Federal health officials are expanding an investigation into potentially lead-tainted pouches of apple cinnamon fruit puree marketed for children amid reports of more illnesses and additional product recalls. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday it has received reports of seven illnesses in at least five states possibly linked to contaminated puree.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s employers scaled back their hiring in October, adding 150,000 jobs. Last month’s job growth is down sharply from a robust 297,000 gain in September. The United Auto Workers’ strikes against Detroit’s automakers likely shrank October’s job gain by at least 30,000, economists say. The strikes ended this week with tentative settlements in which the companies granted significantly better pay and benefits to the union’s workers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve kept its key short-term interest rate unchanged Wednesday for a second straight time but left the door open to further rate hikes if inflation pressures should accelerate in the months ahead. The Fed said in a statement after its latest meeting that it would keep its benchmark rate at about 5.4%, its highest level in 22 years.

BLETCHLEY PARK, England (AP) — Digital officials, tech company bosses and researchers are converging Wednesday at a former codebreaking spy base near London to discuss and better understand the extreme risks posed by cutting-edge artificial intelligence. The two-day summit focusing on so-called frontier AI notched up an early achievement with officials from 28 nations and the European Union signing an agreement on safe and responsible development of the technology.

ATLANTA (AP) — A former employee is suing to force a Mississippi utility to repay $382 million that the federal government gave to build a failed coal-fueled power plant. Kelli Williams, a former construction manager for Atlanta-based Southern Co., filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the company and its subsidiary Mississippi Power Co. in 2018. That lawsuit, unsealed Monday, alleges that the two firms defrauded the U.S. Department of Energy and state regulators in a failed quest to build a $7.5 billion power plant.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The World Bank reported on Monday that oil prices could be pushed into “uncharted waters” if the violence between Israel and Hamas widens, which could result in increased food prices worldwide. The World Bank’s Commodity Markets Outlook found that while the effects on oil prices should be limited if the conflict doesn’t expand, the outlook "would darken quickly if the conflict were to escalate."

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors and the United Auto Workers union have reached a tentative contract agreement that could end a six-week-old strike against Detroit automakers, two people briefed on the deal said Monday. The agreement follows the pattern set with Ford last week and Jeep maker Stellantis over the weekend.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A flow of recent data from the U.S. government has made one thing strikingly clear: A surge in consumer spending is fueling strong growth, demonstrating a resilience that has confounded economists, Federal Reserve officials and even the sour sentiments that Americans themselves have expressed in opinion polls.

DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers union has widened its strike against General Motors, the lone holdout among the three Detroit automakers, after reaching a tentative contract agreement with Jeep maker Stellantis. The escalated walkout began Saturday evening at a Spring Hill, Tennessee plant, GM's largest in North America, just hours after the Stellantic deal was reached. Its nearly 4,000 workers join about 14,000 already striking at GM factories in Texas, Michigan and Missouri.

Hudson, CO. (AP) — Alan Mazzotti can see the Rocky Mountains about 30 miles west of his pumpkin patch in northeast Colorado on a clear day. He could tell the snow was abundant last winter, and verified it up close when he floated through fresh powder alongside his wife and three sons at the popular Winter Park Resort.

NEW YORK (AP) — About 2 in 3 Americans say their household expenses have risen over the last year, but only about 1 in 4 say their income has increased in the same period, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. As household expenses outpace earnings, many are expressing concern about their financial futures. What’s more, for most Americans, household debt has either risen in the last year or has not gone away.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s economy expanded at a robust 4.9% annual rate from July through September as Americans defied higher prices, rising interest rates and widespread forecasts of a recession to spend at a brisk pace. The Commerce Department said the economy expanded last quarter at the fastest pace in more than two years — and more than twice the 2.1% annual rate of the previous quarter.

DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers union said Wednesday it has reached a tentative contract agreement with Ford that could be a breakthrough toward ending the nearly 6-week-old strikes against Detroit automakers. The four-year deal, which still has to be approved by 57,000 union members at the company, could bring a close to the union’s series of strikes at targeted factories run by Ford, General Motors and Jeep maker Stellantis.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The costs related to the East Palestine derailment continue to grow to reach $966 million for Norfolk Southern, but the railroad's service is improving and its insurance companies have started to pay their share of the cost of the crash in eastern Ohio early this year.

Dozens of U.S. states, including California and New York, are suing Meta Platforms Inc. for harming young people and contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly and deliberately designing features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms. A lawsuit filed by 33 states in federal court in California, claims that Meta routinely collects data on children under 13 without their parents’ consent, in violation of federal law.

Coca-Cola raised its full-year revenue forecast Tuesday after a stronger-than-expected third quarter. Atlanta-based Coke said it now expects its organic revenue will be up 10% to 11% for the year. That's up from the 8% to 9% guidance Coke announced at the end of the second quarter. Coke expects earnings __ adjusted for currency variations __ will grow 13% to 14%, up from a previous forecast of 9% to 11%.

DETROIT (AP) — A strike by auto workers against General Motors is expected to cut pretax earnings by $800 million this year, and another $200 million per week after that, the company's chief financial officer said. And those figures include only factories that are on strike now with less than a third of the company's workforce on the picket lines, so if more plants are added by the United Auto Workers union, the losses will pile up further, CFO Paul Jacobson told reporters.

WAYNE, Mich. (AP) — Throughout its 5-week-old strikes against Detroit’s automakers, the United Auto Workers union has cast an emphatically combative stance, reflecting the style of its pugnacious leader, Shawn Fain. Armed with a list of what even Fain has called “audacious” demands for better pay and benefits, the UAW leader has embodied the exasperation of workers who say they've struggled for years while the automakers have enjoyed billions in profits.

Chevron is buying Hess Corp. for $53 billion and it’s not even the biggest acquisition in the energy sector this month as major producers seize the initiative while oil prices surge. Crude prices rose sharply in early 2022 with Russia's invasion of Ukraine and are hovering around $90 per barrel after ticking another 9% higher this year, meaning big drillers are flush with cash and looking for places to invest piles of cash.

Spirit Airlines canceled about 100 flights on Friday after pulling some planes out of service for inspections, and the airline expects the disruptions to last several days.

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's jobless rate ticked up for the second month in a row in September, although jobs continued to rise in the state. Unemployment rose to 3.4% in September from 3.3% in August. That's also up slightly from 3.1% in September 2022, although the current jobless rate remains quite low in historical terms.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday that inflation remains too high and that bringing it down to the Fed's target level will likely require a slower-growing economy and job market.

HAVANA (AP) — The house on Villegas Street, in the heart of Old Havana, looks nothing like the stately two-story home it used to be a century ago, with its high ceilings, wrought iron railings, semicircular arches and stairs covered in white marble. Its former elegance is such that local lore says it used to belong to a marquise.

American Airlines is reporting a $545 million loss for the third quarter due to higher labor costs. The airline said Thursday that its results were dragged down by nearly $1 billion in special …

The Chinese search engine and artificial intelligence firm Baidu has launched the latest version of its artificial intelligence model Ernie 4.0. Baidu claims it rivals models such as GPT-4 in the …