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By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer

The average rate on a 30-year U.S. mortgage ticked up this week, ending a four-week slide that brought down borrowing costs for homebuyers to the lowest level in nearly a year.

The rate rose to 6.3% from 6.26% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.08%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also edged higher. The average rate rose to 5.49% from 5.41% last week. A year ago, it was 5.16%, Freddie Mac said.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation. They generally follow the trajectory of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans. The yield was at 4.19% in midday trading Thursday, up from 4.16% late Wednesday.

Starting in late July, mortgage rates mostly declined in the lead-up to the Federal Reserve’s widely anticipated decision last week to cut its main interest rate for the first time in a year amid growing concern over the U.S. job market. read more

By DEE-ANN DURBIN, AP Business Writer

Starbucks said Thursday it’s closing hundreds of stores in the U.S., Canada and Europe and laying off 900 nonretail employees as it focuses more of its resources on a turnaround.

The Seattle coffee giant said store closures would start immediately. Starbucks said affected baristas will be offered severance packages and transfers to other locations where possible.

The company wouldn’t give a number of stores that are closing, but the bulk of the closures appear to be in the U.S. and Canada. Starbucks said it expects to have 18,300 North American locations when its fiscal year ends on Sunday. As of June 29, the company had 18,734 locations.

In a research note Thursday, TD Cowen analyst Andrew Charles estimated Starbucks will close around 500 North American stores in its fiscal fourth quarter.

In a letter to employees in Europe, Starbucks Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol said some locations in the U.K., Austria and Switzerland will also be closing. Starbucks didn’t say how many stores will be impacted on those nations, either. read more

By SALLY HO, Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — Amazon has reached a historic $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, which said the online retail giant tricked customers into signing up for its Prime memberships and made it difficult for them to cancel after doing so.

The Seattle company will pay $1 billion in civil penalties — the largest fine in the agency’s history — and $1.5 billion will be paid back to consumers who were unintentionally enrolled in Prime, or were deterred from canceling their subscriptions, the agency said Thursday.

The surprise settlement comes just days after the trial began in U.S. District Court in Seattle this week. At the heart of the case is the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act, a 2010 law designed to ensure that people know what they’re being charged for online.

FTC officials said Amazon had its back against the wall and the consumer refund amount exceeded even the agency’s expert projections.

“I think it just took a few days for them to see that they were going to lose. And they came to us and they paid out,” said Chris Mufarrige, director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, on the settlement negotiations. read more

Eight Central Florida restaurants shut down the week of Sept. 14-20, according to data from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Orange

Burntwood Tavern at 5078 Dr. Phillips Blvd. in Orlando shut down on Sept. 16. Inspectors found 38 violations, six of which were high priorities. Those violations included an employee failing to wash their hands before working with food, roach activity and shelled eggs stored with broken or cracked eggs. Inspectors conducted a second inspection on Sept. 17. They found 16 violations, and only one high priority for roach activity. A third and final inspection occurred on Sept. 18. Officials found seven violations and none was a high priority. The restaurant received an extension and requires a follow-up inspection, but poses no immediate threat to the general public.

A’s Pizza Loco at 9401 W. Colonia Dr., Suite 256 in Ocoee shut down on Sept. 17. Inspectors found 13 violations, two of which were high priorities for roach activity and food being held at the wrong temperatures. A second inspection occurred on Sept. 24. There were 10 violations, one of which was a high priority for food being held at the wrong temperatures. The restaurant met inspection standards. read more

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street stumbled to a third straight loss on Thursday as U.S. stocks gave back more of their big gains for the year so far.

The S&P 500 fell 0.5% and marked its longest losing streak in more than a month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 173 points, or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.5%. All three indexes are still near their records set at the start of the week, though.

Stocks felt pressure from reports showing the U.S. economy may be stronger than economists thought. While that’s encouraging news for workers and for people looking for jobs, it could make the Federal Reserve less likely to cut interest rates several times in the coming months.

The Fed just delivered its first cut of the year last week, and officials had penciled in more through the end of next year. That was critical for Wall Street after U.S. stocks shot to records since April in large part because of expectations for rate cuts. Easier rates can boost the economy and make investors more willing to pay high prices for stocks and other investments. read more