Unemployment wait was 2 hoursHARRISBURG — A top state official says callers often waited more than two hours for service in January when they dialed Pennsylvania’s unemployment compensation centers.Labor and Industry Department Secretary Kathy Manderino told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday that the unemployment compensation service system is broken.Manderino said she laid off 499 workers and closed three call centers in December after the Senate’s Republican majority balked at continuing $57.5 million in state funding for the system.Department officials have said wait times were under 10 minutes last fall, before the layoffs.Lawmakers say they are working on a short-term solution to fix the system while they develop a long-term solution to fund it.

Hershey could cut 15% of workforce HERSHEY — Hershey Co. could cut 15 percent of its global hourly workforce, primarily outside the United States.The Pennsylvania-based company says chief executive Michele Buck will have more to say on the plan when she briefs analysts in New York today.In a statement on Tuesday, the marketer of Hershey chocolate bars and other candies said the layoffs are part of a program designed to improve the operating profit margin through a streamlined operating model and reduced administrative expenses.Hershey operates eight factories outside the U.S.

Web failure causes widespread outages NEW YORK — Amazon’s cloud-hosting service Amazon Web Services is experiencing problems in its eastern U.S. region, causing widespread problems for websites and apps.Amazon’s service site states that its customers are experiencing “increased error rates” and notes that it is working on the problem. Affected sites including Trello, Scribd and IFTTT appear to be down.Amazon provides cloud computing services to hundreds of thousands of companies across a wide variety of areas.The Seattle company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Target to spend $7B on improvementsNEW YORK — Target, stung by the migration of its customers elsewhere, pledged Tuesday to spruce up some “tired” stores and make other investments in its business after delivering weak quarterly results and an outlook far below what analysts were expecting.The retailer’s profit for the quarter that includes the holiday season fell 43 percent, with strong online sales failing to offset weaker business at its stores. Target’s stock tumbled more than 12 percent.Target said it will spend $7 billion over the next three years to remodel more than 600 of its 1,800 stores, speed up its expansion of small-format stores, bolster its online operations, and launch new brands.