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Monday’s business headlines

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

Gas prices

Gas prices are back on the rise again.

AAA expects gas prices to trend higher and remain unpredictable heading into the final weeks of the summer driving season.

The national gas price average is $2.87, which is up a penny in the last week, unchanged since last month, yet 52 cents higher than this time in 2017.

Public unions

Public-sector unions are facing steep falls in revenue and trying to prevent the loss of members in the wake of a recent Supreme Court ruling.

The ruling said it was unconstitutional for unions to collect money from people not in the union if they didn’t want to donate.

By one estimate, unions in New York state overall will lose $12 million in agency fees from 200,000 state and local workers.

Amazon Alexa

Amazon has been making it easier to shop using voice with Alexa. However, the company’s focus now seems to increasingly be turning to using the voice assistant as a platform to trial digital subscriptions like music and video streaming.

Business Insider says Amazon has made improvements to Alexa shopping with new initiatives like integrating with Whole Foods delivery through Prime Now. But the company has shared few details about how customers are actually shopping with their voices.

Broadband

Millions of broadband customers in rural areas are paying nearly identical prices for slower DSL services as customers who have access to high-speed fiber services.

A report published in the National Digital Inclusion Alliance says in places where AT&T and Verizon don’t offer their high-speed fiber-based broadband, they continue to sell customer slower-speed DSL service.

But they are not changing any less for it.