U.S. consumer confidence

declined to a nine-month low in November as accelerating inflation and a pickup in covid-19 cases weighed on Americans’ views on the economy. The Conference Board’s index fell to 109.5 from a downwardly revised 111.6 reading in October, according to the group’s report Tuesday. Bolstered by solid job growth, robust wage gains and record-high stock prices, consumer sentiment is well above levels seen earlier in the pandemic. However, a resurgence in covid-19 cases and the fastest inflation in decades has hampered a sustained recovery in Americans’ confidence.

An Alabama woman who says she was falsely arrested for shoplifting at a Walmart and then threatened by the company after charges against her were dismissed has been awarded $2.1 million in damages. A Mobile County jury on Monday ruled in favor of Lesleigh Nurse of Semmes, news outlets reported. Nurse said in a lawsuit that she was stopped in November 2016 when trying to leave a Walmart with groceries she said she already paid for, according to Al.com. She said she used selfcheckout but the scanning device froze. Workers didn’t accept her explanation and she was arrested for shoplifting. Her case was dismissed a year later.

Biogen lost its appeals court bid to revive a key patent on the blockbuster multiple sclerosis drug Tecfidera, which accounted for more than a quarter of the company’s revenue before generic versions eroded its market share. A trial court was correct when it invalidated a patent on the medicine, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled. In a related ruling, the court also affirmed a decision by a review board within the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.