Breaking News

Business

Initial unemployment claims see slight bump

Staff report Ohioans filed 6,853 initial unemployment claims the week of Jan. 18-Jan. 24, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported Thursday. That was 20 more than the previous week. Ohioans filed 65,361 continued unemployment claims last week, which was 870 fewer than the previous week. The total number of claims filed from Jan. 18 to Jan. 24 was 72,214. Ohio’s unemployment rate in December was 4.5%. The national unemployment rate in December was 4.4%. Ohio’s labor force participation rate in December was 62.3%. The national labor force participation rate in ...

Starbucks sees room to expand with hundreds of new US stores

NEW YORK (AP) — Starbucks said Thursday that it plans to open hundreds of new stores across the U.S. and add seating capacity at thousands of existing locations, doubling down on a strategy of emphasizing the company’s cafes as community hubs even as consumer demand for drive-thru coffee grows. The company unveiled its plans during a presentation in New York for investors. After announcing in September that it would close hundreds of less profitable stores, Starbucks said it now expects to open up to 175 new U.S. coffee shops this year and around 400 in 2028. Its plans include ...

AAA: Gas prices in area jump

Gas prices are 10 cents higher in Northeast Ohio this week at $2.898 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report released Monday. As winter weather grips much of the nation, the national average for a gallon of regular unleaded has gone up six cents over the past week to $2.88. Even though the national average is higher this week, prices are still 24 cents cheaper than they were a year ago. This is the time of year when gasoline demand is usually lower as fewer drivers hit the road, AAA reported. According to new data from the Energy Information Administration, ...

Farmers, WesBanco release earnings

Canfield-based Farmers National Banc Corp. touted its 2025 results in releasing its fourth quarter results Wednesday. Farmers reported net income of $14.6 million, or $0.39 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to $14.4 million, or $0.38 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2024. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2025 included $925,000 related to merger and core conversion costs and $143,000 in pretax losses for the sale of investment securities and other assets. Excluding these items, net income for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $15.1 million, or $0.40 ...

Kimberly-Clark, GM release financials

Kimberly-Clark Corp.’s board of directors on Tuesday declared an increase in its regular quarterly dividend to $1.28 per share, up from $1.26 previously. The dividend is payable in cash on April 2 to stockholders of record at the close of business on March 6, the company reported in a news release. Kimberly-Clark has paid a dividend for 92 consecutive years, and this represents the 54th consecutive year that the company has increased its dividend to shareholders. “In 2025, we accelerated the largest transformation in Kimberly-Clark’s more than 150-year history, delivering ...

Explore the impacts of Trump’s tariffs

Since returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump has overturned decades of U.S. trade policy — building a wall of tariffs around what used to be a wide open economy. His double-digit taxes on imports from almost every country have disrupted global commerce and strained ...