DETROIT (AP) ― Toyota should have owned the road this summer. When gas prices go up, American drivers go for smaller, fuel-efficient cars. The last time prices at the pump spiked in 2008, Toyota captured the title of world’s No. 1 automaker ― and has held it ever since.Now gas costs almost $4 a gallon again, but Toyota is struggling. It’s been hammered by supply disruptions from the Japan earthqua

Rapid spike in layoffs heightens concerns that pricier gas is slowing U.S. economyWASHINGTON (AP) ― A renewed rise in layoffs is the latest sign that higher fuel prices may be slowing the economy.A 23 percent spike in applications for unemployment benefits over the past month suggests that hiring may look weaker when the government issues the April jobs report Friday.Oil prices plummeted Thursday

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The data breach that hit Sony’s PlayStation Network resulted from a “very carefully planned, very professional, highly sophisticated criminal cyber-attack designed to steal personal and credit card information for illegal purposes,” a Sony executive said.In a letter to members of the House Commerce Committee released Wednesday, Kazuo Hirai, chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment

Intel claims computing breakthrough with three-dimensional chipsSAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― In the race to build a faster computer chip, there is literally nowhere to go but up. Today’s chip surfaces are packed with the tiniest electronic switches the laws of physics allow, but Intel Corp. says it is blowing past those limits with a breakthrough, three-dimensional transistor design it revealed Wednesday.

Officials say bailout to be worth $115 billion over 3-year periodLISBON, Portugal (AP) ― Hard-up Portugal has negotiated an international bailout worth 78 billion euro ($115 billion) over a three-year period, officials said Tuesday.A government official, speaking on departmental rules of anonymity, told the Associated Press the amount includes aid for Portugal’s cash-strapped banks. The official d

OMAHA, Nebada (AP) ― Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting on Saturday was dominated by somber topics, as Warren Buffett explained to roughly 40,000 shareholders how the company had been battered by a trusted former employee’s misdeeds and a string of natural disasters.Buffett assured the crowd at an Omaha convention center that Berkshire is strong enough to withstand both the David Sokol scandal an

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The economy and job creation have strengthened enough for the Federal Reserve to end on schedule a program of buying Treasury bonds to help the economy, the Fed said Wednesday.Ending a two-day meeting, the Fed made no changes to the program. The decision was unanimous. The bond purchases were intended to lower loan rates, encouraging spending and boost stock prices. But critics w

Treasury secretary says Republicans agreed to increase the $14.3 trillion ceilingWASHINGTON (AP) ― Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says Republican leaders have privately assured the Obama administration that Congress will raise the government’s borrowing limit in time to prevent an unprecedented default on the nation’s debt.But a top Republican quickly pushed back Sunday and said there was no