SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — For all the worries about inflation and the economy, Americans aren’t scrimping on a centerpiece of many celebrations this holiday season: the Christmas tree. Retailers from Home Depot and Lowes to mom and pop operations raised their prices on trees — but ...

NEW YORK — The free-wheeling holiday shopper of 2021, happy to spend money to relieve some pent-up pandemic demand, has given way to a more practical consumer this year, many small business owners say. The reason: inflation. Stephanie Sala felt last year had a YOLO, or “you only live ...

The efforts of northern Chautauqua County workers are helping drive one of Nestle’s strongest-performing divisions. Nestle’ recently reported nine-month sales growth of 8.5% while pricing growth was 7.5%, reflecting significant cost inflation. Real internal growth was 1%. Total reported ...

Back in January, 109 container ships waited off the California coast to unload cargo in Los Angeles and Long Beach, the nation’s two largest ports. Consumers, stuck at home amid the pandemic, had unleashed an avalanche of orders for goods that overwhelmed factories and ports. Importers were ...

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — Netflix’s trailblazing DVD-by-mail rental service has been relegated as a relic in the age of video streaming, but there is still a steady — albeit shrinking — audience of diehards like Amanda Konkle who are happily paying to receive those discs in the iconic ...

ALBANY — Business advocates are calling on the state to return unemployment insurance rates to pre-pandemic levels after an audit determined fraud and lax oversight by the state Department of Labor led to $11 billion in losses for the fund that pays jobless benefits. The National Federation ...