression towards Ukraine continues to weigh on the economy in Europe and beyond,” bank President Christine Lagarde told reporters. The war is “disrupting trade, is leading to shortages of materials and is contributing to high energy and commodity prices.” Continue reading

America’s Affair With Plastic Money and How Credit Card Issuers Treat Consumers Differently

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Level : Intermediate

By Ram Chakradhar

When it comes to credit card usage, spending habits, and saving money, men and women behave differently. The study also shows varied treatment of credit card issuers based on gender. You may be surprised to learn that men were more likely to have their credit card limit reduced than women during the pandemic.

Key Findings

Men were 1.5 times more likely to have their limits reduced than women. 82% of the men are less careful about their credit card dues than 71% of women. Men also carry over balance every month than women. When applying for a new credit card, men’s primary reason is a balance transfer, while women do it for spending rewards. Both agree that high-interest rates and annual fees are the biggest annoyance.Forbes Advisor, a financial comparison site, studied 2,005 American adults’ credit card usage, spending habits, frustration, and Covid-19 pandemic impact. The survey shows that 53% of the men saw their credit card limit reduced in the past two years compared to 37% of women. Continue reading

Red-hot summer job market awaits US teens as employers sweat

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(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

By PAUL WISEMAN and MAE ANDERSON AP Business Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mary Jane Riva, CEO of the Pizza Factory, has a cautionary message for her customers this summer: Prepare to wait longer for your Hawaiian pie or calzone.

The Pizza Factory’s 100 West Coast locations are desperately short of workers. With about 12 employees per store, they’re barely half-staffed — just when many more Americans are venturing out to restaurant chains like hers.

“The days of 15-minute orders,” Riva said, “may not be happening anymore.”

Talk to other employers in America’s vast hospitality sector — hotels, restaurants, public pools, ice cream parlors, pick-your-own strawberry farms — and you’ll hear a similar lament. They can’t fill many of their summer jobs because the number of open positions far exceeds the number of people willing and able to fill them — even at increased wages.

Some help may be coming: School’s out for summer, cutting loose millions of high school and college students for the next three months. Riva, for one, is hoping to field more job applications from students seeking summertime spending money. Continue reading

G7 countries to provide $19.8 billion in aid to Ukraine

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(Federico Gambarini/dpa via AP)

By FATIMA HUSSEIN and GEIR MOULSON Associated Press

KOENIGSWINTER, Germany (AP) — The Group of Seven leading economies agreed Friday to provide $19.8 billion in economic aid to Ukraine to help keep tight finances from hindering its ability to defend itself from Russia’s invasion.

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner told reporters that $9.5 billion of the total amount was mobilized at meetings of the G-7 finance ministers in Koenigswinter, Germany, this week.

“We agreed that Ukraine’s financial situation must have no influence on Ukraine’s ability to defend itself successfully,” he said. “We need to do our utmost to end this war.”

The money is intended to help the Ukrainian government keep basic services for its people functioning, and is separate from efforts to provide the country with weapons and humanitarian aid.

The needs are vast. Continue reading

DAVOS DIARY: Train, not plane means scenery & carbon cutting

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(AP Photo/Kelvin Chan)

By KELVIN CHAN Associated Press

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — If you’re coming to Davos this year, try to take the train instead of flying, organizers of the World Economic Forum said.

So I did.

That meant a 12-hour journey from London to the exclusive gathering in the Swiss Alps, which I’m helping cover for The Associated Press.

Taking a train is much less convenient than a plane, but the scenery made up for it — the rolling farm fields of England and France gave way to Switzerland’s towering mountains and idyllic valleys dotted with chalets. And my carbon footprint will be a lot lower than a flight.

To many, Davos conjures up images of government leaders, billionaire elites and corporate titans jetting in on carbon-spewing private planes even as the meeting increasingly focuses on climate change. Continue reading

Saudi oil giant Aramco’s first-quarter profits surge 80%

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By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Oil giant Saudi Aramco said Sunday its profits soared more than 80% in the first three months of the year, as the state-backed company cashes in on the volatility in global energy markets and surging oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The bumper first-quarter earnings by the firm formally known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., which overtook Apple as the world’s most valuable company last week, show a record net income of $39.5 billion, up from $21.7 billion during the same period last year. Continue reading

US airlines say they’ve reached a turning point in recovery

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(AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer

DALLAS (AP) — U.S. airlines say they have hit a turning point: After a lousy first quarter, they expect to be profitable as Americans return to travel in the biggest numbers since the start of the pandemic.

American Airlines is the latest carrier to give a rosy outlook for the rest of 2022. American said Thursday that although it lost $1.64 billion in the first quarter, sales hit a record in March, and the company expects to earn a profit in the second quarter.

“Demand is as strong as we have ever seen it,” American CEO Robert Isom told analysts. Continue reading

Citing Russia’s war, IMF cuts global growth forecast to 3.6%

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(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday downgraded the outlook for the world economy this year and next, blaming Russia’s war in Ukraine for disrupting global commerce, pushing up oil prices, threatening food supplies and increasing uncertainty already heightened by the coronavirus and its variants.

The 190-country lender cut its forecast for global growth to 3.6% this year, a steep falloff from 6.1% last year and from the 4.4% growth it had expected for 2022 back in January. It also said it expects the world economy to grow 3.6% again next year, slightly slower than the 3.8% it forecast in January. Continue reading

Inflation hits nonprofits’ services, ability to fundraise

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(Denise Johnson/Last Mile Food Rescue via AP)

By DAN PARKS of The Chronicle of Philanthropy Chronicle of Philanthropy

Last Mile Food Rescue in Cincinnati started shopping in November for a refrigerated box truck to move perishable donations from food retailers to distribution sites. The purchase would take some of the pressure off overstretched volunteers, who would have to make three or more runs in their cars to haul as much food as a single truckload.

But Last Mile is experiencing sticker shock. Prices for the kind of truck its leaders have in mind have soared thousands of dollars in recent months, to as much as $80,000. For an organization with an annual budget of $650,000, that’s too big a hit to absorb.

Frustrated, the charity started looking for used trucks, but the prices of used vehicles have shot up as well.

“We look every day,” says Julie Shifman, Last Mile’s executive director. “We hope that we will be able to afford it, or a major donor might be able to come in to help us.” Continue reading

White House to extend student loan pause through August

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By COLLIN BINKLEY and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration plans to freeze federal student loan payments through Aug. 31, extending a moratorium that has allowed millions of Americans to postpone payments during the coronavirus pandemic, according to an administration official familiar with the White House’s decision-making.

Student loan payments were scheduled to resume May 1 after being halted since early in the pandemic. But following calls from Democrats in Congress, the White House plans to give borrowers additional time to prepare for payments. Continue reading