AP Business Digest
Here are the AP's top business stories that have moved or are planned to move today. All times U.S. Eastern. For up-to-the minute information on AP's coverage, visit AP Newsroom's Coverage Plan.
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UPCOMING
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1. TRUMP-DEFICITS
2. DESCRIPTION: President Donald Trump faces the challenge of trying to convince Republican senators, global investors, voters and even Elon Musk that he won't bury the federal government in debt with his multitrillion-dollar tax breaks package. The response so far has been skeptical.
3. UPCOMING: By 05/29/2025 11:01 a.m. EDT
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MORTGAGE RATES
DESCRIPTION: Freddie Mac reports on this week's average U.S. mortgage rates. By Alex Veiga. UPCOMING: 250 words after noon release.
UPCOMING: By 05/29/2025 12:00 p.m. EDT, Text, Photo
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BERKELEY LAB-AI-ANNOUNCEMENT
DESCRIPTION: U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright will visit Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California, to deliver remarks and make an AI-related announcement alongside leaders from Dell Technologies and NVIDIA, two Nobel Laureates, and Director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Mike Witherell.
UPCOMING: By 05/29/2025 3:45 p.m. EDT, LiveVideo, Text, Photo
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US--TRUMP-VENEZUELA IMMIGRANTS
DESCRIPTION: San Francisco - Federal judge whose national injunction to block Trump administration from ending temporary TPS protections for 350,000 Venezuelans was stayed by the Supreme Court holds a hearing on underlying case. ON MERITS
ON MERITS: By 05/29/2025 7:00 p.m. EDT, Text
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NEW AND DEVELOPING
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US--HAILEY BIEBER-COSMETICS-ELF
Cosmetics company E.l.f acquires Hailey Bieber's Rhode beauty brand for $1 billion
SUMMARY: E.l.f. Beauty has acquired Hailey Bieber's Rhode beauty brand in a $1 billion deal. Bieber is a model and the wife of singer Justin Bieber. She will be Rhode's chief creative officer and head of innovation and also a strategic advisor to the combined companies. Under the terms of the agreement, E.l.f. will acquire Rhode for $600 million in cash and $200 million of newly issued shares of E.l.f. Beauty common stock. The deal also includes an additional potential earnout of $200 million based on the future growth of the brand over three years.
WORDS: 240 - MOVED: 05/29/2025 10:25 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:e50afe56cd3d7e6caa004bcc7eeb420b&mediaType=text
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FINANCIAL MARKETS
Nvidia leads Wall Street higher after a US court blocks many of Trump's tariffs
SUMMARY: Stocks worldwide are rising after a U.S. court blocked many of President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, though the gains got less strong as trading progressed from Asia to New York. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 80 points, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.9%. Technology stocks led the way after Nvidia topped analysts' expectations for profit and revenue in the latest quarter. The gains were even bigger in Asia, where markets had the first chance to react to the ruling late Wednesday by the U.S. Court of International Trade. But it's still uncertain what Trump will do next.
WORDS: 836 - MOVED: 05/29/2025 10:11 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:e9b612f1c8f4f338f24f609373075095&mediaType=text
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US--CAMBODIAN AMERICAN-FOOD
Cambodian American chefs are finding success and raising their culture's profile. On their terms
SUMMARY: Cambodian restaurants are not in every U.S. city the way Chinese and Japanese ones are. And Cambodian food has often been lumped in with Thai or Vietnamese when in fact it has its own distinctness. But in recent years, a lot of entrepreneurial Cambodian American chefs have come into their own. They're introducing traditional dishes and putting their own twist on them. Many of these chefs come from families who fled the Khmer Rouge terror regime a half century ago. But they don't want that to be what people associate with their culture. Through food they are putting the attention back on Cambodian heritage. Khmer food emphasizes seafood and meats, vegetables, noodles, rice and fermentation.
WORDS: 1135 - MOVED: 05/29/2025 10:06 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:e8aff4d0abe6123956d8007edf71c0a5&mediaType=text
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EU--EUROPE-VON DER LEYEN PRIZE
Ursula von der Leyen honored with award for contributions to European unity
SUMMARY: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has received the International Charlemagne Prize. The annual award is given for contributions to European unity. Von der Leyen is the European Union's most high-profile political figure. King Felipe VI of Spain called von der Leyen "the embodiment of the European spirit" during Thursday's ceremony in Germany. European Parliament lawmakers reelected her last year to a second five-year term as president of the EU's powerful executive arm. The European Commission proposes legislation for the EU's 27 member countries and ensures that the rules governing the world's biggest trading bloc are respected.
