Biz Bits

Here are some hints — and the answers — for Connections: Sports Edition No. 95 for Friday, Dec. 27.

When Joel Appel bought Zaidy’s Deli & Bakery, he didn’t expect it to be this hard. At the time he reopened the Jewish joint’s doors in 2022, Denver’s minimum wage was $15.87. On Jan. 1, that number will be $18.81. According to a survey from The Colorado Restaurant Association, the hike will cost Denver restaurants an average of over $51,000 next year. “It just makes it very, very difficult,” Appel said, who took over Zaidy’s after it closed in 2020.

By Isabel Contreras, NerdWallet The past couple of years have been tough on consumers’ wallets. Inflation has affected groceries, gas and lots of other everyday expenses — and auto insurance is no exception. Prices for most goods and services have started to stabilize: Year-over-year inflation stood at 2.7% in November, a dramatic difference from the peak of more than 9% during the summer of 2022.

Colorado’s employment counts have become so unreliable the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in an unprecedented move, has stopped issuing reports based on them. “BLS has observed data quality problems because of ongoing issues with the modernization of Colorado’s unemployment insurance system. As a result, BLS is temporarily suspending publication of Colorado employment, unemployment, and wage data,” the bureau said in a statement issued Dec.

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO and HALELUYA HADERO, AP Business Writers Sales rose this year during the holiday shopping season even as Americans wrestled with elevated prices for many groceries and other necessities, according to new data. Holiday sales from the beginning of November through Christmas Eve climbed 3.8%, outpacing the 3.1% increase from a year earlier, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks all kinds of payments including cash and debit cards.

Our growing reliance on technology at home and in the workplace has raised the profile of e-waste. This consists of discarded electrical devices including laptops, smartphones, televisions, computer servers, washing machines, medical equipment, games consoles and much more. The amount of e-waste produced this decade could reach as much as 5 million metric tonnes, according to recent research published in Nature.