Economy & Business

Frontier Airlines is continuing to scale back its presence at Pittsburgh International Airport.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Frontier has opted to drop its daily flight to Las Vegas from the Pittsburgh International by Oct. 4. Frontier's decision comes after the airline ended flights to Chicago and Atlanta last year.

The Denver-based airline will keep seasonal flights to Denver and Orlando.

Pittsburgh's proposal to become the location of Amazon's second headquarters includes a full-time team of up to 20 people, Mayor Bill Peduto said Monday.

Pennsylvania's unemployment rate crept downward in July, even as payrolls and the labor force shrank.

The state Department of Labor and Industry said Friday that Pennsylvania's unemployment rate was 4.9 percent last month, down one-tenth of a percentage point. The national rate moved up slightly in August to 4.4 percent.

A survey of households survey found that Pennsylvania's civilian labor force, employment and unemployment all shrank in August for the second straight month.

The Pennsylvania Economy League released a report on Tuesday showing predictions in its last study have borne out.

That's not a good thing.

The league warned in 2007 that the struggles of distressed communities would worsen where they already existed and emerge anew elsewhere — unless local government codes were updated by state lawmakers.

Myk Londino didn't expect e-cigarettes to lead him to his life's work. He just wanted to quit smoking, and nothing else had worked for him. But after vaping helped him ditch cigarettes, he fell in love, as he put it. He decided to dedicate his time to helping others switch from cigs to their electronic cousins.

Three years later, the 29-year-old is manager of Vape O2 in Philadelphia and runs two vape-related companies, one on his own and one with friends.

The House Republican plan to fill a $2.2 billion shortfall in the Pennsylvania budget is looking to take more than $350 million from state-supported transit.

Pittsburgh plans to compete for the new site of AmazonHQ2, a second headquarters location announced by the Seattle-based company early Thursday.

The Airmall at Pittsburgh International Airport opened Tuesday to daily non-passengers for the first time since security was tightened at airports nationwide after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

"It's nice, it's for the economy to be able to come here and shop," said Elizabeth Township resident Shelli Ruggier, who came to pick up her grandson from a terminal. "We're just happy we can get to a gate and greet family members, rather than them getting off and not knowing anybody."

Pennsylvania's minimum wage hasn't risen from $7.25 per hour since 2013. It's the only state in the region that hasn't seen an increase in three and a half years, and where the minimum wage is still under eight dollars.

The devastation from Tropical Storm Harvey along the Gulf Coast is starting to have a ripple effect on gasoline prices across the country.

The storm has taken about 14 percent the nation’s refining capacity offline. The national average price of gasoline has started to rise, as major refineries in the Houston area have shut down.

Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst with the online price-tracking firm GasBuddy, said Pennsylvania’s average of $2.55 per gallon will probably go up by about 10 to 15 cents.

The Airmall at Pittsburgh International Airport is accessible to non-flyers for the first time since stringent security was enacted following the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

The Airmall, a collection of shops and restaurants, has been off-limits to all but ticketed passengers except on special occasions.

When the airport opened in 1992, the Airmall was touted as a major feature and attracted non-flying shoppers, because prices in its businesses are audited to ensure they're not higher than those charged by similar outlets elsewhere in Allegheny County.

United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard said Wednesday he supports a NAFTA rewrite but he's concerned President Donald Trump's closed-door meetings won't take workers' needs into consideration.

"During the re-negotiations, it's really important and urgent that workers' voices be heard so the labor movement in the United States, Canada and Mexico will work together to advance workers rights," Gerard said.

Herbie Mays is 3M proud, and it shows — in the 3M shirt he wears; in the 3M ring he earned after three decades at the company's plant in suburban Cincinnati; in the way he shows off a card from a 3M supervisor, praising Mays as "a GREAT employee."

But it's all nostalgia.

Mays' last day at 3M was in March. Bent on cutting costs and refocusing its portfolio, the company decided to close the plant that made bandages, knee braces and other health care supplies and move work to its plant in Mexico.

Conneaut Lake Park Manager Matthew Briggs uses words like "wonderful" and "incredible" to describe the Crawford County park's season so far this summer.