WORDS: 708 - MOVED: 05/29/2025 10:04 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:94c0960aa89bb598464157789e1e7d43&mediaType=text
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UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
More Americans file for jobless aid but layoffs remain low despite economic uncertainty over tariffs
SUMMARY: Filings for U.S. jobless aid jumped last week but American workers broadly remain secure in their jobs despite economic uncertainty over global trade. Jobless benefits applications rose by 14,000 to 240,000 for the week ending May 24, the Labor Department said Thursday. Analysts had forecast 226,000 new applications. Weekly applications for jobless benefits are seen as representative of U.S. layoffs and have mostly settled in a historically healthy range between 200,000 and 250,000 since COVID-19 throttled the economy in the spring of 2020, wiping out millions of jobs. The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits for the week of May 17 increased by 26,000 to 1.92 million.
WORDS: 533 - MOVED: 05/29/2025 9:53 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:d069b9a8f3ab894fa15d8f03a5590fda&mediaType=text
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EU--FRANCE-DIOR-CHIURI
Maria Grazia Chiuri exits Dior, capping transformative era for the Paris fashion behemoth
WORDS: 603 - MOVED: 05/29/2025 9:41 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:3c8152f51e6b0c24b1a517079d46e30b&mediaType=text
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ECONOMY-GDP
Hit by Trump trade wars, U.S. economy falls 0.2% in first quarter, an upgrade from initial estimate
SUMMARY: The U.S. economy shrank at a 0.2% annual pace from January through March, the first drop in three years, as President Donald Trump's trade wars disrupted business, the government said Thursday in a slight upgrade of its initial estimate. First-quarter growth was brought down by a surge in imports as companies in the United States hurried to bring in foreign goods before the president imposed massive import taxes. The January-March drop in gross domestic product -- the nation's output of goods and services -- reversed a 2.4% gain in the fourth quarter of 2024. Imports grew at a 42.6% pace, fastest since third-quarter 2020, and shaved more than 5 percentage points off GDP growth. Consumer spending also slowed sharply.
WORDS: 389 - MOVED: 05/29/2025 9:03 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:2c17721ae91e3249850b7a48ab35edc1&mediaType=text
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US--CEO PAY
CEO pay rose nearly 10% in 2024 as stock prices and profits soared
SUMMARY: The typical compensation package for chief executives who run companies in the S&P 500 jumped nearly 10% in 2024 as the stock market enjoyed another banner year and corporate profits rose sharply. The increase for those who occupy the corner office again outpaced the wage gains for the median worker at their company. At half the companies in AP's annual pay survey, it would take the worker at the middle of the company's pay scale 192 years to make what the CEO did in one. Rick Smith, the founder and CEO of Axon Enterprises, the maker of Tasers, topped the survey with a pay package valued at $164 million.
WORDS: 1296 - MOVED: 05/29/2025 8:35 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:1b968327984edfc67486c2e0e3dc2fff&mediaType=text
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US-CEO PAY-METHODOLOGY
How AP and Equilar calculated CEO pay
SUMMARY: For its annual analysis of CEO pay, The Associated Press used data provided by Equilar, an executive data firm. Equilar examined regulatory filings detailing the pay packages of 344 executives. Equilar looked at companies in the S&P 500 index that filed proxy statements with federal regulators between Jan. 1 and April 30, 2025. To avoid the distortions caused by sign-on bonuses, the sample includes only CEOs in place for at least two years.
WORDS: 331 - MOVED: 05/29/2025 8:33 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:382fa7ad2bb29867b0d156d46b617582&mediaType=text
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AS--JAPAN-ISHIBA-TRADE
Japan's Ishiba warns against tension over tariffs and vows to expand Asia-Pacific trade group
SUMMARY: Japanese Prime Minsiter Shigeru Ishiba has showed a determination to defend rules-based free and multilateral trade systems and take a leadership role to expand the Asia-Pacific trade group at a time of deepening tensions and divisions over U.S. tariff and trade wars. His comment Thursday comes as Japan's chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa is traveling to Washington for a fourth round of talks attempting to convince the U.S. to drop all recent tariff measures. So far Japan has not been successful and is reportedly considering purchases of more U.S. farm products and defense equipment as bargaining chips.
WORDS: 341 - MOVED: 05/29/2025 8:29 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:f57df97cee97f2bea9230fb269016cf8&mediaType=text
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US--UNITED-JETBLUE
United Airlines will return to JFK with several daily flights in a deal with JetBlue
SUMMARY: A collaboration with JetBlue will mark the return of United Airlines to JFK International Airport in two years. JetBlue will give United access to slots at JFK for up to seven daily round-trip flights beginning in 2027. JetBlue runs approximately 180 daily flights out of JFK. United last flew out of the New York airport in 2022. The announcement arrives shortly after the Federal Aviation Administration said that it was extending flight limits at Newark into June due to air traffic controller shortages and technical issues.
