Sticker shock in youth sports is nothing new, but the onslaught of double-digit inflation across America this year has added a costly wrinkle on the path to the ballparks, swimming pools and dance studios across America. It has forced some families to scale back the number of seasons, or leagues, or sports that their kids can play in any given year, while motivating league organizers to become more creative in devising ways to keep prices down and participation up.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve pumped up its benchmark interest rate by three-quarters of a point for a fourth straight time but hinted that it could soon reduce the size of its rate hikes. It was the Fed’s sixth rate hike this year — a streak that has made mortgages and other loans increasingly expensive. The persistence of inflated prices and higher borrowing costs has undercut the ability of Democrats to campaign on the health of the job market as they try to maintain control of Congress.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. job openings rose unexpectedly in September, suggesting that the American labor market is not cooling as fast as the inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve hoped. Employers posted 10.7 million job vacancies in September, up from 10.2 million in August, the Labor Department said Tuesday. Economists had expected the number of job openings to drop below 10 million.

Billionaire Elon Musk is already floating major changes for Twitter as he begins his first week as owner of the social media platform. One proposal would make some users pay if they want to keep a blue checkmark on their profile. Twitter has historically used the mark to verify higher-profile accounts, including Musk’s, so that other users know it’s really them. Critics have derided the mark as an elite status symbol.

HONG KONG (AP) — Workers in a manufacturing facility in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou appear to have left to avoid COVID-19 curbs. Many were traveling by foot days after an unknown number of Foxconn factory workers were quarantined in the facility following a virus outbreak. Videos circulating on Chinese social media platforms showed people who are allegedly Foxconn workers climbing over fences and carrying their belongings by foot down the road.

Elon Musk has taken control of Twitter after a protracted legal battle and months of uncertainty. The question now is what the billionaire Tesla CEO will actually do with the social media platform. The $44 billion takeover means Twitter is becoming a private company that everyday investors will no longer be able to buy shares in. The New York Stock Exchange suspended trading in the company’s stock on Friday. A filing with securities regulators shows the shares will be delisted on Nov. 8.

Two people familiar with the deal say that Elon Musk is in control of Twitter and has ousted the CEO, chief financial officer and the company’s general counsel. The people wouldn’t say if all the paperwork for sale, valued at $44 billion, had been signed or if the deal has closed. Neither person wanted to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the personnel moves.

CHICAGO (AP) — Persistently high inflation and gas prices are looming over sports and the monetary pipeline that resumed when fans returned to games amid the pandemic. The most recent Consumer Price Index Summary from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed an 8.2% rise in costs in September from a year earlier. Increases in the shelter, food, and medical care indexes were among the largest contributors to the rise in costs.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates topped 7% for the first time in more than two decades this week, a result of the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hikes intended to tame inflation not seen in some 40 years. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the key 30-year rate jumped to 7.08% from 6.94% last week.

Elon Musk, the billionaire poised to acquire Twitter later this week, strolled into the company’s headquarters Wednesday carrying a porcelain sink and tweeting “Entering Twitter HQ - let that sink in!” Musk posted a video showing him strolling into Twitter headquarters ahead of a Friday deadline to close his $44 billion deal to buy the company.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Slightly more Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week as the labor market remains one of the healthiest parts of an uneven U.S. economy. Jobless claims for the week ending Oct. 22 inched up by 3,000 to 217,000 from 214,000 the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week moving average rose to 219,000 from 212,250 the previous week.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at a 2.6% annual rate from July through September, snapping two straight quarters of economic contraction and overcoming punishingly high inflation and interest rates. Thursday’s estimate from the Commerce Department showed that the nation’s gross domestic product — the broadest gauge of economic output — grew in the third quarter after having shrunk in the first half of 2022. Still, the outlook for the economy has darkened.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Norfolk Southern hauled in 27% more third-quarter profit as the railroad increased shipping rates and reduced the number of delayed deliveries that shippers have been complaining about this year. The Atlanta-based railroad said it earned $958 million, or $4.10 per share, in the quarter. That beat the $3.75 per share that Wall Street was expecting even though it included a $117 million charge related to the raises it offered to its employees in new contracts that are being voted on now.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Ian caused as much as $1.8 billion in damages to Florida agriculture last month, state agriculture officials said. The Category 4 storm caused between $1.1 billion and $1.8 billion in losses to the state's crops and agriculture infrastructure when it tore through the peninsula after landing in southwest Florida, according to a preliminary estimate released Monday by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates inched up this week ahead of another expected rate increase by the Federal Reserve when it meets early next month. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the key 30-year rate ticked up this week to 6.94% from 6.92% last week. Last year at this time, the rate was 3.09%.

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal regulators said Dollar General is facing another $1.68 million in fines after government safety inspectors found violations at four of the chain’s stores in Alabama, Florida and Georgia. During inspections in April 2022, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration found dirty and disorderly storage areas and materials stacked unsafely at locations in Mobile and Grove Hill, Alabama; Tampa, Florida; and Dewy Rose, Georgia.

A group of major U.S. businesses wants the government to hide key import data -- a move trade experts say would make it more difficult for Americans to link the products they buy to labor abuse overseas. The proposal obtained by The Associated Press was made by an advisory panel comprised of executives from 20 companies, including Walmart, General Motors and Intel.

The rapper formerly known as Kanye West is offering to buy social network Parler shortly after being booted off Twitter and Instagram for antisemitic posts. West, who is legally known as Ye, was locked out of Twitter and Instagram a week ago.

TOKYO (AP) — A new electric car company that brings together two big names in Japanese business, Honda and Sony, has officially kicked off. The companies say they share common values of taking up challenges and serving people’s needs. The electric vehicle from Sony Honda Mobility will go on sale in 2025, with deliveries coming first in the U.S. in early 2026, and in Japan later that year. Pre-orders start 2025.

Delta Air Lines is posting a $695 million profit for the third quarter, which includes much of the peak summer travel season. Delta said Thursday that it expects its fourth-quarter revenue will be higher than the comparable figure from 2019, before the pandemic. Delta's bottom line is getting a boost from higher average fares and a lucrative credit-card business.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of Social Security recipients will get an 8.7% boost in their benefits in 2023. That’s a historic increase and welcome news for American retirees and others — but it’s tempered by the fact that it’s fueled by record high inflation that’s raised the cost of everyday living. that means the average recipient will receive more than $140 a month extra beginning in January.

NEW YORK (AP) — Tens of millions of older Americans are about to get what may be the biggest raise of their lifetimes. On Thursday, the U.S. government is set to announce what's virtually certain to be the largest increase in Social Security benefits in 40 years. The boost is meant to allow beneficiaries to keep up with inflation, and how it's generated stirs plenty of controversy.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin says that Moscow is ready to resume gas supplies to Europe via a link of the Germany-bound Nord Stream 2 pipeline under the Baltic Sea. Putin told an energy forum in Moscow on Wednesday that the U.S. was likely behind the explosions that ripped through both links of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline and one of the two links of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — European leaders are turning to Africa for more natural gas as they try to replace Russian energy amid the war in Ukraine. While Africa’s natural gas reserves are vast and North African countries like Algeria have pipelines already linked to Europe, a lack of infrastructure and security challenges have long stymied producers in other parts of the continent from scaling up exports.

ATLANTA (AP) — Delta Air Lines says it's investing $60 million in a startup that hopes to build electric helicopter-like air taxis to ferry passengers to the airport. Delta announced Tuesday that it could invest up to another $140 million in Joby Aviation as the manufacturer hits key milestones. Joby is among several companies working on electric-powered aircraft that take off and land vertically, like helicopters.