Business Highlights
Roundup of top economy stories
LAKE CHARLES, La. — There are neighborhoods in Southwest Louisiana that have endured seven federally declared disasters in just two years. Those storms are increasingly amped up by climate change, which is fueled by growing emissions. Those emissions come from burning coal, oil and natural gas and from leaks and deliberate releases of natural gas. Yet these same stormprone neighborhoods are near a buildout of new plants that supercool natural gas for export. The region provides a contrast between the need to phase out fossil fuels to address climate change and the world’s growing demand for natural gas.
LONDON — The OPEC oil cartel and allied producing countries including Russia will raise production by 648,000 barrels per day in July and August, offering modest relief for a global economy suffering from soaring energy prices and the resulting inflation. The decision Thursday steps up the pace by the alliance, known as OPEC+, in restoring cuts made during the worst of the pandemic recession. The group had been adding a steady 432,000 barrels per day each month to gradually restore production cuts from 2020. The move to increase production faster than planned comes as rising crude prices have pushed gasoline to a record high in the U.S.
AVON LAKE, Ohio — Ford will add 6,200 factory jobs in Michigan, Missouri and Ohio as it prepares to build more electric vehicles and roll out two redesigned combustion-engine models. The company says it will invest $3.7 billion in the three states, and it will convert about 3,000 temporary workers to fulltime status with benefits. A factory near Cleveland will be expanded so it can build an unidentified new electric commercial vehicle, with 1,800 new jobs. A plant in Claycomo, Missouri, near Kansas City, that makes big electric and combustion-engine vans will get a third shift of 1,100 workers. And in Michigan, the company will add 2,000 jobs at three assembly plants as well as another 1,200 at other facilities.
WASHINGTON — A stronger-than-expected economic recovery from the pandemic has pushed back the go-broke dates for Social Security and Medicare, but officials warn that the current economic turbulence is putting additional pressures on the bedrock retirement programs. The annual Social Security and Medicare trustees report released Thursday states that Social Security’s trust fund will be unable to pay full benefits in 2035, instead of last year’s estimation of 2034. The projected depletion date for Medicare’s trust fund for inpatient hospital care moved back two years to 2028 from last year’s forecast of 2026.
NEW YORK — Amazon said Thursday it will shut down its digital Kindle bookstores in China and stop selling the device to retailers in the country. The company said in a Wechat post that the bookstore will stop operating on June 30, 2023. It says customers in China will not be able to buy new e-books after that day and won’t be able to download books they’ve already purchased after a year later. The e-commerce giant’s pullback comes as foreign technology firms have been pulling out or downsizing their operations in mainland China as a strict data privacy law specifying how companies collect and store data takes effect. However, Amazon said its other businesses in China will continue.