CNN Money: The Bank of England has warned that machines could take over 80 million American and 15 million British jobs over the next 10 to 20 years. That’s roughly 50 percent of the workforce in each country. As computers become more sophisticated, they are putting jobs previously thought of as “humans only” at risk of automation,said  the bank’s chief economist, Andy Haldane.

MarketWatch: Sales at U.S. retailers barely rose in October and were weak for the third month in a row, a sign that shoppers have little appetite to boost spending despite cheap gasoline and an improved labor market. Retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent last month, the Commerce Department said Friday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast a 0.4 percent increase.

The New York Times: Jerry Stritzke, the chief executive of sporting goods retailer REI, hosted a question-and-answer session on the website Reddit this week to discuss his decision to keep stores closed on Black Friday. But what was intended as an opportunity to bask in good will over the move transformed into a public airing of grievances by scores of angry employees. Stritzke answered questions from users for about two hours on Tuesday. But after he signed off, the conversation became dominated by accounts of negative experiences that some employees said they had on the job.