Business Highlights

Many economists believe that it will take at least three things to make the Fed move: a stable dollar, steady oil prices and further improvement in the U.S. job market.

Chinese have been snapping up U.S. real estate of all kinds, looking for a safer place to put their money than their own slowing economy.

The government's decision last month to downgrade the country's currency added to their urgency, since a weaker yuan makes buying real estate in dollars more expensive.

The CEOs of American Airlines and Delta Air Lines met with Secretary of State John Kerry as they stepped up their fight against what they say is unfair competition from the three biggest Middle East airlines.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency said Friday that Volkswagen intentionally skirted clean air laws by using a piece of software that enabled about 500,000 of its diesel cars to emit fewer smog-causing pollutants during testing than in real-world driving conditions.

The Atlanta-based company said in a regulatory filing that it believes the assessments from the Internal Revenue Service are without merit and plans to pursue "all administrative and judicial remedies necessary to resolve the matter."

The maker of Sprite, Dasani, Powerade and other drinks says the disagreement is over how much it should report as taxable income in the U.S., in relation with licensing that allows its foreign affiliates to sell products like soft drink concentrates to bottlers overseas.

Oil prices that are sharply lower than a year ago contributed to job losses and higher unemployment in several states, including Alaska, North Dakota, and Texas.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rising home values drove a modest increase in Americans' household wealth to a new high of $85.7 trillion in the April-June quarter.

Economists estimate that consumer spending rises 3 to 5 cents for every dollar increase in wealth.

DETROIT (AP) — Hourly pay, profit sharing an