Business News

(NEW YORK) -- Valentine's Day shoppers may feel jilted by runaway chocolate prices.Chocolate prices soared 14.4% over the initial weeks of 2026 when compared to the same period a year earlier, nearly doubling the pace of price increases at the start of 2025, according to findings shared with ABC News by intelligence firm Datasembly.The sharp rise in chocolate prices owes to a cocoa shortage caused primarily by adverse weather and […]

(NEW YORK) -- nflation cooled in January, dropping price increases to their lowest level in nine months, new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed. The lower-than-expected reading defied fears of a tariff-induced hike in overall costs.Prices rose 2.4% in January compared to a year earlier, according to the Consumer Price Index.Inflation stands at its lowest level since May, but it remains nearly a half-percentage point higher than the Fed’s target […]

(NEW YORK) -- Iranian attacks on significant energy infrastructure and refineries in several Gulf countries pushed oil and gas prices higher in volatile trading on Thursday.Brent crude oil prices, a benchmark for global trading, climbed by about 6%, hitting $116 per barrel for contracts to purchase oil in May.The benchmark for European gas also surged by about 15% after Iran on Wednesday released retaliatory strikes targeting energy sites in several […]

(NEW YORK) -- The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday at its first meeting since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran drove up gasoline prices and risked a wider bout of inflation.The central bank's move marked the second consecutive time it has opted to maintain interest rates at current levels since the outset of 2026. Before that, the Fed cut interest rates a quarter-point three straight times. The decision […]

(NEW YORK) -- Hiring increased sharply at the outset of 2026, the year's first jobs report said, blowing past economists' expectations and besting sluggish performance from the previous year.The U.S. added 130,000 jobs in January, according to the report, which marked a sharp increase from 50,000 jobs added in the previous month.The unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in January from 4.4% in December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said. Unemployment remains low […]

The Dow Jones Industrial Average logo appears on the screen of a smartphone in Reno, United States, on December 1, 2024. (Photo by Jaque Silva/NurPhoto via Getty Images) (NEW YORK) -- The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 50,000 for the first time ever on Friday.A surge in markets reversed a selloff that hammered tech stocks earlier in the week.The Dow closed up 1,206 points, or 2.4%, while the S&P 500 climbed […]

(NEW YORK) -- Consumer sentiment ticked higher in February for the second consecutive month as inflation fears appeared to ease, though shopper attitudes remained well below levels registered a year ago, University of Michigan data on Friday showed. The reading exceeded economists' expectationsAt its low point in November, consumer sentiment fell close to its worst level since a pandemic-era bout of acute inflation. Modest gains in recent months indicate some positive momentum for shoppers.Year-ahead […]

(NEW YORK) -- The price of bitcoin plunged more than 10% on Thursday, sinking the world's largest cryptocurrency to its lowest level since October 2024 and erasing sizable gains made since then.That was weeks before the election of President Donald Trump, a crypto supporter whose return to the nation's highest office helped propel bitcoin to record highs.Bitcoin clocked in at a price of about $66,100 on Thursday afternoon, leaving it 48% below an all-time high of […]

(WASHINGTON) -- The federal agency that investigates workplace discrimination is seeking court enforcement of a subpoena it has issued to Nike as it pursues allegations that the athletic apparel maker has been discriminating against its white employees in its corporate diversity policies. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed its motion this week in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, where Nike has a factory that produces its famous AIR […]