Monday’s business headlines

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Here’s a look at Monday’s business headlines with Jane King.

Average U.S. gas price falls to $4.54 per gallon

The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline plunged 32 cents over the past two weeks to $4.54 per gallon.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of The Lundberg Survey said Sunday that the continued decline comes as crude oil costs also fall. AAA says the current average in central Indiana is around $4.38 per gallon. A week ago, it was $4.58.

More people turning to digital luggage trackers

A summer of packed airports and flight delays and cancellations is giving way to another growing problem: missing luggage.

Many people are turning to trackers like AirTags and Tile to keep an eye on where their luggage is.

While AirTags and Tile can show you where your luggage is, travelers still have to wait on airlines to retrieve your baggage.

dotData looked at data for the first five months of 2022 and found that Indianapolis-based Republic Airways mishandled 1 in every 111 bags it took on planes, the worst record of any airline.

Indiana’s unemployment rate at 2.4%

Hospitality and leisure jobs powered job growth in Indiana last month as the industry added nearly 7,000 positions.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development says in June, the state had a net gain of 5,000 private sector jobs over May and more than 108,000 over the same period last year.

The state’s unemployment rate remained low for the fourth month in a row at 2.4%. Indiana has the seventh-lowest rate of unemployment in the nation.

Alignable: About 45% of small business owners freeze hiring

About 45%of small business owners in the United States say they are freezing the hiring of new workers because of high labor costs and skyrocketing inflation, according to Alignable’s July hiring report.

The survey found that 4% percent of small businesses were planning to lay off staff and that “some employers noted that they’ve learned to live without the extra staff.”