Business Highlights
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A bleak US jobs report likely portends even deeper losses
WASHINGTON (AP) — A grim picture of the U.S. job market’s sudden collapse emerged Friday with a report that employers shed hundreds of thousands of jobs last month because of the viral outbreak that’s brought the economy to a near-standstill. The loss of 701,000 jobs, reported by the Labor Department, ended nearly a decade of uninterrupted job growth, the longest such streak on record. The unemployment rate surged in March from a 50-year low of 3.5% to 4.4%. And that’s just a hint of what’s to come. For the April jobs report that will be released in early May, economists expect as many as a record 20 million losses and an unemployment rate of around 15%.
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3M fires back at Trump over order to produce more face masks
ST PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Manufacturing giant 3M pushed back Friday against criticism from President Donald Trump over production of face masks that are badly needed by American health care workers. The company said it has been producing as many masks as possible for the U.S. “over the last several weeks and months.” 3M also said the administration asked it to stop exporting medical-grade masks to Canada and Latin America, which the company said raises “significant humanitarian implications” and will backfire by causing other countries to retaliate against the U.S.
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Local newspapers are facing their own coronavirus crisis
NEW YORK (AP) — Just when Americans need it most, a U.S. newspaper industry already under stress is facing an unprecedented new challenge. Readers desperate for information are more reliant than ever on local media as the coronavirus spreads across the U.S. But newspapers, magazines and digital publishers are feeling the pressure as advertising craters. They are cutting jobs, staff hours and pay, dropping print editions — and in some cases shutting down entirely. Some researchers warn that the next recession, which has almost certainly begun already, could be an “extinction level event” for newspapers. In Washington, the industry is looking for federal aid that won’t compromise its independence.
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White House convenes oil CEOs as bust threatens US boom
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has offered offering assurances of better times and coronavirus tests to oil CEOs. Oil giant executives gathered at the White House on Friday as the coronavirus and a global oil price war shake the U.S. petroleum industry. Trump did not reveal any new initiatives but told the CEOs that he would try to get them tests for the coronavirus if they wanted. Trump also pledged in general terms to deal with the oil market crisis, saying: “We’ll work this out.”
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Small biz rescue off to slow start; some banks not ready
NEW YORK (AP) — The federal government’s relief program for small businesses is off to a slow start, with few businesses able to apply and some big banks saying they’re not ready to process applications. Millions of small businesses are expected to apply for these desperately needed rescue loans from the $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program, which was put in place to help them retain workers and pay bills during the coronavirus pandemic. Some large lenders like Wells Fargo, Huntington Bank and Bank of America said Friday that they are ready to go. But JPMorgan Chase only started accepting applications Friday afternoon after saying earlier that it wouldn’t.
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Stocks drop as coronavirus crunches the job market, economy
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell Friday following the latest grim reading of the coronavirus outbreak’s economic toll. The government reported that more than 700,000 jobs were lost last month, as businesses across the country shut down. Economists expect that far worse data is on the way. Some investors sold to get out of stocks ahead of the weekend, when even more bad news could arrive on the outbreak, as has become the routine in recent Fridays. The market’s losses accelerated after New York announced its biggest daily jump yet in deaths. The S&P 500 fell 1.5% to cap its third down week in the last four.
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US long-term mortgages fall; 30-year at 3.33%
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. long-term mortgage rates fell this week for the second straight week as anxiety has spiraled over devastation to the economy from the coronavirus pandemic. Home-loan rates have been hitting all-time lows. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year loan dipped to 3.33% this week from 3.50%. Freddie Mac said demand from prospective homebuyers has weakened in response to economic concerns. The average rate on the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage declined to 2.82% from 2.92%. The recent declining trend in mortgage rates has been driven by investors shifting money out of the stock market and into the safety of U.S. Treasurys.
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US service sectors slows in March
WASHINGTON (AP) — Growth in the U.S. service sector slowed in March with a much bigger decline expected in coming months from all the shutdowns and job layoffs that have occurred because of efforts to contain the coronavirus. The Institute for Supply Management said Friday that its service-sector index slowed to 52.5 in March from a reading of 57.3 in February.
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The S&P 500 index fell 38.25 points, or 1.5%, to 2,488.65. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 360.91 points, or 1.7%, to 21,052.53, and the Nasdaq was down 114.23, or 1.5%, to 7,373.08. Small-company stocks in t Russell 2000 index lost 33.76 points, or 3.1%, to 1,052.05.