With 24,382 ride, water park and combination wristbands sold through the first half of the season, through July 10, sales are up 51 percent from the same time in 2016. And sales then were up from 2015.

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pennsylvania's largest health system, says it has reached a deal to acquire Pinnacle HealthSystem of Harrisburg.

It's expected to be completed Sept. 1 if it meets regulatory approval.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the two health systems have been working on the deal since March.

A natural gas severance tax has been a hot-button issue in Harrisburg for nearly a decade, but the plan recently approved by the state Senate is unlikely to have a major impact–  either in terms of government revenue, or drilling company investment decisions, according to research from the nonpartisan environmental economic think tank, Resources for the Future.

A $600,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency will be used to help clean up some of Pittsburgh’s forgotten former industrial sites.

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and Democratic Rep. Mike Doyle accepted the grant Friday the Foundry in Lawrenceville, a luxury apartment complex built on the site of a former brownfield site.

The money will help officials clean up the old sites, which can sometimes contain hazardous material and prevent future development. The Foundry’s site was cleaned up with the help of a previous EPA grant.

VisitPITTSBURGH predicts the Steel City's upcoming event and conference schedule should pump millions of dollars into the local economy in the coming year. 

The tourism nonprofit announced their fall lineup Thursday at the Marriott City Center.

The lineup has a variety of events, including the Pittsburgh Irish Festival Sept. 8-10, Doors Open Pittsburgh Oct. 7-8 and the PNC Broadway series, which opens October 17. There are also holiday-themed events planned like ScareHouse and A Very Pittsburgh Christmas. 

A franchise that already controlled two Coca-Cola bottlers in Pennsylvania has snapped up 11 more in the state and West Virginia.

The Erie Times-News reports Abarta Coca-Cola Beverages, of Pittsburgh, has bought Erie's Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Abarta plans to keep all 104 workers there, which supplies Erie, Crawford, Forest, McKean, Potter and Warren counties in northwestern Pennsylvania.

GE Transportation plans to end most locomotive production at its century-old plant in northwestern Pennsylvania, eliminating about 575 jobs.

GoErie.com reports the work is being transferred by the end of 2018 to Fort Worth, Texas, where workers aren't union members.

The Lawrence Park Township plant, just outside Erie, currently employs more than 2,5f00 workers. Locomotive prototypes will still be produced there.

Richard Simpson, a GE Transportation executive, says the company has to put work at its most competitive location, which doesn't include Erie.

The way people buy things—both in Pennsylvania, and around the country—is changing.

Online shopping is on the rise, and sales in physical stores have correspondingly declined. But what hasn’t changed much in Pennsylvania is how it taxes sales. And that’s losing the commonwealth money.

Pennsylvania ended the last fiscal year with revenue from its 6 percent tax around 2 percent below projections—a blow that contributed to its substantial budget shortfall.

A major toy manufacturer plans to hire about 400 new workers to staff a new distribution center in eastern Pennsylvania.

Mattel has opened the 1 million-square-foot center in the Gateway Logistics Park area of Jonestown.

The company will package popular toys including Barbie and Hot Wheels brands at the center, which will also handle Mega Brands and, eventually, Fisher-Price. The company says the center will employ as many as 400 during peak season.

Pennsylvania's unemployment rate remained the same in June, as payrolls crept higher.

The state Department of Labor and Industry said Friday that Pennsylvania's unemployment rate was 5 percent last month, the same as in May. The national rate was 4.4 percent in June.

The household survey found that the civilian labor force, employment and unemployment were all relative stable last month.

President Donald Trump has called the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, one of the worst deals the U.S. has made. But the head of the country’s largest industrial union isn’t convinced his administration is doing enough to renegotiate the terms.

A new initiative aims to better prepare unemployed immigrants in Allegheny County for the American workforce.

Nearly 53,000 businesses in the Pittsburgh region are owned by women, according to recent federal data, and one local organization hopes to continue to bolster female entrepreneurship. 

Chatham University’s Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship is opening a new 3,000-square-foot hub with four new informational classes.