WORDS: 345 - MOVED: 05/29/2025 8:26 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:7ac3ae96a0e165b435295c747544e73e&mediaType=text
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BBO--MLB-AUSL PARTNERSHIP
MLB invests in Athletes Unlimited Softball League ahead of June debut
SUMMARY: Major League Baseball is investing in Athletes Unlimited to support its softball league that will debut next month, marking the first time MLB will have a comprehensive partnership with a professional women's sports league. MLB said Thursday it was making a strategic investment in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League of an undisclosed amount for operational costs and a commitment to help it gain visibility in various ways, including assistance with content, marketing and sales, events, distribution, editorial, and digital and social platforms. That includes marketing the AUSL and its athletes during MLB's All-Star Game and throughout the postseason.
WORDS: 838 - MOVED: 05/29/2025 8:15 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:d250a0b3a5bdf861bc56bf2faad25a6d&mediaType=text
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US--BEST BUY-RESULTS
Best Buy cuts its annual profit and sales outlook as it wrestles with tariffs
SUMMARY: Best Buy cut its annual outlook for profits and sales after reported a profit decline and stagnating sales for its fiscal first quarter as the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer wrestles with shoppers' worries about the economy and tariffs. The company reported net income of $202 million, or 95 cents per share, for the three-month period ended May 3. That compares with $246 million, or $1.13 per share, for the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings was $1.15 per share. Sales fell slightly to $8.77 billion from $8.7 billion.Analysts were expecting $1.09 per share on sales of $8.81 billion.
WORDS: 510 - MOVED: 05/29/2025 8:04 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:882a28d95914b7f7e1e83a3d60e19feb&mediaType=text
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US--PHILANTHROPY-GLOBAL-CITIZEN-DETROIT
Mark Cuban and Wyclef Jean to headline Global Citizen's first Detroit summit on the future of cities
SUMMARY: Global Citizen is unveiling the lineup for its summer conference on urban revitalization in Detroit. Among the speakers are billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, Grammy-winning musician Wyclef Jean of the Fugees and James Beard Award-winning chef Marcus Samuelsson. The international anti-poverty organization is bringing its conference series to a U.S. location outside New York for the first time. Global Citizen aims to spotlight Detroit as an example of how investments in young adults spur economic prosperity, accessible infrastructure and food security. The July 10 summit promises to drive commitments to sustainable development. It's also part of the nonprofit's goal to grow the movement to 50 million "global citizens" taking the platform's recommended actions by 2029.
WORDS: 484 - MOVED: 05/29/2025 7:32 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:5af8c6da7e294ed15cf6b34c31d8a8c2&mediaType=text
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EU--MIGRATION-CYPRUS-SYRIA
Cyprus offers Syrian families money to resettle and work permits for main earners
SUMMARY: Cyprus says it will offer Syrian families money to help them resettle back in their homeland and allow the family head to remain on the island nation for up to three years to work as part of a voluntary repatriation program. Deputy Minister for Migration Nicholas Ioannides says that a prerequisite for families to qualify for the program is that they must drop their claims for asylum or rescind international protection status already granted to them prior to Dec. 31, 2024. Ioannides said Thursday that families wishing to voluntarily return will be given a one-off sum of 2,000 euros or $2,255 for one adult and 1,000 euros or $1,128 for each child.
WORDS: 480 - MOVED: 05/29/2025 7:21 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:b5159c80ae5e2ef7d0f437006103c0f2&mediaType=text
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BE WELL-WORKING WELL-KIDS AND CAREERS
Astronaut one day, artist the next: How to help children explore the world of careers
SUMMARY: Early life experiences can shape the way we think about work. Sometimes career paths follow a straight line. But just as often, jobs can be shaped by circumstances, luck, exposure and a willingness to change. Career counselors recommend exposing children to a wide variety of career paths at a young age. Teachers and parents can tell kids about careers that relate to their favorite activities. High schools are investing in vocational classes that had fallen out of fashion such as woodshop, welding and mechanics. And experts recommend teaching students skills to harness artificial intelligence.
WORDS: 1271 - MOVED: 05/29/2025 6:43 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:9f301a32e9739d951a5f2a454b0f288a&mediaType=text
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US--CLIMATE-CLEAN ENERGY-INVESTMENTS
$14 billion in clean energy projects have been canceled in the US this year, analysis says
SUMMARY: A new analysis finds that more than $14 billion in clean energy projects in the U.S. have been canceled this year. The cancellations have come as President Donald Trump's pending megabill raises fears over the future of domestic battery, electric vehicle and solar and wind energy development. Companies are concerned that clean energy projects will be in jeopardy amid House Republicans' passage of the tax bill, which would gut credits for solar, wind and EVs. Those credits were bolstered in the landmark climate bill passed under former President Joe Biden in 2022. They are considered crucial for boosting adoption of renewable energies.
