In 2016, Isis Mabel, of Mexico, wanted to improve her English. On advice from an aunt, she enrolled with an au pair agency to come to the United States to live with a family and care for the children. The job typically pays about $200 a week on top of lodging and meals. She said she gave the agency $360 and was told that would cover costs like ...Read more

t's hard to feel lonely working from home when you get called every day about your car warranty.

You know what I'm talking about. The robocall — it's always a recording — warns that your vehicle warranty is expired or about to expire. By pressing "one" on your keypad, you can fix things by signing up for an extended warranty.

Spoiler alert...Read more

Nearly four months after closing an Illinois facility that made rapid, at-home COVID-19 tests, Abbott Laboratories now plans to restart production there amid a surge in demand for the tests.

Production of Abbott’s BinaxNOW tests is expected to begin at the facility in the coming weeks, said spokesman Scott Stoffel in an email. The company is ...Read more

Walgreens Boots Alliance plans to invest $970 million in a company that helps hospitals and health systems with specialty pharmacy services, Walgreens announced Tuesday.

The investment in Massachusetts-based Shields Health Solutions will give Walgreens a 71% ownership stake in Shields, with an option to acquire the remaining equity interests in...Read more

The man who is Stellantis' head of Americas is leaving to join the nation's largest dealership group, AutoNation Inc.

Mike Manley, who has served as head of Americas for Stellantis since January, will start with AutoNation as its CEO and member of its board on Nov. 1. That's when AutoNation's long-time CEO Mike Jackson, 72, will retire.

"We’...Read more

U.S. Bancorp is joining the banking industry's consolidation rush with a nearly $8 billion deal to purchase MUFG Union Bank, which chiefly operates in West Coast states.

The purchase will increase the size of U.S. Bank's loans and deposits by about 20% and sharply increase its market presence in California, where it will rise to fifth place ...Read more

Stories involving bullies receiving their comeuppance offer such visceral pleasures that they've become deeply ingrained in our culture, from Angelo in Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure" to the lascivious Count in Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro" right up to the deplorable Biff in the movie "Back to the Future."

Here's a story from real life.

In...Read more

You’ve heard it before: To be more productive, schedule your work. Actually put it in your calendar. Carve out the time. But have you heard that scheduling your work makes it more enjoyable too? It does.

Let’s consider the alternatives. It’s late afternoon, and you’re low-energy. You have a report due in the morning. “If you try and ...Read more

Delivery company Shipt will begin to offer temporary free memberships to millions of Visa credit card holders to try free deliveries.

It is one of several changes the Target-owned company has announced in recent months as part of its efforts to continue to grow in the wake of rapid consumer adoption of delivery services during the pandemic.

...Read more

A weekslong strike at six Mondelez facilities ended after employees “overwhelmingly” voted to approve new four-year contracts with the maker of brands such as Oreo, Cadbury and Ritz.

Employees represented by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union went on strike last month over concessions the ...Read more

Wrestling with an insurance crisis that’s bedeviled much of rural California for years, the state imposed a one-year ban Monday that prevents carriers from dropping homeowners in areas affected by the Dixie Fire, Caldor Fire and other major 2021 wildfires.

The one-year moratorium, announced by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, affects ...Read more

General Motors will start making battery fixes to over 140,000 recalled Chevrolet Bolts EVs and EUVs beginning in mid-October.

The 2017-19 model year Bolt EVs will get five new battery modules, essentially getting an enhanced battery pack.

For the 2020-22 models, they will get all new modules too, unless GM can finish developing software that ...Read more

ST. LOUIS — David Kanen sent two letters to St. Louis companies on a recent Thursday, and neither was very friendly.

The Florida-based investor told appliance retailer Goedeker's that more than half its board needs to go.

The other letter hammered Build-A-Bear for lackluster revenues, declared its CEO overpaid, and suggested board members ...Read more

Southern California home prices were essentially flat in August from the previous month, as the market cools slightly from its torrid pace earlier this year.

The six-county region's median sales price — the point at which half the homes sold for more and half for less — was $680,000 last month, according to data released Monday by real ...Read more

As rents skyrocket in Florida, landlords still enjoy unbridled power to raise rents as much as they want, a situation that has driven renters out of their homes and renewed calls for caps on rising rent.

Florida is quickly becoming the worst place in America to rent, but attempts to impose rent controls have always failed. Now, with a historic ...Read more

Consumers are expected to be in the mood to spend this holiday season, but this isn’t the year to procrastinate.

With the COVID-19 pandemic snarling supply chains and threatening to leave stores and distribution centers short-staffed, consumers may need to shop early to avoid missing must-have items. Big discounts, too, could be tougher to ...Read more

When you buy a home, you’re also investing in the community, so it’s important to know whether it's a well-run municipality or a city on the decline.

Local governments, in addition to being among the nation’s largest collective employers, are also among their region’s top revenue generators, according to National Bureau of Economic ...Read more

Brian Bonilla was riding his handmade titanium bike recently when he glimpsed dozens of giant cargo ships anchored outside the Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., ports, waiting for a chance to dock and unload their goods. Typically, only a handful of ships might be forced to wait like that, or they wouldn't have to wait at all.

Bonilla works ...Read more

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — A year ago, the founding family of Shop-Vac Corp. left town and abruptly shut down the iconic vacuum company, leaving bankers to clean up the mess. Many workers feared that the company would be stripped and scrapped, and that production of yet another American brand would be sent overseas.

But something happened on the way...Read more