Bloomberg Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams called for continued gradual rate increases as a strong US economy pushes unemployment close to a half-century low. In his first full policy speech since moving to New York from the San Francisco Fed, Williams downplayed the guiding power of the neutral rate — the one that divides tight and …

Bloomberg Embraer SA will have the right to block ten crucial matters in the commercial-aircraft joint venture it’s forming with Boeing Co, according to a Memorandum of Understanding between the two companies. The document was made available via the website of the Sao Jose dos Campos Metalworkers Union on Septemebr 21 after the Labor Prosecutor’s Office requested a copy of …

Bloomberg Societe Nouvelle Air Congo, a state-owned carrier, is in talks with Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Ltd. to buy three new aircraft as it prepares to begin offering regional flights, a director said. The company, known as SN Air Congo, plans to acquire ARJ21s, Michael Gollo, head of quality, safety and security, said by phone in the Republic of …

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc. is taking a stab at the mattress business, joining the competition against startups such as bed-in-a-box pioneer Casper Sleep Inc. and retail rivals including Walmart Inc. The AmazonBasics foam mattress, starting at $130, was spotted by TJI Research, which monitors the e-commerce giant’s growing list of more than 120 private label products, including kitchen goods, batteries, clothing …

Bloomberg Just days after taking the top job at Air France-KLM, Chief Executive Officer Ben Smith is learning the hard way about the difficulties of running a French state-backed business. Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire publicly took the Canadian to task for being quoted in the Financial Times as saying that the government was prepared to sell its 14 percent …

Bloomberg Delta Air Lines Inc. blamed a “physical device issue” for a systems failure that forced the carrier to briefly ground all domestic flights earlier this week. Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian provided few details about the cause of the disruption. Speaking at the Skift Global Forum in New York, he referred to the September 25 problem as “a hiccup” …

Bloomberg JetBlue Airways Corp. will offer its own version of a basic economy fare, saying its “success is at risk” if it doesn’t match the discounted, no-extras tickets being sold by larger rivals. The change will be part of a broader shakeup of JetBlue’s fare system that will debut next year, President Joanna Geraghty told airline employees in a message. …

NEW YORK / WAM In the presence of His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the UAE Ministry of Defence and the General Women’s Union – under the patronage of HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme …

Bloomberg Southeast Asia’s been home to almost half of the biggest growth drivers in the past half-century. To keep investors interested, it’ll have to make the right moves across technology, education and infrastructure, according to Diaan-Yi Lin, a senior partner at McKinsey & Co. Among 71 developing economies of the past half-century, 18 are responsible for the lion’s share of …

Bloomberg Pakistan raised its key rate to the highest in three years, making it Asia’s most aggressive interest-rate hiker this year as the country’s finances continue to dwindle. The target policy rate was raised for the third straight meeting to 8.5 percent from 7.5 percent, the State Bank of Pakistan said in a statement on Saturday. The move was predicted …