,b>Pittsburgh named 2017 Airport of Year

IMPERIAL — A leading trade publication has named Pittsburgh International Airport its 2017 Airport of the Year.

Air Transport World has ranked various aspects of the industry for 43 years, but added the “best airport” category four years ago.

Pittsburgh is the first U.S. airport to win, after Hong Kong International, London Heathrow and Singapore Changi were previously honored.

VW owners upset by buyback delaysDETROIT — Volkswagen’s efforts to do right by owners who unknowingly bought cars and SUVs that cheat on emissions tests have run into some speed bumps.Owners say the company isn’t delivering on a promise to quickly buy back their vehicles. Some complain about multiple requests for paperwork, even after being told their application was complete.The German automaker told the judge handling the VW case that almost 400,000 owners had applied to have their vehicles repurchased in the three months since a legal settlement was approved.

New-home sales tumble in DecemberWASHINGTON — Americans pulled back sharply from buying new homes in December, but sales for all of 2016 were the highest since 2007.The Commerce Department said Thursday that new-home sales last month fell 10.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate 536,000.

Google misjudges demand for PixelSAN FRANCISCO — The Pixel phone, Google’s answer to Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy, is off to a promising start — but might have done even better had Google managed consumer demand as smartly as the device’s sleek design.Industry researchers say the Pixel has been a hot item since its October debut was greeted with mostly glowing reviews and the biggest marketing blitz in Google’s 18-year history.

30-year mortgage rate rises to 4.19% WASHINGTON — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates rose this week after three weeks of declines, marking their first increase of the year.Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday the rate on 30-year fixed-rate loans climbed to an average 4.19 percent from 4.09 percent last week. That was still sharply higher than a 30-year rate that averaged 3.65 percent for all of 2016.