Business

Baltimore weight loss company Medifast Inc. plans to increase prices on all its products amid a drop in profits and a slowdown in revenue. Medifast (NYSE: MED) revenues declined in the third quarter by 5.6% to $390.4 million compared to $413.4 million a year ago. The company reported a profit of $36.2 million, or $3.27 per share, compared to $42 million, or $3.56 per share, a year ago, a drop of nearly 14%. On an adjusted basis, Medifast saw a profit of $36.8 million or $3.32 per share. The company also cut its full year outlook for both revenue and profit. The decline comes after a 15% jump in revenue in the second quarter and follows a year of massive growth for the Harbor East company when it hit a record $1.5 billion in sales. It marks the second straight quarter Medifast saw profits decline as inflation, supply chain and the cost of raw materials affected its bottom line.

Communication is a critical ingredient in the remote-work era, and experts say it’s particularly important as open enrollment season begins. Remote workers are more anxious about their finances than onsite or hybrid workers, according to a recent survey by MetLife, and experts say gaps like that illustrate why it’s pivotal for companies to ensure remote workers have access to the same information and opportunities as their in-office counterparts. Continued recruiting and retention challenges only further underscore the stakes when it comes to communication about benefits. “We’re at a critical moment in the employee-employer relationship. As we look to build more inclusive cultures and further support today’s workforce – including how and where our employees work – benefit communication is vital,” said Jenn Kischell, vice president, workforce engagement at MetLife, in a press release. 

America’s employers kept hiring vigorously in October, adding 261,000 positions, a sign that as Election Day nears, the economy remains a picture of solid job growth and painful inflation. Friday’s report from the government showed that hiring was brisk across industries last month, though the overall gain declined from 315,000 in September. The unemployment rate rose from a five-decade low of 3.5% to a still-healthy 3.7%. A strong job market is deepening the challenges the Federal Reserve faces as it raises interest rates at the fastest pace since the 1980s to try to bring inflation down from near a 40-hear high. Steady hiring, solid pay growth and low unemployment have been good for workers. But they have also contributed to rising prices.

Frontier Airlines is adding a nonstop flight to Dallas-Forth Worth — the airline’s eighth destination from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. The new service is a win for BWI, which is celebrating a slew of new flights and three new airlines this year — PLAY, Icelandair, and Avelo Airlines. Frontier, which started flying out of BWI in March 2019, will start the new Texas flights on May 21, with four flights per week. The Denver-based airline is stepping up its presence at BWI and at its 10 airports nationwide. The airline is also starting nonstop flights from Dallas to LaGuardia Airport in New York, Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, Orange County, California and Montego Bay, Jamaica.

A new city hall in College Park, Maryland, built in collaboration with the University of Maryland (UMD), is attracting attention for more reasons than its appealing design. The 100,000-square-foot building, pending LEED Gold certification, serves as a centerpiece of the City’s downtown as College Park becomes a more vibrant, diverse and walkable community.

Elon Musk is beginning mass layoffs at Twitter, sharply reducing the company’s workforce of 7,500 and kicking off his wholesale overhaul of the company. An email went out to the company’s employees late Thursday notifying employees of plans to cut jobs, informing them that by 9 a.m. Pacific time Friday, workers would receive an email with the subject line: “Your Role at Twitter.”

Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. turned a profit in the third quarter on the strength of record political advertising even as core advertising fell amid economic uncertainty. The Hunt Valley-based media company saw its profit rise 10% to $21 million or 32 cents a share, compared to $19 million or 25 cents a share in the year-ago period. Excluding adjustments, Sinclair recorded a profit of $25 million. The earnings beat analysts’ estimates of 15 cents a share, according to Yahoo Finance.