Goldman pays female U.K. staff 56% less than male colleagues

Goldman Sachs pays women in the U.K. an average of 56 percent less than male colleagues. The gap widens to 72 percent for year-end discretionary bonuses, the Wall Street bank said. The disclosures compare what all of Goldman’s male U.K. employees make with what all female employees do. The gap reflects the high concentration of men in senior and lucrative positions, while a bigger share of lowerpaid jobs are held by women.

L’Oreal buys mobile app provider that gives digital makeovers

L’Oreal is set to acquire the Canadian beauty tech company ModiFace, gaining tools for customers to test make-up and lipstick online.

ModiFace’s augmented reality technology has been widely adopted by cosmetics makers since the company was founded in 2006. This is the first time the company has added a tech company to its roster.

Lyft, Magna to sell driverless systems to automakers

Ride-hailing service Lyft announced it will partner with automobile industry supplier Magna to develop driverless vehicle systems and make them available to automakers. That could give Lyft more choice when deciding what car brands to buy when it begins shedding labor costs by replacing human drivers with robots. Canada-based Magna International has about $39 billion in revenue. Magna will invest $200 million in Lyft and collaborate on driverless system development.

U.S. factory output jumps 1.2 percent in February

U.S. factory output jumped last month, led by big gains in the production of cars, computers and furniture. The Federal Reserve said that manufacturing output rebounded 1.2 percent in February, the most since October and following three months of weak or negative readings. Factory production has increased a healthy 2.5 percent in the past year.

February housing starts fall 7 percent after January surge

U.S. homebuilders broke ground on fewer apartment complexes in February, causing overall housing starts to fall 7 percent. The Commerce Department said housing starts last month were at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.24 million, a decline that was anticipated after construction surged in January to 1.33 million. February’s slowdown in construction came from a 28 percent plunge in starts for multi-family buildings. Groundbreakings for single-family houses actually rose 2.9 percent.