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Fifth straight week of fuel price drop

Motorists are continuing to see relief at the pump as the national gas price average declines for the fifth consecutive week, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report. Today’s national average is six cents less than last week at $3.86 per gallon. Gas prices are nine cents lower in Northeast Ohio this week at $3.849 per gallon. The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline Monday in Niles was $3.730 a gallon and $3.836 a gallon in Youngstown. Crude oil prices have also continued to fall as the U.S. and Iran work toward a long-term deal. Despite lower prices, demand ...

Employers sought for four-county wage, benefit survey

Lake to River Economic Development is asking employers in Trumbull, Mahoning, Columbiana and Ashtabula counties to participate in a comprehensive wage and benefit survey designed to give the region’s businesses a clearer picture of local compensation trends. The survey collects detailed, position-level data on wages, salaries and benefit offerings from employers throughout the four-county region. Categories covered include base pay, bonus and incentive structures, health and retirement benefits, paid time off and remote work policies. The resulting dataset will give participants a ...

Most of Wall Street rises, but sinking AI stocks send it lower for the week

NEW YORK (AP) — Most of the U.S. stock market rose Friday after oil prices eased back to where they were before the war with Iran, but drops for stocks swept up in the mania around artificial-intelligence technology kept the market in check. The S&P 500 finished nearly flat and slipped less than 0.1% to close out just its second losing week in the last 13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 44 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.2%. Stocks got a boost as the price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, dropped 3.8% to $72.60. That’s lower than it was ...

Apple increases prices for Macs and iPads

Apple on Thursday announced an increase in prices for Macs and iPads, citing a memory chip shortage brought on by the artificial intelligence boom. The Cupertino, California-based company called the demand spike an “unprecedented challenge” for the consumer electronics industry. “The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage. We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly,” the company said in a written statement. The new, entry-level MacBook Neo will now cost $699, up from $599. The 512 ...

Supreme Court ruling blocks thousands of lawsuits against Bayer, the maker of Roundup weedkiller

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court sided with the maker of Roundup weedkiller Thursday in a ruling expected to block thousands of lawsuits alleging it failed to warn people the product could cause cancer. The case came before the justices after a tidal wave of litigation that included some multibillion-dollar verdicts against Bayer, a German agrochemical manufacturer that acquired Roundup’s original producer, Monsanto, in 2018. The decision is a victory for President Donald Trump’s administration, which argued in support of Bayer. But it provoked outrage from allies in the “ ...

US stocks end mixed, weighed down by losses for tech giants

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks wavered to a mixed close on Wall Street Wednesday as technology stocks once again weighed down the market. Declines for several influential tech heavyweights, including Microsoft, pulled the broader market lower even though most stocks in the S&P 500 gained ground. That was also the case on Tuesday, when tech stocks pulled the market lower despite broader gains elsewhere. The S&P 500 fell 7.24 points, or 0.1%, to 7,358.22, despite nearly 2 out of every 3 stocks gaining ground. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is less weighted with tech stocks, rose ...