AP A sluggish month of retail spending has tempered expectations for the US economy’s growth in the coming months. Consumers pulled back on shopping and eating out in July after three straight solid monthly gains, the government said Friday. Those declines were offset by increases in auto sales and online and catalog sales. Many economists credited the surge in …

  Bloomberg Fatalities in crashes of small private planes have fallen to the lowest levels in decades as industry and government work to address an area of aviation that has lagged behind jetliners in dramatic safety improvements. While aviation crash analysts caution that it’s still too early to say for sure that the data represents a long-term trend, the declining …

  AP Wal-Mart opened a 12,000-square-foot culinary and innovation center at its headquarters in June as a place where the nation’s largest food retailer can work with major suppliers to come up with new food ideas, and develop ideas on its own to bolster its store-brand selection. HERE’S A PEEK AT THE FOOD LAB WHAT IT IS: The center has …