The parent company of First Tennessee Bank has been named to Fortune’s annual list of the 60 Best Workplaces in Finance and Insurance. Employees’ anonymous responses to a survey coordinated by Great Place to Work determined the rankings.
First Tennessee ranked No. 20 in the Large Companies category.
“First Horizon’s workplace culture is our vision and philosophy of putting employees first and providing them with the benefits, tools and resources necessary to support them and their families’ needs,” said John Daniel, chief human resources officer at First Horizon.
To determine the 2019 Best Workplaces in Financial Services & Insurance, Great Place to Work analyzed anonymous survey feedback from more than 726,000 employees working in the Financial Services & Insurance industry in the United States.
Consumer spending surges in March
U.S. consumer spending surged 0.9% in March, the biggest gain in nearly a decade, as inflation pressures remain non-existent.
The March gain was the biggest monthly increase since August 2009, the Commerce Department reported Monday. That’s a marked improvement after three months of lackluster readings in this key segment of the economy. Consumer spending accounts for 70% of economic activity.
Incomes grew 0.1% in March while inflation rose just 0.2% and has risen only 1.5% over the past 12 months, far below the Federal Reserve’s 2% target for inflation.
The big jump in consumer spending is encouraging because it suggests that the overall economy had solid momentum going into the April-June quarter.
The 0.9% March jump in spending followed a sharp 0.6% drop in December and tiny gains of 0.3% in January and 0.1% in February.
U.S. and China near end of talks
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says he and other negotiators for the Trump administration should know this week or next whether they can reach a trade deal with China – or whether it’s time to “move on.”
Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer are traveling to Beijing to resume talks Tuesday to try to end a yearlong trade war between the world’s two largest economies. A Chinese team is scheduled to visit Washington next week for another round of talks.
The two sides are locked in a standoff over the Trump administration’s charges that Beijing steals technology and forces foreign companies operating in China to hand over trade secrets.
Krystal cuts price of burgers Tuesday
The Krystal Co., is celebrating customer appreciation day Tuesday, April 30, to celebrate being selected among the Best Regional Fast Food businesses by USA Today.
The Atlanta-based fast food chain, which began in Chattanooga in 1932, was voted one of the top 10 regional fast-food chains by readers of USA Today in the newspaper’s annual travel award contest.
To mark the honor, Krystal will be offering its signature small, square and steamed Krystal hamburgers Tuesday in Chattanooga for only 50 cents each. A single Krystal is normally priced at 79 cents.
“We want to thank our customers in the market where it all began with 50-cent burgers on Customer Appreciation Day in Chattanooga,” Krystal CEO Paul Macaluso said.
White House reviews Fed nominee writings
The White House is reviewing past writings by Stephen Moore, the conservative commentator whom President Donald Trump plans to nominate to the Federal Reserve Board, amid criticism that many of the opinion columns he penned denigrated women.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, told reporters Monday morning that the writings of Moore, who has not yet been nominated to the Fed, were under review by the White House. “When we have an update on that front, we’ll let you know,” Sanders said.
Moore on Sunday apologized for some, but not all, of his past writings in an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” saying he did not remember everything he had written over his career. “Frankly, I didn’t even remember writing some of these they were so long ago,” he said, adding that he was embarrassed by some of the pieces.
Moore has written that it may be dangerous for women to earn more than men and has criticized women’s athletic abilities. On Sunday, he attempted to shift the focus from his writings to his critics, saying “I think most fair-minded people think this has been kind of a sleaze campaign against me.”
Toy robot startup shuts down
SAN FRANCISCO – A startup that tried to advance the dream of intelligent robots in the home with its toy robot Cozmo is shutting down.
San Francisco-based Anki said it’s laying off its employees on Wednesday after failing to raise enough money to keep the business going.
The company said last year it’s sold more than 1.5 million products, including the car-racing game Overdrive and Cozmo, a playful robotic pet. Anki introduced its newest robot, Vector, last year.
It’s one of several high-profile makers of consumer robots to fold in the past year. Boston-based Jibo shut down less than a year after its squat, talking speaker made the cover of Time Magazine. California-based Mayfield Robotics also last year canceled Kuri, a roving home robot.
News of Anki’s closure was first reported by Recode.