Business News

(WASHINGTON) -- The Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Wednesday in an effort to battle back a monthslong surge of inflation set off by the Iran war. The move marks the central bank's first rate increase since July 2023.The central bank hiked its benchmark rate a quarter of a percentage point, putting interest rates at a level between 3.75% and 4%.That figure marks a significant drop from a recent peak attained in 2023, […]

(NEW YORK) -- The most powerful executives in the artificial intelligence industry in recent days warned of a grave threat posed by the technology, issuing a series of statements calling for a slowdown in AI development.Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published a blog post alerting the public to “serious” risks. Sam Altman, chief executive at rival firm OpenAI, in a post on X acknowledged AI could go “very badly.”The head of xAI, Elon Musk, echoed that view, referring to […]

(WASHINGTON) -- The Federal Reserve on Wednesday will issue a decision on the level of interest rates as the United States weathers a months-long bout of elevated inflation set off by the Iran war.Global oil prices are hovering near a four-month high and the average price for a gallon of gasoline tops $4.30, according to AAA.The U.S. economy has shown signs of additional strain in recent days, including a bond selloff that is pushing up borrowing […]

(WASHINGTON) -- Global oil prices on Monday climbed to their highest level since May after Saudi Arabia shut down a key pipeline, choking worldwide crude supply and threatening to put upward pressure on U.S. gasoline prices.Brent crude, a major benchmark of worldwide oil prices, topped $109 on Monday before retreating to about $107. That's a 50% increase since the start of the war.Oil prices account for a large share of the price of […]

(WASHINGTON) -- Amazon announced Sunday it’s pausing operations with cargo carrier 21 Air following last week’s cargo plane crash in Miami, which killed five people and injured five others. “After the tragic incident last weekend, we’ve spent time supporting the investigation and reviewing some of the surrounding circumstances, and we’ve decided to pause our operations with 21 Air, the operator of Flight 7598,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement. […]

(Getty Images stock photo/Hapabapa) (NEW YORK) -- Artificial intelligence company Anthropic says it blocked several possible attempts to use its AI technology for research that could potentially support the development of biological weapons, according to a new report from the company.Anthropic, the company behind the Claude AI assistant, said it disrupted dozens of instances of potentially malicious use of its AI models since December 2025, including several examples of what the company described as "biological […]

(WASHINGTON) -- The U.S. economy unexpectedly lost jobs in July, demonstrating a wobbly labor market as shoppers continued to withstand a surge of inflation set off by the Iran war.The U.S. lost 23,000 jobs in July, according to the federal government's monthly jobs report, which marked a decline from 57,000 jobs added in June.The unemployment rate fell slightly from 4.2% in June to 4.1% in July, the Bureau of Labor […]

(WASHINGTON) -- Inflation held steady in August but price increases remained elevated as the Iran war continued to push up fuel prices months after it began. The reading matched economists' expectations.Prices rose 3.4% in August compared to a year earlier, maintaining the same level from the prior month, federal government data released on Friday morning showed.Inflation stands more than a percentage point higher than the Federal Reserve's target rate of 2%.Gas prices jumped nearly […]

(NEW YORK) -- Mortgage rates have dropped to their lowest level since May as negotiations between the United States and Iran ease financial markets.The average interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage stands at 6.43%, down from last week's rate of 6.49%, Freddie Mac data on Thursday showed.Still, mortgage rates register above their level before the war with Iran. Prior to the Middle East conflict in late February, a 30-year fixed mortgage clocked in at an […]