WASHINGTON (AP) – A top Federal Reserve official said Monday that an interest rate hike could be appropriate if inflation remains persistently above the central bank’s 2% target, the latest sign that some policymakers are moving away from a bias toward reducing borrowing costs.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – The screenwriters union and Hollywood studios reached a surprise four-year tentative agreement after roughly three weeks of negotiation. The Writers Guild of America West said on X that its negotiating committee unanimously approved a tentative agreement with The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – The economic fallout from the war with Iran is driving up the cost of buying a home, even as other housing market trends in many parts of the country favor home shoppers this spring.

The finance ministers of Spain and four other European countries are urging the European Union to impose a bloc-wide windfall tax on energy companies, concerned that surging oil and gas prices driven by the war in Iran will fuel inflation and strain households.

WASHINGTON (AP) – American employers added a surprisingly strong 178,000 new jobs last month, rebounding from a dismal February. And the unemployment rate dipped to 4.3%. The Labor Department reported Friday that hiring marked a turnaround from the loss of 133,000 jobs in February.

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:

NEW YORK (AP) – Amazon is slapping a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge on third-party sellers using its platform starting later this month amid a spike in fuel prices since the war in Iran started.

LAS VEGAS (AP) – The Las Vegas Review-Journal announced Friday that it will no longer print its rival the Las Vegas Sun for the first time in decades, amid an ongoing legal dispute over the nation’s last joint operating agreement stemming from a 1970 law designed to preserve newspapers.