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☆ Home Depot to pay $2 million settlement for overcharging customers and false advertising
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-14 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN —Home Depot will pay nearly $2 million to settle a civil enforcement claim from California district attorneys that the home improvement company was engaging in false advertising and unfair competition. Such violations are called “scanner violations,” the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office said in a press release Thursday. “False advertising and unfair competition are serious offenses that undermine consumer trust and distort the marketplace,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement. The Los Angeles DA’s office said the company was cooperative in the investigation. The civil penalties are a drop in the bucket for the nation’s fifth-largest retailer.

Persons: George Gascón, CNN’s Nathaniel Meyersohn Organizations: New, New York CNN, San Diego Superior Court, Home Depot, Angeles County Locations: New York, California, San, Los Angeles County, Los Angeles

☆ After 8 years of van life, they were ready to settle down. They bought an abandoned watermill in Portugal to turn into a family home.
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-05 | by ( Amanda Goh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Mr and Mrs AdventureAfter returning to the US in 2018, they continued with van life until mid-2020, when they started thinking about settling down. AdvertisementThe first property they viewed was an abandoned watermill in the Algarve, Portugal's southernmost region, and they were immediately smitten. While they're relying on solar energy in their camper, they plan to connect the watermill property to the grid in the future. This watermill project, we have to have other people involved," Drew said. Mr and Mrs AdventureNow, Drew added, even the bathroom in the watermill is about the size of their van.

Persons: —, Brittany, Drew Neumann, Adventure, van, Drew, they're, they've, We're, Ian —, I've Organizations: Service, Business, YouTube Locations: North America, Europe, Africa, Hawaii, Northern California, Arizona, Portugal, Brittany, Algarve, Portugal's, Fort Myers , Florida

☆ What it means to have a ‘Black job’ in America
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-04 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Still, the discussion comes as Black workers have made significantly positive — and, in many cases, historic — employment advancements. “So, to suggest that immigration is lowering the black employment rate is just not bearing out, based on this superficial look at the facts,” Algernon said. The pandemic recovery and economic expansion since has resulted in wage gains for many workers, and that has included Black workers, she noted. “We talk a lot about the 2-to-1 ratio between Black and White unemployment (the Black unemployment rate typically is twice the White unemployment rate), so, the progress has been marginal in terms of that disparity.”In July, the unemployment rate for White workers was 3.8% (versus 6.3% for Black workers). “For example, according to BLS data, Black workers are just 12.8% of all employed Americans, but 48.4% of postal service workers, 38.1% of nurse assistants, and 36.1% of security guards,” Pollak said.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, ”, Algernon Austin, ” Algernon, there’s, that’s, It’s, Valerie Wilson, ” Wilson, “, Julia Pollak, ZipRecruiter, ” Pollak Organizations: CNN, National Association of Black Journalists, Black, Center for Economic, Research, of Labor Statistics, Baby Boomers, BLS

☆ America's richest self-made woman went from $900,000 in debt to billionaire—without a college degree
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-01 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

This week, Hendricks topped Forbes' recent American's Richest Self-Made Women list for the seventh consecutive year. Her estimated $20.9 billion net worth comes largely from her roofing materials company ABC Supply, which she co-founded with her late husband Ken Hendricks in 1982. Roofers often bought directly from individual manufacturers, locking them into an ecosystem and allowing manufacturers to drive up prices. They took out a $900,000 loan from Beloit Savings Bank and pledged everything they owned to launch their company and fill that gap, Hendricks said. "We felt like we [roofers] weren't being treated with respect," said Hendricks.

Persons: Diane Hendricks, Hendricks, Ken Hendricks, Ken, Forbes, Roofers Organizations: Forbes, ABC Supply, Beloit Savings Bank

☆ Home Depot misses on revenue, as high interest rates hurt sales
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Melissa Repko | In Melissa-Repko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

It said it expects total sales to grow about 1% in fiscal 2024, including those extra days. Home Depot on Tuesday posted quarterly revenue below Wall Street's expectations, as shoppers postponed bigger discretionary projects like bath and kitchen remodels because of higher interest rates and made spring purchases late. The logo of U.S. home improvement chain Home Depot is seen in Mexico City, Mexico, on Jan. 15, 2020. In the fiscal first quarter, customers made fewer visits to Home Depot's stores and website and tended to spend less when they did. Home Depot has seen sales moderate after more than two years of explosive demand during the Covid pandemic.

