ECONOMY

New England employers plan to hire more, increase wages, Fed says

More New England employers are expected to increase hiring and raise wages in the first quarter of this year, according to a survey by the Federal Reserve. The improving labor market is making it harder for companies to find workers, particularly for retail and low-skill manufacturing jobs, the survey, released on Wednesday, found. Still, companies are feeling generally positive about the region’s economic outlook. Most retailers and manufacturers reported higher sales, even though the strong dollar and global slowdown presented some challenges. The survey, known as the Beige Book, collects anecdotal information from businesses in each of the 12 Federal Reserve districts. It is published eight times a year in advance of the central bank’s policy meetings. Fed officials next meet in Washington, D.C., on April 26 and 27. Nationwide economic growth is holding up at a modest to moderate range, with the labor market continuing to strengthen, according to the report. The unemployment rate in March was 5 percent, a slight uptick as more sidelined workers returned to the labor force in search of jobs. The survey also found that investment sales in commercial real estate in Boston are down from a year ago and prices are starting to level off. Low inventory continues to drive parts of the New England residential housing market, with median prices rising and the number of days a home is on sale declining, according to the report. — DEIRDRE FERNANDES

INTERNATIONAL

Bank of England worried about too many car loans

First mortgages, then credit cards, now automobiles — the Bank of England is keeping an eye on every type of debt being taken on by Britons, and car financing is no exception. Loans for cars through dealerships have been an important contributor to the acceleration in household credit in recent years, the BOE said Wednesday in its quarterly Credit Conditions Survey. The central bank has been monitoring whether the increasing amount of lending to households is a threat to financial stability. Record-low borrowing costs and household savings levels have officials worried that the expansion is unsustainable and leaves the economy vulnerable. The annual growth rate in consumer credit picked up to 9.3 percent in February, the fastest pace since December 2005, the BOE said, with car finance playing a key role in the pickup in non-credit card loans. — BLOOMBERG

RETAIL

Eight AGs write letter to retailers objecting to on-call scheduling

Attorneys general from eight states, including Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia have written letters to several national retailers expressing concern about on-call scheduling, which allows companies to assign shifts to workers with only a few hours’ notice. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Wednesday that the letters went to American Eagle, Aeropostale, Payless, Disney, Coach, and several other retailers. Last year, after receiving similar letters from his office, retailers including Gap, J.Crew, and Victoria’s Secret agreed to end on-call scheduling. Schneiderman says the policy is ‘‘unfair’’ to workers because they have to scramble to arrange child care or transportation with little notice before a shift begins. The other state attorneys general signing onto the letters include California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, and Rhode Island. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

INTERNATIONAL

World Bank pledges $2.5B to educate girls in Asia and Africa

The World Bank on Wednesday pledged $2.5 billion to educate and empower adolescent girls in low-income countries as a way to improve their well-being and fight poverty. Speaking at the spring meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, World Bank president Jim Yong Kim (left, with Michelle Obama) said that enabling girls to attend school helps them delay marriage; have fewer, healthier and better educated children; get better jobs and earn money. The funds will be allocated by 2020 and 75 percent of the money will go mostly to countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

AUTOMOTIVE

Labor board rejects Volkswagen’s challenge of union vote

The National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday declined to take up Volkswagen’s challenge of a union vote at its lone US assembly plant in Tennessee. Volkswagen had unsuccessfully sought to block a union vote among a group of about 160 workers specializing in the repair and maintenance of machinery and robots, arguing that labor decisions should be made by all 1,400 blue-collar workers at the plant. The company also questioned the timing of the vote amid its struggles to cope with the fallout of its diesel emissions cheating scandal. The NLRB’s regional director allowed the vote to move forward and the United Auto Workers won the December election on a 108-44 vote, ending a decadeslong losing streak in union elections among foreign automakers in the South. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

TECHNOLOGY

GoPro hires industrial designer from Apple

GoPro Inc. shares soared the most in more than two months after a report said an industrial designer from Apple Inc. is jumping to the action-camera maker to head a new hardware design group. Danny Coster, who has worked for Apple since the early 1990s, is a rare defection from the elite and secretive industrial design team at the iPhone maker, The Information reported. He will start his new job at the end of the month, the website said. GoPro has struggled to keep up momentum since its initial public offering in 2014 as competition from phones — like Apple’s — and drones has increased, putting pressure on chief executive Nick Woodman to innovate. — BLOOMBERG

RETAIL

Walmart expands online grocery pickup

The online grocery wars are getting fiercer. Walmart said Wednesday it’s expanding its service that allows customers to order groceries online and then pick them up in the parking lot of their local store. The nation’s largest food retailer said it is adding eight new markets this month to its free curbside grocery pickup service. They include Kansas City; Austin, Texas; Charleston, S.C.; Boise, Idaho; Richmond and Virginia Beach, Va.; Provo, Utah; and Daphne, Ala. Walmart, based in Bentonville, Ark., has been offering the service in roughly 150 stores in 22 markets. By the end of April, it will offer it in roughly 200 stores in 30 markets. Walmart operates more than 4,500 namesake stores in the United States. — ASSOCIATED PRESS