The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell below 1 million for the first time since the pandemic began in March, suggesting the economic recovery is gaining some traction amid a deceleration in coronavirus infections.

Initial jobless claims in regular state programs fell by 228,000 to 963,000 in the week ended Aug. 8, Labor...Read more

WASHINGTON -- The Paycheck Protection Program stood out as an early success of the government's pandemic relief effort, but it ended with a whimper and left billions of dollars unallocated when small businesses got spooked by the ever-changing rules.

Even as Democrats and Republicans fight over other aspects of another major stimulus bill, they...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- On a desolate lot in Minneapolis where Don Blyly's bookstore stood before being destroyed in the May riots, two men finish their cigarettes and then walk through a dangerous landscape filled with slippery debris and sharp objects. The city won't let Blyly haul away his wreckage without a permit, and he can't get a contractor to ...Read more

For some employees given the option of working from home during the coronavirus pandemic, the workplace expanded from the city office to the beachfront condominium.

A picturesque scenario. If a Shore house is even available.

Sales are so strong that buyers should "make a very, very strong offer and don't hesitate. Don't wait three weeks to ...Read more

Uber and Lyft warned they might temporarily shut down their services in California in response to a court ruling forcing them to start treating drivers in the state as employees.

A brief closure might seem like a drastic move, but it's not exactly surprising. In fact, such a shutdown could prove to be a means for Uber and Lyft to appeal to ...Read more

The ride-hailing service Uber seems determined to rewrite the dictionary definition of "bully" to read: "Uber."

That's the obvious conclusion to draw from its threat, made publicly by Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi and in state court by its lawyers on Wednesday, to shut down its operations in California for at least a few months and possibly...Read more

If you're the type of 20-something who wants to take a deep dive into personal finance, God bless. There are plenty of great websites and books to immerse yourself in. But if that is so not you, no worries. You can build a fantastic foundation for financial success by focusing on just three key goals.

-- Pay your bills on time. Sounds obvious, ...Read more

In your 30s and 40s making smart money decisions requires deft juggling skills. These are typically years when your income is growing as you enter your career sweet spot. At the same time, you may be settling into family life with a partner and kids, developments that can pull you in a gazillion expensive directions.

How you deploy your growing...Read more

With the finish line near in the insane race known as retirement planning, your focus may be on stuffing your 401(k) and IRA with more money. Nothing wrong with that. Just add these three moves to avoid costly mistakes.

--Stress-test your assumptions. Start with your retirement portfolio. By now you've taken a few spins through a retirement ...Read more

No one who follows economic affairs could miss the signals that the U.S. economy has long been built on a foundation of quicksand.

Income and wealth inequality has been soaring, as rank-and-file workers have lost the power to organize for workplace rights and corporations increasingly have funneled profits to shareholders.

The biggest ...Read more

Lowe's is expanding for faster home delivery nationwide.

Over the next 18 months, the North Carolina-based home improvement company will open 50 delivery terminals, seven distribution centers and four e-commerce fulfillment centers, Lowe's announced Wednesday.

The goal is to enable faster e-commerce shipping with more same-day and next-day ...Read more

MIAMI -- As crew members started to make it safely off of Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line's Grand Celebration ship in mid-April, stories about life on board surfaced on social media.

Facebook and Instagram comments described how the company stopped paying working crew on board after it canceled passenger cruises on March 14 amid the COVID-19 ...Read more

The decisions by the Big Ten and Pac-12 college athletic conferences to postpone their football season endanger a huge chunk of sales for media companies such as Walt Disney Co. and Fox Corp.

College football alone generated almost $1.2 billion in ad revenue for U.S. television networks last year. Its collapse could also hasten the loss of ...Read more

Cindy Wang's whole life is on WeChat.

Through the Chinese everything app, the 24-year-old shops for clothing and sends photos and audio messages to her grandma and uncle in Guangzhou. It's how she schedules appointments with her hairstylist and where she found her bao supplier -- a local woman who sells the steamed buns out of her car.

For ...Read more

Walmart Inc. shoppers are a pretty loyal bunch. But when virus-spooked Americans began avoiding stores earlier this year and shifting spending online, far more Walmart customers went to Amazon.com Inc. than Walmart.com. So even though Walmart, too, has thrived as an essential service amid the pandemic, Amazon is benefiting more. In the first ...Read more

Q: When I bought a Windows 10 PC last year, I had all my Word files from Windows 7 transferred to the new computer. But I couldn't open those files using Word on Windows 10, and Word was unable to convert the files to a format that it could read. As a result, I had to use a program called Cool File Viewer that allowed me to open all my old ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Sumner Redstone, the pugnacious Hollywood titan who controlled media giants Viacom and CBS Corp., died Tuesday after a lengthy illness, according to National Amusements, the Redstone family's private holding company that controls what is now ViacomCBS. He was 97.

Redstone coined the phrase "content is king," and he firmly ...Read more