Stocks rallied again on Wall Street Thursday, and the S&P 500 is closing out a fourth straight gain. The 1.5% rise marks the longest winning streak for the index since March. Most of the market climbed, and energy-producing companies led the way after oil prices recovered a chunk of their sharp losses from earlier in the week. The bond market is still showing signs of worry about a possible recession, though.

NEW YORK (AP) — After going on a frenzied hiring spree for a year and a half to meet surging shopper demand, America’s retailers are starting to temper their recruiting. The changing mindset comes as companies confront a pullback in consumer spending, the prospect of an economic downturn and surging labor costs. Some analysts suggest that merchants have also learned to do more with fewer workers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, and while layoffs remain low, it’s the fifth straight week claims have topped the 230,000 mark. Applications for jobless aid for the week ending July 2 rose to 235,000, up 4,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. First-time applications generally track with the number of layoffs.

Major stock indexes shook off an early slump and ended with meager gains on Wall Street Tuesday as worries about the economy continue to weigh on markets. Oil prices slumped, bringing the price of U.S. crude back below $100 a barrel for the first time since early May. Tech stocks staged a turnaround and ended higher.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new poll shows that many Americans don’t expect to rely on the digital services that became commonplace during the pandemic after COVID-19 subsides, even though many think it’s a good thing if those options remain available in the future. The poll comes from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

LONDON (AP) — Inflation in countries using the euro set another eye-watering record, pushed higher by a huge increase in energy costs fueled partly by Russia’s war in Ukraine. Annual inflation in the eurozone’s 19 countries hit 8.6% in June, surging past the 8.1% recorded in May.

Stocks fell again on Wall Street Thursday, closing out the worst quarter for the market since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020. The S&P 500 index lost 0.9%. It's now down 21% since hitting a record high at the beginning of the year, having entered a bear market earlier in June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8% and the Nasdaq fell 1.3%.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Delta Air Lines has agreed to pay $10.5 million to settle charges it falsified information about deliveries of international mail, including mail sent to U.S. soldiers overseas. The Justice Department said Thursday that Delta was under contract to the Postal Service when it falsified records about deliveries from 2010 to 2016.

NEW YORK (AP) — The OPEC oil cartel and allied producing nations have decided to boost production of crude by an amount that will likely do little to relieve high gasoline prices at the pump and energy-fueled inflation plaguing the global economy. The group agreed Thursday to an increase of 648,000 barrels per day in August, which leaves the world thirsty for oil as it rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic.

A big opioid settlement and a COVID-19 vaccine slowdown helped drop Walgreens’ fiscal third-quarter earnings, but the drugstore chain still topped expectations. The company said Thursday that earnings slid to $289 million in the quarter that ended May 31. That’s down from about $1.2 billion the previous year.