Business

The S&P 500 stock index crawled past 5,000 for the first time Friday, reaching an important symbolic landmark as continued economic optimism fanned the flames of a rally driven by artificial intelligence on Wall Street.

  Cocoa prices are climbing fast, and Hershey Co. may continue raising prices to keep up. Prices for the all-important ingredient are reaching “historic” levels, Chief Executive Officer Michele Buck said in the company’s earnings statement Thursday.

Climate technology startup Twelve took a major step towards producing sustainable aviation fuel on Thursday by launching its commercial-scale carbon transformation unit.

Feb. 7—A search engine rating firm with offices in Kirkland will sack nearly 3,700 remote employees after losing a major contract with Google, but only a dozen of the affected workers live in Washington. On Tuesday, RaterLabs notified the state it was laying off 3,657 workers effective April 6, according to the state Employment Security Department. Although the initial notice didn't say where ...

The US government sold a record $42 billion of 10-year notes Wednesday at a lower-than-anticipated yield, a sign of investor confidence that the Federal Reserve will pivot to interest-rate cuts this year in response to a growth slowdown.

 New York Times Co. shares fell as much as 10%, the biggest intraday loss since June 2022, after the publisher reported fourth quarter advertising sales that were less than the company expected and subscriber numbers missed Wall Street estimates.