businesses

New York, whose economy is the world's 15th largest, has the least business friendly tax policies of any state, according to a report released today by the conservative Tax Foundation. The Empire State took the dubious distinction from New Jersey, which had it for three years in a row.

The number of people filing new claims for unemployment fell to a seasonally adjusted 432,000 for the week ending Dec. 26, the Labor Department reports, down 22,000 from the previous week's 454,000. Economists had expected a rise.

Business owners nationwide, primarily of Asian descent, are being targeted by extortionists who threaten them by telephone after gleaning personal information about them from the Internet, the FBI said today.A warning was issued today on IC3.gov, a site operated by the FBI and the National White...