It’s a trend that has surprised many: Why, despite being squeezed by high prices, have Americans kept spending at retail stores and restaurants at a robust pace? One key reason is a relatively simple one: Wealthier consumers, boosted by strong gains in income, home equity and stock market wealth, have increasingly driven the spending. That trend represents something of a shift from the pre-pandemic period. And it suggests that consumer spending, the primary driver of the U.S. economy, could help sustain healthy growth this year and next.

CVS Health CEO Karen Lynch has stepped down with company shares sinking 19% this year and the health care giant struggling on several fronts. Company shares tumbled again Friday after CVS Health also warned of disappointing third-quarter earnings and said investors should not rely on guidance it laid out in August. Lynch will be replaced by veteran CVS Health executive David Joyner, who will attempt to steer the company through rising costs to its health insurance business, slumping drugstore sales and growing investor pressure.

The United States says it is disappointed with a decision by the Swiss government not to adopt all measures in the latest round of European Union sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine. The Swiss Federal Council this week decided to adopt “most of the measures” included in the latest EU sanctions. Switzerland isn’t one of the bloc’s 27 member countries but has largely hewed to its sanctions against Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. US ambassador to Switzerland Scott Miller said Switzerland’s decision not to adopt all of the 14th round of EU sanctions was “disappointing.”