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By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer

MCCLEAN, Va. (AP) — The average rate on a 30-year U.S. mortgage eased for the third week in a row, a welcome trend for prospective homebuyers at a time when elevated borrowing costs remain a drag on the housing market.

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The long-term rate fell to 6.81% from 6.84% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Wednesday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.87%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also fell. The average rate eased to 5.96% from 5.97% last week. A year ago, it was 6.13%, according to Freddie Mac. read more

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN, AP Business Writer

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy anticipates generative artificial intelligence will reduce its corporate workforce in the next few years as the online giant begins to increase its usage of the technology.

“We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs,” Jassy said in a message to employees. “It’s hard to know exactly where this nets out over time, but in the next few years, we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company.”

The executive said that Amazon has more than 1,000 generative AI services and applications in progress or built, but that figure is a “small fraction” of what it plans to build.

Jassy encouraged employees to get on board with the e-commerce company’s AI plans.

“As we go through this transformation together, be curious about AI, educate yourself, attend workshops and take trainings, use and experiment with AI whenever you can, participate in your team’s brainstorms to figure out how to invent for our customers more quickly and expansively, and how to get more done with scrappier teams,” he said. read more

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve kept its key rate unchanged Wednesday as it waits for additional information on how tariffs and other potential disruptions will affect the economy this year.

The Fed’s policymakers signaled they still expect to cut rates twice this year, even as they also project that President Donald Trump’s import duties will push inflation higher. They also expect growth to slow and unemployment to edge up, according to their latest quarterly projections released Wednesday.

Fed policymakers had cut their rate three times late last year but have since have been on hold. Inflation has cooled steadily since January, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at a news conference that tariffs are likely to reverse that progress and push inflation higher in the coming months. The Fed expects the bump to inflation will be temporary, but they want to see more data to be sure.

“Increases in tariffs this year are likely to push up prices and weigh on economic activity,” Powell said. “This is something we know is coming, we just don’t know the size of it.” read more

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are drifting higher on Wednesday as Wall Street waits to hear where the Federal Reserve may be taking interest rates.

The S&P 500 was up 0.4% in midday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 198 points, or 0.5%, as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% higher.

Some of the strongest moves were again in the oil market, where crude prices swung with hopes that Israel’s fighting with Iran could cool. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Iran has reached out to him and that it’s not “too late” for Iran to give up its nuclear program, though he also declined to say whether the U.S. military would strike the country.

“I may do it. I may not do it,” he said. “I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.”

After topping $74 during the morning, the price for a barrel of benchmark U.S. oil dropped to $71.93, down 1.8% from the day before. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 1.9% to $74.96 per barrel. read more

By MOLLY QUELL

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch government advised parents on Tuesday not to have children under 15 use social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, citing psychological and physical problems among children using them, including panic attacks, depression and difficulties sleeping.

The Ministry of Health also encouraged parents to limit how long their children spend using electronic devices, keep phones and laptops out of bedrooms, and have 20 minutes of screentime followed by two hours of outside play.

The advisory “gives children the time to further develop digital resilience and media literacy,” Vincent Karremans, caretaker deputy minister for youth and sport, said in a letter to parliament. Karremans is one of several ministers who remained on after the Dutch government collapsed earlier this month pending October elections.

Both TikTok and Instagram require users to be at least 13 years of age.

The guidelines, which are not legally binding, distinguish between “social media” sites like TikTok and Instagram and “social interaction platforms” such as messaging services WhatsApp and Signal. The social media sites have “significantly more additive design features” that have a negative impact on children, the government said. read more