Amazon posts biggest profit ever at height of pandemic

Amazon.com has tonight posted the biggest profit in its 26-year history as online sales and its lucrative business supporting third-party merchants surged during the coronavirus pandemic. Shares of Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, rose 5% in after-hours trade on Wall Street. While rival brick-and-mortar retailers have had to shut stores during government-imposed lockdowns, Amazon hired 175,000 people in recent months and saw demand for its services soar. Earlier this week Amazon said it would create another 1,000 permanent jobs in Ireland over the next two years, bringing its total permanent workforce here to 5,000 people. The company said tonight...