Persons: Richard McPhail, McPhail Organizations: CNBC, LSEG, U.S, Depot, Home Locations: Mexico City, Mexico, Texas

☆ Chair Powell says the Fed isn’t more tolerant of higher inflation. Some economists disagree
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-31 | by ( Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Some economists interpreted that as a sign that the Fed is now more tolerant of higher inflation. Powell pushed back on the perception that the central bank has grown more comfortable with inflation being higher for longer than expected in his post-meeting news conference. and my sense coming out of this month’s meeting was that Fed Chair Powell wants to get this easing cycle going sooner rather than later. What’s allowing the Fed to be patient or more tolerant of higher inflation? They’re willing to essentially look through some of the bumpiness in the inflation data at the beginning of the year.

Persons: Jerome Powell, That’s, Powell, “, ” Powell, “ We’re, Mohamed El, Erian, ”, Bell, Lydia Boussour, they’re, What’s, we’ve, Nathaniel Meyersohn, Read, Levi Strauss, Tupperware Organizations: Washington CNN, Federal Reserve, Financial Times, Fed, Home Depot, Home, P Global, Institute for Supply Management, Maine Foods, Dave, Buster’s Entertainment, US Labor Department, US Commerce Department, Stanford University Locations: EY, Cal

☆ What Home Depot’s $18 billion deal says about its strategy
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —In its largest acquisition ever, Home Depot is expanding its business targeting professional contractors and builders as the home fixer-upper market stalls. SRS, which will operate independently, Home Depot noted, has 760 warehouses and more than 4,000 trucks to deliver its goods. Home Depot in recent years has purchased other businesses targeting professionals who undertake both complex and simple housing projects. Home Depot’s push for pro customers comes as its DIY customers have slowed their spending. Home Depot expects the SRS acquisition, accomplished through a mix of cash and debt, to be completed by the end of the year, but it could face regulatory hurdles.

Persons: Billy Bastek, Lina Khan Organizations: New, New York CNN, Home Depot, Home, Depot, Federal Trade, Meta, Microsoft, Kroger Locations: New York

☆ Home Depot is acquiring specialty distributor SRS for $18.25 billion in huge bet on growing pro sales
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( Melissa Repko | In Melissa-Repko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Home Depot on Thursday said it is acquiring SRS Distribution in an $18.25 billion deal, the latest and largest sign of its ambitions to drive sales by winning more business from contractors, roofers and other home professionals. The home improvement retailer expects the acquisition to close this fiscal year, which ends in late January. Home Depot already draws half of its business from pros, while the other half comes from do-it-yourself customers. It recently announced it will open four distribution centers that help support sales to pros. The acquisition comes after the home improvement retailer said last month that it expects slower sales trends to continue.

Persons: It's, Ted Decker, Leonard Green, Decker, he's, That's Organizations: Atlanta -, CNBC, Leonard Green & Partners, Berkshire Partners, HD Supply, Resources, Depot Locations: Atlanta, McKinney , Texas, U.S, Mexico, Canada

Three times over the five hours, Biden told Hur he is a “frustrated architect.”He allowed that his wife, Jill, once offered to send him to architecture school if he’d only stop running for the Senate. “I have them hanging on the walls all over the downstairs, the television room, and some in the library,” Biden told Hur. In subsequent years, as vice president, Biden collected $2,200 a month in rent payments for the guest house from the Secret Service. It was there that investigators found his personal notebooks documenting key meetings from his time as vice president. “I just wanted you to know I picked out the walnut tree that got cut down,” Biden told investigators.

Persons: Joe Biden, Robert Hur, Biden, Hur, ”, Jill, he's, “, ” Biden, Hunter, Beau, Jimmy, I’ve, knickknacks, He's Organizations: WASHINGTON, Senate, FBI, Service, Democratic, Wilmington, Amtrak, White, Secret Service Locations: Wilmington , Delaware, Wilmington, Philadelphia, Delaware, Washington, The Delaware

☆ The Fall of the Timepiece Gentleman, the Luxury Watch Dealer Who Ran Afoul of the Feds
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-04 | by ( David Kushner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +29 min

Farrer is better known as the Timepiece Gentleman, the flashiest online dealer in the $75 billion luxury watch trade. All he needed was the right name for his luxury watch business — something distinctive, something memorable. In his mind, he pictured what the ultimate luxury watch dealer would look like. To launch his career as the Timepiece Gentleman, Farrer boned up on the jargon of horology, from escape wheels and spring barrels to flinques and guilloches. Despite the staggering size of the luxury watch trade, nobody had thought to market its glamour and mystique.

