U.S. BUDGET DEFICIT ROSE IN JUNE
WASHINGTON» The federal budget deficit rose sharply in June compared to a year ago, although much of the increase reflected calendar quirks.
The Treasury Department said Thursday the June deficit totaled $90.2 billion compared to a surplus in June 2016 of $6.3 billion. However, outlays grew by $39 billion this year because benefit payments that normally would have been distributed in July were made in June since July 1 fell on a Saturday.
Through the first nine months of this budget year, the deficit totals $523.1 billion, up from a deficit of $399.2 billion during the same period a year ago.
Trump weighs steel tariffs, quotas.
President Donald Trump is considering putting tariffs and quotas on steel imported from foreign countries.
The president says that China and other unnamed countries are dumping steel in the U.S. market. That hurts U.S. steelmakers by reducing prices, he said. “We’re like a dumping ground, OK? They’re dumping steel and destroying our steel industry,” Trump said.
He says he is considering both quotas and tariffs to stop any dumping.
Drilling off Alaska gets OK.
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA»
Petroleum exploration has largely ceased in federal waters off Alaska but an Italian multinational oil and gas company has received permission to move ahead with modest drilling plans on leases sold in 2005. The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management late Wednesday announced conditional approval of an exploratory drilling plan submitted by Eni US Operating Co. Inc., part of Eni S.p.A.
Verizon data leaked.
Verizon confirmed Wednesday that data belonging to 6 million customers was leaked online in June. News of the incident was first reported by ZDNet.
In a statement on the company’s website, Verizon said the leak was caused by an employee of one of the company’s vendors who accidentally allowed external access to information put in a cloud storage area.
Good news for Target.
Target is boosting its outlook for the second quarter after its campaign to revitalize the brand pushed sales higher and lifted customer traffic. It’s an encouraging sign that efforts to increase the range of exclusive brands under its roof and an everyday, lowprice message are working.
Snap partners with Formula One.
Snap Inc., creator of the popular Snapchat social-media network, is partnering with billionaire John Malone’s Formula One to let auto-racing fans use the service to post clips and photos during this weekend’s British Grand Prix and future F1 contests. Malone’s Liberty Media Corp., based in Englewood, acquired Formula One in January.
Uber cedes Russia.
Uber is ceding control of the Russian market by agreeing to merge its ride-hailing business in the country with Yandex, the Russian search-engine leader that also runs a popular taxibooking app.
Nordstrom sale has online woes.
Online shoppers looking to score bargains during the Nordstrom anniversary sale instead faced glitches. In some cases, they saw their virtual carts emptied at checkout. The Seattlebased department store apologized in a tweet.