Business News at a Glance

Senate Confirms Jerome Powell as Fed Chairman

Jerome H. Powell sailed to Senate confirmation on Tuesday to become the 16th chairman of the Federal Reserve with a final vote of 84-13. He will replace the departing Fed chairwoman, Janet L. Yellen, on Feb. 3. Powell is a moderate Republican who has served on the Fed’s board since 2012 and voted in favor of every policy decision during that period. He emphasized during his confirmation hearing that he was not planning to push for sharp changes in monetary or regulatory policy. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., initially voted for Powell’s confirmation but later changed her vote to no, explaining that she had meant to vote against confirmation.

France’s New Labor Laws: ‘Flexibility, and No Security’

Just weeks after France’s labor overhaul went into effect, companies are readily taking advantage of new rules that make it easier to hire and fire. But the other changes, designed to help cushion the blow, like retraining programs, have not been put into place yet. The changes to the country’s voluminous labor code are part of a broad push by President Emmanuel Macron to revive growth and steer France toward a Scandinavian-style economic model known as “flexible security.” But the initial imbalance between employers’ rights and workers’ protections means the economic picture could get worse before it gets better.

Kimberly-Clark Cutting 5,000 Jobs Amid Pressure on Prices

Kimberly-Clark, the maker of Huggies and Kleenex, is laying off about 13 percent of its workforce and shedding factories worldwide, amid declining birthrates that are affecting diaper sales and a retail price war that is weighing on profits. The company said Tuesday that it would cut between 5,000 and 5,500 jobs in an effort to reduce expenses as it faced stiffer competition for consumer staples like tissues, paper towels and wet wipes. To help pay for the cuts and other restructuring moves, Kimberly-Clark said, it will use savings from the recently enacted corporate tax cut.

Senior Twitter Executive to Run Troubled Finance Startup SoFi

The embattled online lender Social Finance has poached Twitter’s chief operating officer, Anthony Noto, to be its new chief executive, dealing a blow to Twitter’s turnaround campaign. Social Finance, known as SoFi, announced Noto’s hiring Tuesday, just four months after Mike Cagney was forced to step down because of sexual harassment claims. Cagney was accused of having had inappropriate relationships with company employees and questioned over whether he had skirted risk and compliance controls. Noto was one of the most respected bankers at Goldman Sachs before becoming the chief financial officer of the National Football League and then Twitter.

Super Bowl’s Minneapolis Stadium Brings a Surge in Development

The first time Minneapolis hosted the Super Bowl, in 1992, a solitary sports bar and acres of parking lots surrounding the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome stood in testament to the stadium’s failure to generate private investment. But football fans returning to the city to watch the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles compete in Super Bowl LII on Feb. 4 are not likely to recognize the area, now known as East Town. In all, more than $2 billion in private and public investment has been injected into East Town, according to the East Town Business Partnership.

Murdoch’s Bid for Full Control of Sky Is Dealt a Blow by U.K. Regulator

Rupert Murdoch’s yearslong effort to secure an even larger presence in the international media market suffered a new setback on Tuesday, when a British regulator provisionally rejected Twenty-First Century Fox’s bid to acquire full control of Sky, the British satellite broadcaster. Murdoch has made multiple attempts to acquire the part of Sky not already under his control, only to find himself thwarted by a phone-hacking scandal and the British authorities. The regulatory decision announced on Tuesday was the latest blow to Twenty-First Century Fox’s bid to buy the 61 percent of Sky it does not now own.