By Nathalie Voit Retail returns in 2021 hit an average of 16.6%, up from 10.6% one year ago, the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Appriss Retail said in a survey released Jan. 25. Out of the $4.583 trillion sales in the U.S. retail industry, retailers expect to lose about $761 billion in sales from returns, [...]
By Nathalie Voit Home prices in November climbed 18.8% year-over-year, slightly down from October's 19.0% red-hot reading but still posting record annual gains, S&P Case-Shiller said Jan. 25 in its monthly National Home Price Index. The 10-City Composite Index, which tracks changes in residential real estate value across ten major metro areas, jumped 16.8% in the [...]
By Nathalie Voit The SAT will soon shift online and be shortened by one hour, the College Board announced in a statement on Jan. 25. The "student-friendly" changes will begin internationally in spring 2023 and in the U.S. in spring 2024, said Priscilla Rodriguez, vice president of College Readiness Assessments at College Board. The SAT will still [...]
By Nathalie Voit IT management and software solutions company SolarWinds found hacking is the top cybersecurity concern for the public sector, overshadowing internal threats for the first time in five years. Fifty-six percent of respondents identified the general hacking community as the largest source of security threats at public sector organizations, followed by careless or [...]
By Nathalie Voit The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 16-6 to advance a major tech antitrust bill, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, during a markup session on Jan. 21. The bill passed on a bipartisan basis, with ranking member Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and antitrust subcommittee Chair Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) voting to move the [...]
By Nathalie Voit Americans will soon have to take a selfie to access some features of their IRS account. Beginning this summer, the IRS will update its online verification process to incorporate facial recognition technology and other extensive personal information. Existing Americans who have an account with the IRS will transition to the new and [...]
By Nathalie Voit Branded consumer goods corporation Procter & Gamble announced its plans to raise prices on some of its most popular products on a Q2 2022 earnings call on Jan. 19. On the call, P&G's Chief Financial Officer Andre Schulten said that the company already told retailers in mid-December about the planned price increases on popular [...]
By Nathalie Voit The FBI said cybercriminals are tampering with Quick Response (QR) codes to steal victims' funds in an announcement issued on Jan. 18. QR codes have been on the rise ever since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic due to their ability to provide convenient and contactless access for consumers. Many businesses use them to [...]
By Nathalie Voit In a letter issued to Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) on Jan. 18, Apple’s senior director of government affairs Timothy Powderly said the antitrust bills being considered in the Senate could cause “real harm” to millions of Americans by undermining their user security [...]
By Nathalie Voit On Tuesday, Jan. 18, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched a joint public inquiry aimed at modernizing federal merger guidelines to “better detect and prevent illegal, anti-competitive deals.” In her opening statement, FTC Chairwoman Lina M. Khan said the agencies were soliciting public input on merger [...]
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