Federal officials are cracking down on poultry operations looking for taxpayer relief from bird flu losses and will now require a biosecurity audit before insuring birds against future avian influenza outbreaks.

The new requirement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture is an effort to stamp out the nearly three-year-old outbreak that has ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — San Diego home price gains have slowed compared to remarkable highs over the past few years.

In October, the San Diego metropolitan area’s home price increased 4.5% annually, said the S&P Case-Shiller Indices report released Tuesday. The highest gains in the 20-city index were in the New York metro area, at 7.27%, and Chicago, ...Read more

In my first column two years ago today, I spotlighted the fundamental economic force I believe Minnesotans most overlook — that the state’s population is growing more slowly than ever.

Because our population growth will remain slow into the 2030s and beyond, I asked: Will Minnesotans be able to stay rich without growth?

The answer is yes,...Read more

OAKLAND PARK, Fla. — Rachel Rodriguez looks around her store, and emotions surface at the sight of her relatives’ portraits on the walls. They’re a reminder of a legacy that dates back more than 200 years.

Her business, Constantine’s Wood Center, soon will close in Oakland Park.

It’ll conclude a chapter in the long-running story of ...Read more

For all the exuberance about Tesla Inc. benefiting from President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House, Wall Street isn’t so sure the carmaker can avoid its first annual sales decline in over a decade.

Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg are estimating the company may deliver around 510,400 vehicles in the final three months of the ...Read more

Some of us have been waiting for the other shoe to drop in financial markets since at least 2022. And yet they keep going higher, while bond prices tick lower.

Will 2025 be the year there is a correction — or do high asset prices reflect a growing real economy that is on the verge of a major productivity boom because of AI, corporate tax ...Read more

Gold is heading for its biggest gain in 14 years, with a 27% advance fueled by U.S. monetary easing, sustained geopolitical risks and a wave of purchases by central banks.

While bullion has ticked lower since Donald Trump’s sweeping victory in November’s U.S. presidential election, its gains over 2024 still outstrip most other commodities. ...Read more

A string of volatile sessions for U.S. stocks extended into 2024’s last day, marking an ominous close to an otherwise stellar year for North American equity investors.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 dropped for a fourth consecutive session in a year-end pullback that has shaved more than a trillion dollars from large-cap market values. Still...Read more

Nippon Steel continues to push for presidential support of its proposed $14.9 billion purchase of U.S. Steel, despite concerns that such a deal could lower American steel production and create a national security threat.

Nippon Steel is now negotiating directly with the White House to save the imperiled takeover as President Joe Biden is due to...Read more

Dollar bonds from some of the world’s weakest economies have emerged as the bright spot in what’s otherwise been yet another lackluster year for emerging-market assets.

While many developing-world assets ended the year with gains, their returns pale in comparison to those on Wall Street. Among emerging currencies tracked by Bloomberg, only ...Read more

After years of preparations, Aurora Innovation's big launch of autonomous trucks in Texas is facing an unlikely stumbling block: safety triangles.

When a traditional big rig pulls to the side of the highway, drivers are legally required to place a series of orange triangles or flares at the rear of the vehicle, to alert oncoming traffic. Aurora...Read more

Operating a restaurant in Southern California continues to be a difficult endeavor, with many establishments still struggling from pandemic losses.

Food and labor costs increased in 2024, remaining by far the largest expenses of running a restaurant, according to the Independent Restaurant Coalition. And the minimum wage is set to increase ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Of all the rich and powerful people cozying up to President-elect Donald Trump, few have rushed to Mar-a-Lago faster than the crowned heads of big tech, including California’s own chiefs of Google and Meta.

And few have a stronger motive to curry Trump’s favor than Silicon Valley: The fate of the H-1B visa program that ...Read more

SEATTLE — Seattle's lowest-paid workers will be ringing in the new year with a raise.

Minimum wage in the city will rise to $20.76 per hour beginning midnight on New Year's Day, one of the highest rates in the country. For the first time since Seattle's minimum wage ordinance took effect almost a decade ago, all employers will be subject to ...Read more

Developers who have reaped millions of dollars from an affordable housing program for middle-income renters with sometimes little-to-no discounts from market rents have spent hundreds of thousands on lobbying and campaign donations in recent years in a bid to keep lawmakers from imposing regulations.

The expenditures represent a fraction of the...Read more

The world’s biggest climate coalition for financial firms is making adjustments after several high-profile banks, insurers and asset managers opted out.

The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, which was established in 2021 and operates as an umbrella group for numerous industry-specific climate alliances, will change its relationship ...Read more

I love being prepared and have vowed to try my best to never let my phone run out of power if I can help it.

My backpack usually has two or three external batteries that are charged up and ready to go. Most portable external batteries are made small enough that you’d want to carry them around. Portable battery packs usually have a capacity of...Read more

Forever chemicals are everywhere because they’ve been so useful for so long: Non-stick pans. Waterproof jackets and cosmetics. Stain-proof clothing, carpets and upholstery.

Yet the PFAS family of chemicals that do all that and more have, in some cases, proven toxic and don’t readily break down in the environment. As a result, society is ...Read more

As Amazon prepared for its workers to be back in the office five days a week, Christian Carron decided to quit.

Carron, 33, thought virtual work was here to stay. In 2022, when Amazon was still allowing employees to work entirely from home, he moved into a van, hoping to live out his dream of a nomadic lifestyle.

He said he was more productive...Read more