Business Highlights: UAW announces deal with GM; resilient US consumers
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UAW announces deal with General Motors that tentatively ends strikes against Detroit automakers
DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers union says it reached a tentative contract with General Motors, the last of the Detroit Three automakers to agree to a deal. Under the deal reached early Monday, workers at all three companies will return to the job pending votes on whether to ratify the contracts, which will take place over the next two weeks. The GM deal follows tentative agreements union negotiators reached with Ford on Wednesday and Jeep-maker Stellantis on Saturday. The union’s targeted strikes against the companies began on Sept. 15. The main provisions of the deals are largely the same at all three automakers, but there are small differences.
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US consumers keep spending despite high prices and their own gloomy outlook. Can it last?
WASHINGTON (AP) — A flow of recent data from the U.S. government has made one thing strikingly clear: A surge in consumer spending is fueling strong growth, demonstrating a resilience that has confounded economists, Federal Reserve officials and even the sour sentiments that Americans themselves have expressed in opinion polls. Spending by consumers rose by a brisk 0.4% in September — even after adjusting for inflation and even as they face ever-higher borrowing costs. Economists caution that such vigorous spending isn’t likely to continue in coming months. Many households have been pulling money from a shrinking pool of savings. Others have been turning increasingly to credit cards. And the additional savings that typical households amassed during the pandemic are nearly depleted.
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Biden wants to move fast on AI safeguards and signs an executive order to address his concerns
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has signed a sweeping executive order to guide the development of artificial intelligence. Monday’s order requires industry to develop safety and security standards, introduces new consumer protections and gives federal agencies an extensive to-do list to oversee the rapidly progressing technology. AI has been a source of deep personal curiosity for Biden, given its potential impact on the economy and national security. Biden had directed his staff to move with urgency on a policy that could maximize AI’s possibilities and contain its perils. The Democratic president’s order requires leading AI developers to share safety test results and other information with the government.
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Some striking UAW members carry family legacies, Black middle-class future along with picket signs
WAYNE, Mich. (AP) — Britney Johnson is among the thousands of Ford Motor Co. workers who went on strike to force the automaker to improve pay for all. But she carried more than a picket sign outside Ford’s Wayne Assembly plant west of Detroit. Johnson carried a multigenerational legacy of well-paid union jobs, benefits and security that allowed her family to become part of the rising Black middle class. That meant home ownership, cars and vacations — all things that had been unattainable for many Blacks until they found work alongside whites in union factories in Detroit and other cities.
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Stock market today: Wall Street recovers some losses after falling 10% below its summertime high
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street clawed back some of its sharp recent losses to start a week that could see more big swings in financial markets. The S&P 500 finished 1.2% higher Monday in its first trading after dropping more than 10% below its high point for the year. The Dow ended 511 points higher, and the Nasdaq composite rose 1.2%. Treasury yields were also climbing at the start of a week full of economic data, including key reports on the U.S. job market. The Federal Reserve announces its next move on rates Wednesday. Oil prices continued to swing amid the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas war.
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China holds major financial conference as leaders maneuver to get slowing economy back on track
BANGKOK (AP) — China’s leaders are expected to search for ways to mend the country’s fractured property market, create jobs for millions of unemployed youths and spur faster growth in a meeting that reportedly began Monday in Beijing. The National Financial Work Conference, usually held twice a decade, is expected to further fortify leader Xi Jinping’s control of the country’s $61 trillion financial sector. It follows the announcement last week of plans to issue 1 trillion yuan ($330 billion) in bonds for infrastructure projects and disaster prevention. By dipping deeper into deficit, the government is looking to counter a sharp slowdown in housing construction. Economists say the challenge lies in finding ways to ensure sustainable, balanced growth.
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Pharmacists prescribe another round of US protests to highlight working conditions
NEW YORK (AP) — Drugstore employees around the country have started calling in sick to highlight a lack of support from their employers. Organizers say the protest will continue until Wednesday. The extent and impact of the demonstration are not yet clear. Representatives of Walgreens and CVS Health say the companies have seen little to no disruption. A pharmacist who is helping to organize the protest says workers for dozens of drugstores had called in sick as of midday Monday. She says “at least hundreds” of pharmacists and technicians are involved.
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Enterprise CEO says rental car prices have moderated as supplies have improved but remain high
DETROIT (AP) — When Enterprise started to see automobile supply problems after the pandemic hit in 2020, the car and truck rental, fleet management and mobility company decided to cater to its long-term customers. Chrissy Taylor, CEO of the newly renamed Enterprise Mobility, emphasized rentals to businesses and insurance companies with clients whose cars were damaged in crashes. Now that travel has made a comeback, Taylor sees rental cars growing again. But she says the main emphasis is still on long-term contracts. Enterprise is now up to more than 2.3 million vehicles in its fleet, more than it had right before the pandemic.
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Meta rolls out paid ad-free option for European Facebook and Insta users after privacy ruling
LONDON (AP) — Facebook and Instagram users in Europe are getting the option to pay for ad-free versions of the social media platforms as a way to comply with the continent’s strict data privacy rules. Parent company Meta said Monday that starting in November, users on desktop browsers can pay about 10 euros ($10.60) a month while iOS or Android users will pay roughly 13 euros. The higher prices reflect commissions charged by the Apple and Google app stores on in-app payments. The fee will cover all linked Facebook and Instagram accounts until March, when Meta will start charging 6 euros for each additional account.
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Canadian Solar to build $800 million solar panel factory in southeastern Indiana, employ about 1,200
JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Ontario-based Canadian Solar Inc. has announced plans to build an $800 million solar panel factory in southeastern Indiana that will employ about 1,200 workers once production is fully ramped up. Canadian Solar said Monday that it will build the new photovoltaic cell factory at the River Ridge Commerce Center in Jeffersonville, an Ohio River city located just north of Louisville, Kentucky. The company, which is headquartered in Guelph, Ontario, says production is expected to begin by the end of 2025, with the plant producing the equivalent of about 20,000 high-power solar panels per day. Those finished solar cells will be shipped to Canadian Solar’s module assembly facility in Mesquite, Texas.
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The S&P 500 rose 49.45 points, or 1.2%, to 4,166.82. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 511.37 points, or 1.6%, to 32,928.96. The Nasdaq composite advanced 146.67 points, or 1.2%, to 12,789.48. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies added 10.35 points, or 0.6% to 1,647.29.