Persons: Reddit, I've, Anthony Farrer, Farrer, Mark Wahlberg, Marky Mark, Patek Philippes, Sharf, Prada, he'd, Cameron, Travis Baker, chronograph, Richard Chance, He'd, timepieces, Farrer boned, they're, Kevin Hart, It's, Buyers, Darby McVay, McVay, Liz Guilliams, Guilliams, You've, Dallas —, Crimepiece, vouching, Santa Monica, —, Darth Vader, y'all, reselling, Anthony, stiffing, Wesley Stokes, Stokes, Bob Schober, Joe Haden, Richard Mille, Schober, He's, Peter, Paul, didn't Organizations: YouTube, FBI, Timepiece Gentlemen, Watch, Buffalo Wild Wings, Business, Boston Consulting Group, Texans, Craigslist, Lamborghini, Malibu, Downtown, Hollywood, Cleveland Browns, TPG, Ducati, Venice Locations: Venice , California, Venice, backwoods Texas, Reddit, cowpoke, Sherman , Texas, Dallas, It's, Salt, Riding, Los Angeles, In Dallas, LA, Santa, Texas, Downtown Los Angeles, South Carolina, Scottsdale , Arizona, Stokes

☆ Finance workers in London are most exposed to the threat of AI, and it should put Wall Street on notice – study shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The finance and insurance sector is the most exposed to the adoption of AI. The report found jobs in finance, law, and business management were likely to be impacted by AI. AdvertisementA new report that measures AI's effect on London city workers may raise alarm bells on Wall Street. "The finance & insurance sector is more exposed to AI than any other sector," the report said. Here are the top ten UK sectors with the highest exposure to AI:Advertisement

Persons: — Organizations: UK government's Department for Education, Service, UK government's Department, Education's Unit Locations: London

☆ The biggest winners — and losers — in the coming AI job apocalypse
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Emil Skandul | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

In fact, as other long-term trends take hold, many of these working-class roles are poised for a job explosion. While manufacturing jobs as a whole are expected to stay flat, spending in this industry has boomed to $200 billion each year, tripling in the past five years. "What characterizes the physical labor jobs that are safe for the next five or 10 years are things that are in an unpredictable physical environment," Kweilin Ellingrud, a McKinsey Global Institute director, told me. Instead of replacing these jobs, AI will likely benefit specific roles by making it easier to do the most routine parts of the job. He added: "There are these jobs that are in a middle ground where the physical work may remain but the supervision might be more exposed."

Persons: plumbers, Philip Levine, there's, Mark Muro, barometers, OpenAI, Ellingrud, Muro, Emil Skandul, Tony Blair Organizations: Ford, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Brookings Institution, Accenture, Bureau of Labor Statistics, McKinsey, McKinsey Global Institute, Research, Tony Blair Institute Locations: American, America

☆ 'The era of global boiling has arrived,' says UN boss, as White House announces provisions to protect workers from extreme heat
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

"The era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived." So said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres in a speech Thursday at the UN headquarters in New York City. Also on Thursday, President Biden announced provisions to protect workers and communities from extreme heat, and had meetings scheduled with Mayor Kate Gallego of Phoenix, Arizona, and Mayor Ron Nirenberg of San Antonio, Texas, to discuss how their cities are handling extreme heat and how the federal government can help. "For vast parts of North America, Asia, Africa and Europe, it is a cruel summer," Guterres said. The record heat affecting communities across the globe is caused by climate change, and although the phenomenon has long been predicted, the pace of change is devastating, Guterres said.

Persons: António Guterres, Biden, Kate Gallego, Ron Nirenberg, Guterres Organizations: United Nations, UN, European Union, World Meteorological Organization, National Weather Service Locations: Clarksburg , Maryland, New York City, Phoenix , Arizona, San Antonio , Texas, North America, Asia, Africa, Europe

☆ UK relaxes visa rules to attract foreign construction workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, July 17 (Reuters) - Britain has added a number of construction roles to its "shortage occupation list", allowing the building industry to bring in staff from abroad more easily to help employers struggling to fill positions. Bricklayers, masons, roofers, roof tilers, slaters, carpenters, joiners and plasterers will benefit from cheaper visas and more relaxed employment criteria under the changes. Britain is suffering from acute labour shortages in some sectors meaning employers are keen to recruit workers from abroad. The list already includes care workers, civil engineers and laboratory technicians, plus healthcare roles. Those working in a shortage occupation can be paid 80% of the job's usual rate and still qualify for a visa, the government statement said.