WORDS: 816 - MOVED: 05/29/2025 6:08 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:349e80c0d9c2cc768e63de9d48813d31&mediaType=text
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AS-SOUTH KOREA-ECONOMY
South Korea's central bank cuts borrowing costs to nurse the sluggish economy
WORDS: 497 - MOVED: 05/29/2025 4:22 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:d2cf5ea0db7ad02147f144ba50c7ee4b&mediaType=text
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EU--SLOVAKIA-CORRUPTION
Slovakia's central bank chief convicted of bribery and fined $225,000
SUMMARY: Slovakia's central bank chief has been convicted of bribery and fined 200,000 euros or $225,000). Central bank Gov. Peter Ka?imír is a member of the European Central Bank committee that decides monetary policy for 20 countries. The verdict was issued Thursday by Slovakia's Special Criminal Court in Pezinok. Ka?imír's attorneys argued that he should have been acquitted because of the recent changes in Slovakia's penal code that reduced punishment for corruption and that recently ended a number of corruption cases and trials. Ka?imír wasn't present at the court. He said in a statement that he would appeal.
WORDS: 450 - MOVED: 05/29/2025 3:31 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:f45809aa68c11d530935dc696755bd29&mediaType=text
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US--EDUCATION-AIR QUALITY-OIL AND GAS
Oil and gas have boomed in New Mexico. Its schools are contending with pollution's effects
SUMMARY: Natural gas has become a go-to fuel for power plants from coast to coast, sometimes replacing dirtier coal-fired plants and, by extension, improving air quality. In New Mexico, oil and gas companies employ thousands of workers, often in areas with few other opportunities, all while boosting the state's budget with billions in royalty payments. But those benefits may come at a cost for thousands of students whose schools sit near oil and gas pipelines, wellheads and flare stacks. An Associated Press analysis of state and federal data found 694 oil and gas wells with new or active permits within a mile of a school in New Mexico.
WORDS: 1741 - MOVED: 05/29/2025 2:47 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:d2e9bb105c68a11bb5ae31564706d8e7&mediaType=text
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AS--SOUTH KOREA-ELECTION-HOT TOPICS
South Korean presidential election roiled by coffee beans, Chanel bags and room salon
SUMMARY: South Korea's presidential race has devolved into personal attacks and petty disputes, drowning out meaningful policy debate after Yoon Suk Yeol was ousted over his martial law fiasco. The mudslinging between liberal frontrunner Lee Jae-myung and conservative opponent Kim Moon Soo escalated during Tuesday night's final presidential debate, with Lee branding Kim as "Yoon Suk Yeol's avatar" and Kim denouncing Lee as a "harbinger of monster politics." Regardless of who wins June 3, the next president will face substantial challenges, including Donald Trump's aggressive trade policies, North Korea's advancing nuclear program and a stark political divide at home.
WORDS: 931 - MOVED: 05/29/2025 12:15 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:70506148ad14b875b94a848b924fa2a9&mediaType=text
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US--CRYPTO VIOLENCE
Crypto crime spills over from behind the screen to real-life violence
SUMMARY: An alleged kidnapping in New York is the latest instance in which authorities say cryptocurrency-related crimes have involved real-world violence. Kidnappings for ransom in France have rattled the crypto industry there, including one where a crypto entrepreneur's father had a finger cut off. Experts believe the increase in violence could be linked to cryptocurrencies' surging values, violent groups adding crypto thefts to their repertoire and the ease of shielding your identity in crypto transactions. "Things that might clearly be outside of social norms in other spaces -- like robbing a bank -- are somehow just part of the game here," said John Griffin, a finance professor at the University of Texas in Austin.
WORDS: 775 - MOVED: 05/29/2025 12:06 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:cf03f95b034b7ffa3d38a3ec3efc7c25&mediaType=text
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US--CALIFORNIA-AVOCADOS
California avocado growers say Mexican imports have helped their sales
SUMMARY: On a hillside northwest of Los Angeles, Andreas Tompros is replanting hundreds of avocado trees. Consumption of avocados has boomed in the United States in the past two decades, and much of the demand has been met with rising imports from Mexico. California growers say these imports have wound up helping, not hurting, their crop by creating a stable supply of the fruit that has bolstered demand. Many farmers are tearing out lemon trees due to overseas competition and planting avocados instead. Growers like Tompros plan to stick with avocados even after losing their orchards to wildfires last year.
WORDS: 912 - MOVED: 05/29/2025 12:02 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:1489ff4288e78d02734dcbbe4defa51b&mediaType=text
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