Business & Economy

Amazon ended its charity donation program, AmazonSmile, after a series of other cost-cutting measures. Many shoppers expressed disapproval on social media and have been searching for alternatives.

As Gov. Tim Walz issues his complete budget proposal this week, he says he’s attempting to invigorate a state that has “lived on our laurels” of bygone days.

Minnesota businesses continue their struggle to fill job vacancies. And many have learned new ways of getting work done with fewer employees. The pandemic accelerated the trend toward robotics, flexible scheduling and more.

We have been here before. But this time the House's new Republican majority is largely driven by a faction that says it will hold the debt limit vote as a hostage to win policy changes.

The layoffs at Google follow similarly huge cuts at Microsoft, Amazon and Salesforce. Tech companies who hired rapidly during the pandemic now face fears of recession.

Gov. Tim Walz laid out spending plans Thursday or starting a family and medical leave program, bolstering the pay of health care aides, speeding the development of clean energy and helping small businesses and farmers. 

In a blog post on Wednesday, the company said the program, called AmazonSmile, will shut down by February 20. 

House Republicans want to leverage must-pass legislation to raise the debt limit to extract federal spending cuts, but President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats aren't interested in negotiating.

The bill drew support from clean energy advocates and labor unions hopeful it would reduce Minnesota’s reliance on fossil fuels to generate power and create clean energy jobs. But some rural electric cooperatives testified that it could be difficult to meet the mandate while maintaining affordable, reliable power.

Warm weather has thawed snow and ice, in turn filling a parking lot so notorious for its flooding that it has a name and a fan club.