Hill Country News

In a Bankrate survey of economists, most expect Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to be reappointed in 2022. (Mark Makela/Getty ImagesTNS)

Powell dashboard shows wider disparities as job growth slows

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says he wants to see a recovery that reaches all corners of the labor market before the U.S. central bank begins raising interest rates. The numbers in … more

Matthew Boesler, Bloomberg News (TNS) | 5/13/21

A pedestrian walks by a now hiring sign at Ross Dress For Less store on April 02, 2021, in San Rafael, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/TNS)

Job openings in US surge to a record high 8.12 million

U.S. job openings surged in March to a record high, underscoring the rapid increase in labor demand as vaccinations accelerate and states reopen their economies. The number of available positions … more

Olivia Rockeman, Bloomberg News (TNS) | 5/11/21

Corvette Diner, which only recently reopened for indoor dining at Liberty Station, had a tough time finding employees at a time when restaurants and other hospitality businesses are all competing for workers. (Eduardo Contreras/San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS)

'It's like a war,' restaurateur says of struggle to find workers

What if all of the country's restaurants reopened their doors following a year-long pandemic that forced massive layoffs and hardly anyone showed up? To work. It's more than a … more

Lori Weisberg, The San Diego Union-Tribune (TNS) | 5/10/21

Google is making a fortune by selling users’ personal information despite the company’s pledge that it never sells the data, a lawsuit claims. (Sebastian Czapnik/Dreamstime/TNS)

Google selling users’ personal data despite promise, federal court lawsuit claims

Google is making a fortune by selling users’ personal information despite the company’s pledge that it never sells the data, a lawsuit filed this week claims. “Google promises … more

Ethan Baron, The Mercury News (TNS) | 5/9/21

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster just canceled unemployment benefits for workers in his state. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images/TNS)

Employers, governors push myth that unemployment checks keep lazy workers home

In a rational world, employers desperate to fill jobs would do everything they could to make their workplaces seem attractive: They'd raise wages, offer bonuses and show themselves to be caring and … more

Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times (TNS) | 5/9/21

Why April’s disappointing jobs report may not be so bad for Biden

In a stunning surprise for forecasters, U.S. employers added only 266,000 new jobs in April, far below what most experts had predicted and a reminder that the future course of an … more

Don Lee and Eli Stokols, Los Angeles Times (TNS) | 5/7/21

Neel Kashkari, here in a 2015 file image, is president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. (Glen Stubbe/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS)

Kashkari has ‘zero sympathy’ for Wall Street critics of Fed

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said he has “zero sympathy” for critics on Wall Street, who slam the central bank’s aggressive support of the U.S. … more

Steve Matthews, Bloomberg News (TNS) | 5/7/21

A now hiring sign in posted in front of a Taco Bell restaurant on Feb. 5, 2021 in Novato, California. Employers kept adding jobs through March, with the unemployment rate falling to 6%. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/TNS)

In hugely disappointing report, job growth slows sharply and unemployment rises

In an unexpectedly weak employment report, job growth in the U.S. slowed sharply in April as the economy added just 266,000 new positions despite analysts’ projections for a … more

Don Lee, Los Angeles Times (TNS) | 5/7/21

Lumber prices are spiking as D-FW homebuilders ramp up construction. (Smiley N. Pool/Dallas Morning News/TNS)

Lumber prices are sky high — Here’s what it means for homeowners and homebuyers

Home prices are soaring, pushed higher by a combination of record-low mortgage rates, strong demand from buyers and a lingering lack of new construction. For 2021, add another wrinkle: Lumber … more

Jeff Ostrowski, Bankrate.com (TNS) | 5/6/21

A "Now Hiring" sign hangs in front of a Popeye's restaurant on February 4, 2021 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images/TNS)

Companies warn of US labor shortages economists call temporary

As the U.S. job market comes roaring back, there’s a growing debate about whether there are enough workers to power faster economic growth. Companies from fast food chains like Chipotle … more

Payne Lubbers, Olivia Rockeman and Reade Pickert, Bloomberg News (TNS) | 5/6/21

Traders on the floor react before the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange on March 9, 2020 in New York. Trading on Wall Street was temporarily halted early March 9, 2020 as US stocks joined a global rout on crashing oil prices and mounting worries over the coronavirus. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images/TNS)

