Bargain Prices Help Costco Post Strong Earnings

Affordability will be one of the largest challenges in 2025 for Detroit’s automakers after General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. posted their best sales year in the United States since 2019, and as Stellantis NV’s declines eased somewhat in the final months of the year. Inventories swelled in 2024 following the end of pandemic-induced vehicle and microchip shortages, as well as the United Auto Workers strikes in the fall of 2023.

Illinois is now experiencing high levels of respiratory illness, up from moderate levels the previous week, the state health department reported Tuesday. The increase is not a surprise, given that this is the typical season for spikes in the flu, RSV and COVID-19, health officials and doctors say. “The New Year has arrived, and Illinois is experiencing the expected winter surge in seasonal respiratory illnesses,” Dr.

WASHINGTON — U. S. job openings rose unexpectedly in November, showing companies are still looking for workers even as the labor market has cooled overall. Openings rose to 8.1 million in November, the most since February and up from 7.8 million in October, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. They were down from 8.9 million a year earlier and a peak of 12.2 million in March 2022 as the economy was roaring back from COVID-19 lockdowns.

Tesla is the target of yet another federal safety probe, the fourth currently open by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Office of Defects Investigation. Today's trouble concerns the automaker's "Smart Summon" and "Actually Smart Summon" features, which allow Tesla drivers to remotely control their vehicles via a smartphone app. At least in theory, that is.

The annual Consumer Electronics Show got underway in Las Vegas this week, but Winter Storm Blair unraveled my plan to be on the ground to check things out in person. That means I still haven't had an in-person look at the Sony Honda Mobility Afeela, a new electric sedan that goes on sale in California later this year. Sony stunned everyone by first showing off an electric concept car at CES in 2020.

The Associated Press — Facebook and Instagram owner Meta said Tuesday it’s scrapping its third-party fact-checking program and replacing it with a Community Notes program written by users similar to the model used by Elon Musk’s social media platform X. Starting in the U. S., Meta will end its fact-checking program with independent third parties.