U.S. applications for jobless benefits were unchanged last week, settling at a healthy level as the labor market continues to show strength in the face of elevated interest rates.

Candy companies want to know: What will make Americans start chewing gum again? Gum’s bubble burst during the COVID-19 pandemic, when masks and social distancing made bad breath less of a worry and fewer people spent on impulse buys. The number of packages of gum sold dropped by nearly a third in the United States in 2020, according to Circana, a market research firm.

BEIJING (AP) — China has plenty of room to maneuver to attain its annual target for robust economic growth of about 5% after a strong start for the year, top economic officials said Wednesday, though they acknowledged it's a challenge.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to vote Wednesday on a landmark rule requiring companies to report information on their greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — In case you needed yet another incentive to cram all your travel items into a carry-on, Delta Airlines just boosted the cost of your first checked bag by 17%. The increase adds $5 to the previous, and not-exactly-insignificant, $30 fee for domestic flights.

A technical issue caused widespread login issues for a few hours across Meta's Facebook, Instagram, Threads and Messenger platforms Tuesday. Andy Stone, Meta’s head communications, acknowledged the issues on X, formerly known as Twitter, and said the company “resolved the issue as quickly as possible for everyone who was impacted, and we apologize for any inconvenience.”

NEW YORK (AP) — Bitcoin has hit an all-time high less than two years after the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX severely damaged faith in digital currencies and sent prices plunging. The world's largest cryptocurrency briefly surpassed $68,800 Tuesday, according to CoinMarketCap. That's just above bitcoin's previous record set back in November 2021.

DENVER (AP) — While artificial intelligence made headlines with ChatGPT, behind the scenes, the technology has quietly pervaded everyday life — screening job resumes, rental apartment applications, and even determining medical care in some cases.

BEIJING (AP) — China's official growth target for this year is around 5%, Premier Li Qiang said Tuesday in an annual report on the government's plans and performance that prioritized both security and the economy. Li said the government would continue with a “pro-active fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy,” suggesting no major change in the leadership’s approach to pursuing what it calls “high quality” development.

JetBlue and Spirit Airlines are ending their proposed $3.8 billion combination after a court ruling blocked their merger. JetBlue said Monday that even though both companies still believe in the benefits of a combination, they felt they were unlikely to meet the required closing conditions before the July 24 deadline and mutually agreed that terminating the deal was the best decision for both.

LONDON (AP) — The European Union leveled its first antitrust penalty against Apple on Monday, fining the U.S. tech giant nearly $2 billion for breaking the bloc's competition laws by unfairly favoring its own music streaming service over rivals. Apple muzzled app developers from telling users where they could go to pay for cheaper music subscriptions instead of paying through iOS apps, said the European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s executive arm and top antitrust enforcer.

BEIJING (AP) — It's clear that China’s efforts to build confidence in its slowing economy will top the agenda of its ceremonial national legislature, which convenes Tuesday in Beijing. What remains unclear is how the ruling Communist Party can navigate toward stronger, sustained growth as China’s workforce is aging, relations with Washington are fraught, and housing construction — a main driver of the economy — is in crisis.

BOSTON (AP) — Regina Lawless hit a professional high at 40, becoming the first director of diversity and inclusion for Instagram. But after her husband died suddenly in 2021, she pondered whether she had neglected her personal life and what it means for Black woman to succeed in the corporate world.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As a substitute teacher in her mid-20s, Lindsey Puls was delighted to discover the fashion world of Shein more than 10 years ago, lured in by its super-low prices — with tops selling for a few dollars, dresses under $10, and free shipping on orders over $29.

NEW YORK (AP) — Consumers will pay more for a flight to Florida or for a hotel room during peak vacation times. They fork out more for a rush hour Uber ride, perhaps while grinding their teeth, and rely on apps like ParkWhiz or ParkMobile to book spots for their cars at premium prices.

Elon Musk is suing OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman over what he says is a betrayal of the ChatGPT maker's founding aims of benefiting humanity rather than pursuing profits. In a lawsuit filed at San Francisco Superior Court, billionaire Musk said that when he bankrolled OpenAI's creation, he secured an agreement with Altman and Greg Brockman, the president, to keep the AI company as a non-profit that would develop technology for the benefit of the public.

The Federal Aviation Administration is giving Boeing 90 days to come up with a plan to fix quality problems and meet safety standards for building new planes. The agency said Wednesday that the directive follows meetings with top Boeing officials, including the company's CEO at FAA headquarters in Washington.

WASHINGTON (AP) —  U.S. economic growth slowed to a 3.2% annual pace from October through December, down from 4.9% from July through September, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday in a downgrade from its initial estimate.

Wendy's is looking to test having the prices of its menu items fluctuate throughout the day based on demand, implementing a strategy that has already taken hold with ride-sharing companies and ticket sellers. During a conference call earlier this month, Wendy's CEO Kirk Tanner said that the Dublin, Ohio-based burger chain will start testing dynamic pricing, also known as surge pricing, as early as next year.

NEW YORK (AP) — This year looks to be a much better one for the U.S. economy than business economists were forecasting just a few months ago, according to a survey released Monday.

AT&T says it will give affected customers $5 each to compensate for last week's cellphone network outage that left many without service for hours.

Inflation has changed the way many Americans shop. Now, those changes in consumer habits are helping bring down inflation. Fed up with prices that remain about 19%, on average, above where they were …

NEW YORK (AP) — When her cellphone's service went down this week because of an AT&T network outage, Bernice Hudson didn't panic. She just called the people she wanted to talk to the old-fashioned way — on her landline telephone, the kind she grew up with and refuses to get rid of even though she has a mobile phone.

AT&T said the hourslong outage to its U.S. cellphone network Thursday appeared to be the result of a technical error, not a malicious attack. The outage knocked out cellphone service for thousands of its users across the U.S. starting early Thursday before it was restored. AT&T blamed the incident on an error in coding, without elaborating.

A number of Americans are dealing with cellular outages on AT&T, Cricket Wireless, Verizon, T-Mobile and other service providers, according to data from Downdetector. AT&T had more than 64,000 outages this morning, in locations including Houston, Atlanta and Chicago.