Category: Business

Add rent to the rising costs bedeviling small businesses

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Read time : 2 mins

Level : Advanced

Martin Garcia, owner of gift and décor store Gramercy Gift Gallery, poses for a photo at his shop, Wednesday, June 29, 2022, in San Antonio. Landlords were forgiving about rent during the first two years of the pandemic, but now many are asking for back due rent. Meanwhile, most of the government aid programs that helped small businesses get through the pandemic have ended. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

By MAE ANDERSON AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The rent has come due for America’s small businesses and at a very inopportune time.

Landlords were lenient about rent payments during the first two years of the pandemic. Now, many are asking for back rent, and some are raising the current rent as well. Meanwhile, most of the government aid programs that helped small businesses get through the pandemic have ended while inflation has sharply pushed up the cost of supplies, shipping, and labor.

Martin Garcia, owner of gift and décor store Gramercy Gift Gallery in San Antonio, Texas, survived the first part of the pandemic in part by paying his landlord whatever rent he could each month. Then in August 2021, after the federal moratorium on evictions ended, his landlord asked for the full amount of back rent that he owed.

“I needed $10,000 in 15 days,” Garcia said. He took whatever loans he could find – often at high interest rates – and barely met the deadline. Continue reading

Did corporate greed fuel inflation? It’s not biggest culprit

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

FILE – Wallace Reid purchases fuel for the vehicle he drives to make a living using ride-share apps, Wednesday, June 22, 2022, in the Queens borough of New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Furious about surging prices at the gasoline station and the supermarket, many consumers feel they know just where to cast blame: On greedy companies that relentlessly jack up prices and pocket the profits.

Responding to that sentiment, the Democratic-led House of Representatives last month passed on a party-line vote — most Democrats for, all Republicans against — a bill designed to crack down on alleged price gouging by energy producers.

Likewise, Britain last month announced plans to impose a temporary 25% windfall tax on oil and gas company profits and to funnel the proceeds to financially struggling households.

Yet for all the public’s resentment, most economists say corporate price gouging is, at most, one of many causes of runaway inflation — and not the primary one. Continue reading

Japan eases foreign tourism ban, allows guided package tours

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Read time : 2 mins

Level : Intermediate

(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Japan on Friday eased its borders for foreign tourists and began accepting visa applications, but only for those on guided package tours who are willing to follow mask-wearing and other antivirus measures as the country cautiously tries to balance business and infection worries.

Friday is the first day to start procedures needed for the entry and arrivals are not expected until late June at the earliest, even though airport immigration and quarantine offices stood by for any possible arrivals.

The Japan Tourism Agency says tours are being accepted from 98 countries and regions, including the United States, Britain, China, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore, which are deemed as having low infection risks. Continue reading

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

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Read time : 3 mins

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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Read time : 3 mins

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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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

(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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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

(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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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

(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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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

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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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Intermediate

(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