UnitedHealth Group delivered a better-than-expected first quarter and raised its 2022 forecast, as Medicare Advantage grow and care delivery once again helped the health care giant. The nation’s largest health insurance provider said Thursday that enrollment in its Medicare Advantage plans grew nearly 9% to about 6.9 million people, and the company also booked growth…
In his first letter to Amazon shareholders, CEO Andy Jassy offered a defense of the wages and benefits the company gives its warehouse workers while also vowing to improve injury rates inside the facilities. Jassy, who took over from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as CEO last July, wrote the company has researched and created a…
NEW YORK (AP) — Four big banks reported noticeable declines in their first-quarter profits Thursday, as the volatile markets and war in Ukraine caused deal-making to dry up while a slowdown in the housing market meant fewer people sought to get a new mortgage or refinance. The results from Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and…
NEW YORK (AP) — Retail sales rose modestly in March, but higher prices for food, gasoline and other basics took a big share of consumers’ wallets. Retail sales increased 0.5% after registering a revised 0.8% increase from January to February, reported the U.S. Commerce Department Thursday. Spending has been fueled by wage gains, solid hiring…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the International Monetary Fund warned Thursday that Russia’s war against Ukraine was weakening the economic prospects for most of the world’s countries and called high inflation “a clear and present danger’’ to the global economy. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the consequences of Russia’s invasion were contributing to…
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s central bank on Thursday kept its main interest rate unchanged for a fourth month even as surging inflation has hit a 20-year high and eroded people’s purchasing power. In a statement following a monetary policy committee meeting, the bank said it was keeping its policy rate “constant” at 14%. The…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking unemployment benefits ticked up last week but remained at a historically low level, reflecting a robust U.S. labor market with near record-high job openings and few layoffs. Jobless claims rose by 18,000 to 185,000, the Labor Department said Thursday, after nearly touching the lowest level since 1968…
BEIJING (AP) — Anti-virus controls that have shut down some of China’s biggest cities and fueled public irritation are spreading as infections rise, hurting a weak economy and prompting warnings of possible global shockwaves. Shanghai is easing rules that confined most of its 25 million people to their homes after complaints they had trouble getting…
In 10 days, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has gone from popular Twitter contributor and critic to the company’s largest individual shareholder to a would-be owner of the social platform — a whirlwind of activity that could change the service dramatically given the sometimes whimsical billionaire’s self-identification as a free-speech absolutist. Twitter revealed in a securities…
The head of the European Central Bank reiterated Thursday that the bank would raise interest rates “some time after” ending its pandemic stimulus efforts later this year, sticking to a gradual path even as the United States, United Kingdom and other countries take a harder line to combat soaring consumer prices. People in the 19…