5 sure-fire signs of a stock market bubble

It seems like the stock market is hitting all-time highs just about every week in 2021. And it’s shocking to think how quickly it’s rebounded from just over a year ago when the Standard … more

James Royal, Bankrate.com (TNS) | 5/6/21

Best Buy employees meet customers in the parking lot, bringing purchases to their cars for curbside pickup at the Apple Valley, Minnesota store on Wednesday, April 29, 2020. The Best Buy in Apple Valley is one of 12 Twin Cities stores participating in the retailer's pilot membership program. (Glen Stubbe/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS)

$200 to be a member at Best Buy? Retailer launches membership pilot program in Twin Cities

Best Buy has started to offer $200 yearly memberships to customers in the Twin Cities in return for benefits such as free or discounted Geek Squad services. more

Catherine Roberts, Star Tribune (TNS) | 5/5/21

A Southwest Airlines flight taxis to the runway at Dallas Love Field on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021, in Dallas. (Smiley N. Pool/Dallas Morning News/TNS)

Southwest Airlines was the nation’s best carrier in pandemic-stricken 2020, study says

Southwest Airlines was the nation’s best air carrier in 2020, a year when the COVID-19 pandemic upended the way people travel and forced airlines to make massive ... more

Kyle Arnold, The Dallas Morning News (TNS) | 5/4/21

A voter casts their ballot at a polling site at the Austin Oaks Church on Oct. 14, 2020.

Major corporations come out against proposed voting restrictions in Texas

With less than a month left in the legislative session — and Texas Republicans split on which package of proposals might cross the finish line — HP, Microsoft, Unilever, Patagonia and two … more

By Alexa Ura, The Texas Tribune | 5/4/21

Amazon says its search and recommendation algorithms are agnostic to the viewpoints presented in its results. Shown are Amazon offices in Sunnyvale, California. (Dreamstime/TNS)

Amazon's algorithms promote extremist misinformation, report says

Amazon.com's search and recommendation algorithms channel customers into consuming increasingly extremist misinformation, according to a new report. The report, by the Institute for Strategic … more

Katherine Anne Long, The Seattle Times (TNS) | 5/4/21

GameStop store signage is seen on January 27, 2021, in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/TNS)

With new leadership in place, GameStop invests in its e-commerce future

Texas-based video game retailer GameStop is expanding its e-commerce network with a new, 700,000-square-foot fulfillment center in York, Pa. The company ... more

Dom DiFurio, The Dallas Morning News (TNS) | 5/3/21

Texas schools get direct payments from businesses that benefit from economic development tax breaks.

A Texas economic incentive offers massive tax breaks to companies, but its renewal isn't a done deal

Intel nearly built a massive chip fabrication plant near Fort Worth in 1991, but the tech giant instead picked Arizona because Texas property taxes were too high. Two years later, Texas lawmakers … more

By Duncan Agnew, The Texas Tribune | 5/2/21

Edward Flores, owner of Juanita's Cafe, photographed at Olvera Street, on April 18th, 2021. (James Bernal for the Reveal/LA Times/TNS)

Rampant racial disparities plagued how PPP loans were distributed in the US

Like other Black entrepreneurs in her Inglewood, California, neighborhood, Annie Graham has struggled to keep her business afloat during the pandemic. At Ms. Ann's clothing boutique on Manchester … more

Alejandra Reyes-Velarde, Laura C. Morel, Mohamed Al Elew, Emily Harris, Los Angeles Times (TNS) | 5/1/21

Disneyland gets ready to receive guests as it prepares to reopen for the first time in more than a year on Friday, April 30, 2021. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times/TNS)

Disneyland reopens: ‘This is a homecoming for us,’ says a parkgoer in tears

Disneyland and Disney California Adventure opened their gates to guests Friday after an unprecedented 13-month closure, welcoming parkgoers to stroll down Main Street USA, pay a visit to the Haunted … more

Hugo Martín, Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times (TNS) | 4/30/21

Carnival Cruise Line's Sunrise and Vista ships along with the MSC Meraviglia are docked at the Port of Miami on Feb. 18, 2021, in Miami. (Susan Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel/TNS)

Despite cruise shutdown, CEOs made millions. Crew members met a different fate

Perhaps no industry was as badly battered by the pandemic in 2020 as the cruise industry, with business in the U.S. — its most lucrative market — banned for 9 1/2 of the … more

Taylor Dolven and Rob Wile, Miami Herald (TNS) | 4/29/21

Sections

Services

Connect with us