As Turkey heads to runoff presidential race, domestic issues loom large

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has parlayed his country’s NATO membership and location straddling Europe and the Middle East into international influence, is favored to win reelection in a presidential runoff Sunday, despite a host of domestic issues. ...

Stock market today: Tech leads more gains on Wall Street

NEW YORK (AP) — Technology stocks powered solid gains for Wall Street on Friday after another chipmaker reported strong demand related to artificial intelligence. The upbeat finish to the week for major indexes comes amid lingering anxiety over persistently high inflation, the risk...

A measure of inflation that is closely tracked by the Federal Reserve increased in April

WASHINGTON (AP) — A key index of U.S. prices ticked higher in April, and consumer spending rebounded, a sign that inflationary pressures in the economy remain high. The index, which the Federal Reserve closely monitors, showed that prices rose 0.4% from March to April. That was...

UK's Treasury chief accepts that recession may be necessary to get inflation down

LONDON (AP) — Britain's Treasury chief said he would be prepared to see the U.K. economy slip back into recession if further interest rate hikes are necessary to bring down inflation. With the Bank of England expected to keep raising rates following higher-than-anticipated...

An inflation gauge closely tracked by the Federal Reserve shows price pressures ticked up in April

Lawmakers advance bill to cut Alabama's grocery sales tax in half

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama lawmakers on Thursday advanced legislation to remove half of the state’s 4% sale tax on groceries, a proposal that garnered broad bipartisan support in the face of soaring food prices. The House of Representatives voted 103-0 for the legislation...

Quarterly results from Best Buy, Ralph Lauren and Dollar Tree show divergence in consumer spending

NEW YORK (AP) — As inflation on necessities like groceries remains stubbornly high, the well-heeled consumer appears to still be spending, while lower-income shoppers continues to cut back their purchases, according to the latest batch of earnings reports. Ralph Lauren Corp., which...

Average long-term US mortgage rate rises to 6.57% this week, highest level since mid March

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate rose this week to its highest level since mid March, driving up borrowing costs for prospective homebuyers facing a housing market that’s constrained by a dearth of homes for sale. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said...

Germany economy shrinks in first quarter, signaling one definition of recession

BERLIN (AP) — The German economy shrank unexpectedly in the first three months of this year, marking the second quarter of contraction that is one definition of recession. Data released Thursday by the Federal Statistical Office shows Germany's gross domestic product, or GDP,...

More Americans apply for jobless benefits but labor market remains tight

U.S. applications for jobless claims rose slightly last week but remain at healthy levels with companies reticent to let go of employees in a tight labor market. The number of Americans filing for jobless claims for the week ending May 20 rose by 4,000 to 229,000 from 225,000 the...