China’s Private Factory Activity Gauge Slows as Economy Softens

Bisignano says Social Security Administration's phone helpline wait times have reached a record low

Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank Bisignano told Congress on Wednesday that the agency has improved one legacy pain point for individuals who contact it — long phone wait times for the toll-free helpline. SSA has brought the average "speed of answer," or the time it takes for an agent to answer an incoming call, to the "lowest level in a decade," Bisignano said in written testimony to the House Ways and Means Social Security and Work & Welfare subcommittee hearing. In May,...

Retired Gen. Kimmitt: Hormuz, Lebanon Are ‘Diversions'

US Treasury Eases Legal Restrictions Across Venezuela Licenses

A mural depicting an oil pumpjack on a Venezuelan flag in Caracas. Photographer: Pedro Mattey/AFP/Getty Images

Stock Investors Eye Deep Run for Japan at Football World Cup

Members of Japan men's national football team train in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 8. Source: Kyodo News/Getty Images