Persons: Rishi Sunak's, Sarah Young, William James Our Organizations: Conservative Party, Advisory, European Union, Thomson Locations: Britain, Sunak

☆ London's solar street thrives on people power
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Natalie Thomas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Roofers install solar panels on the roof of renegade artists Dan Edelstyn and Hilary Powell's house in London, Britain, June 6, 2023. Dan Edelstyn and Hilary Powell raise funds to install solar panels on the rooftops of all the houses on their street. After raising 113,000 pounds ($141,000), partly through crowd-funding publicised by sleeping on their roof for three cold, winter weeks, artist couple Dan Edelstyn and Hilary Powell have arranged for solar panels to be installed on dozens of houses on their street. Households powered by solar panel-derived electricity draw less power from the national grid, cutting energy bills, and they can also sell any excess energy back. Industry analysts say community projects tend to be more efficient than individual solar installations as costs fall with scale.

Persons: Dan Edelstyn, Hilary Powell's, Hilary Powell, Anna Gordon LONDON, Powell, Ejaz Hussein, It's, Rebecca Dibb, Ofgem, Edelstyn, Sachin Ravikumar, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Industry, Octopus Energy, Community Energy, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, Waltham Forest

☆ New job data show a changed labor market
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

TRUCKERS, MANAGERS AND THERAPISTS The Post-Pandemic Workforce What new data show about the U.S. labor market that emerged from the coronavirusThe pandemic sparked what seemed a massive reshuffling of who does what in the American workforce. Keeping track of that shifting landscape falls to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which every year details how many people do different types of jobs. The graphic shows the number of jobs in 22 occupational categories in 2016, 2019 and 2022. The graphic shows how the percentage share in the total workforce changed from 2019 to 2022 for each of 22 occupational categories. With natural population growth slowing, immigration could play an important role in how labor demands are met.

Persons: Jobs, Green Roofers Organizations: Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS, Movers, Sales, Mental Health, Federal Reserve Locations: COVID, U.S

☆ How TikTok helps Will and Jada Pinkett Smith's Westbrook find fresh talent and supercharge its marketing strategy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Nhari Djan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Westbrook is an entertainment company whose founders include Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. Two execs explain how they use the app to find talent and incorporate TikTok creators in their marketing projects. TikTok specifically has helped Westbrook find creators to work on its marketing projects. Sadao Turner, Westbrook Media's SVP of talent strategy, said TikTok has been a better recruiting tool than some other social-media platforms because of its search and discovery features. Turner said that TikTok creators display a different level of creativity and freedom than he had seen from other digital creators.

☆ ‘Equal Occupational Fatality Day’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

But to understand the folly of comparing aggregate statistics, consider Equal Occupational Fatality Day. That’s a commemoration coined as a thought experiment some years ago by economist Mark Perry , a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, who updated his numbers again this week. America’s most dangerous job in 2021, according to the official data, was held by loggers, who were 96% men. Also high on the list were roofers, 97.1% men, and electrical power line installers and repairers, 99.3% men. The most sex-balanced occupation in the top 10 most dangerous was trash collecting, 87.9% men.

Companies Amgen Inc FollowMarch 14 (Reuters) - Amgen Inc (AMGN.O) has been sued in a proposed class action accusing the drugmaker of waiting too long to tell investors it might owe the Internal Revenue Service $10.7 billion in taxes and penalties. In a complaint filed on Monday night in Manhattan federal court, a Detroit-based pension fund said Amgen artificially inflated its stock price by concealing the dispute over its international tax strategy between July 2020 and April 2022. Though Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, it is considered a foreign country for corporate tax purposes. 149 Pension Fund, said Amgen's share price fell 6.5% on Aug. 4, 2021, and 4.3% on April 28, 2022, because the company waited until those dates to disclose its potential liabilities. 149 Pension Fund v. Amgen Inc, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

☆ Some Florida homeowners have to wait a year to fix hurricane damage, and that's only one of the many struggles they face
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Hurricane Ian was the second-costliest hurricane in US history, causing up to $65 billion in damage. Florida homeowners face other challenges, too, from rising insurance costs to suffering home values. In December, about three months after Hurricane Ian struck the Gulf Coast of Florida, the sounds of construction rung out in one community. Meanwhile, roofers are overstretched, said Mike Silvers, the director of technical services of the Florida Roofing and Sheet Metal Contractors Association. Out-of-state contractors both have to learn Florida's code and become licensed in the state in order to do any roofing work.

“This looks and smells like human trafficking,” said Ariadna Phillips, a New York community organizer with South Bronx Mutual Aid. On Tuesday, DeSantis said at a news conference that three of four people arrested last week for "ransacking" communities following Hurricane Ian were illegal immigrants who should be immediately deported. Remembering "horror stories" of immigrants not being paid for work or being deported following previous natural disasters, Phillips rushed to Queens. "Promises are often not kept to these workers," said Saket Soni, executive director of Resilience Workforce, a New Orleans group that advocates for and monitors migrant workers following natural disasters. In the days following Ian, Resilience Workforce deployed staff members to Florida to observe work conditions on the ground.

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