Business Highlights
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30 million have sought US unemployment aid since virus hit
WASHINGTON (AP) - More than 3.8 million laid-off workers applied for unemployment benefits last week as the U.S. economy slid further into a crisis that is becoming the most devastating since the 1930s. Roughly 30.3 million people have now filed for jobless aid in the six weeks since the coronavirus outbreak began forcing millions of employers to close their doors and slash their workforces. That is more people than live in the New York and Chicago metropolitan areas combined, and it´s by far the worst string of layoffs on record. It adds up to more than one in six American workers.
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US consumer spending plunges record 7.5%, reflecting virus
WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. consumer spending plunged a record 7.5% in March, reflecting the growing impact of the coronavirus pandemic as Americans complied with stay-at-home orders. The Commerce Department said that the spending plunge was accompanied by a sharp 2% drop in personal incomes in March with both declines attributed to impacts of efforts to deal with the pandemic. The report said that the country experienced big declines as "consumers canceled, restricted or redirected their spending." The government reported Wednesday that the overall economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, shrank at an annual rate of 4.8% in the January-March quarter, led by the biggest quarterly drop in consumer spending since 1980.
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Wall Street´s best month in 33 years closes with whimper
NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks fell on Wall Street Thursday as more grim news piled up revealing the grave economic damage being caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The S&P 500 index lost 0.9%, but still wound up 12.7% higher in April, its biggest monthly gain since 1987. The monthlong rally came as the Federal Reserve and Congress announced aggressive measures to help the economy weather the fallout from the widespread business shutdowns and stay-at-home guidelines put in place to fight the pandemic. Another 3.8 million people applied for unemployment benefits last week, and the European economy contracted by a record 3.8% in the first three months of the year.
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Apple pinched by pandemic; profit, iPhone sales decline
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - Apple´s profit dipped slightly during the early fallout from a pandemic that initially shut down its factories and then forced the closure of hundreds of stores that sell its iPhones and other trendsetting devices. The results for the January-March period provide the first snapshot of how one of the world´s best-known companies is faring as the economy plunges into its first recession in more than a decade. And the numbers released Thursday indicate Apple is holding up remarkably well so far. Although its profit fell, Apple´s revenue from the same time last year edged up 1% to $58.3 billion. IPhone sales were hardest hit, falling 7%.
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Europe´s employment aid keeps jobs from vanishing - for now
PARIS (AP) - Thousands of European businesses are on life support due to coronavirus shutdowns. But many are able to keep their employees on staff as they hope for things to pick up as the continent reopens. That´s because governments are paying them to keep their workers on board under temporary support programs. France pays up to 84% of lost income for workers put on short hours or no hours. In Germany, it´s 60%. The catch is, the business can´t fire the workers. The bosses benefit from flexibility and the chance to keep their trained staff. For now it´s helping companies and the economy stay on their feet.
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Fed expands Main Street Lending Program for businesses
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Federal Reserve says it is expanding a major lending program to provide support for businesses struggling to cope with the economic disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The Fed said that it was expanding the terms of its Main Street Lending Program which is designed to provide up to $600 billion in loans to small and mid-size businesses that have been harmed by the pandemic and the efforts to contain it. The Fed said it was allowing businesses with up to 15,000 employees and $5 billion in annual revenues to qualify for loans. That is up from an earlier limit of 10,000 employees and $2.5 billion in revenue.
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Workers must risk infection or losing unemployment payments
ATLANTA (AP) - Some of the millions of American workers laid off because of the COVID-19 pandemic are beginning to face a tough choice - return to work and risk infection, or stay home and risk losing unemployment payments. More than 30 million Americans have filed for jobless aid in the six weeks since the coronavirus outbreak took hold. But many workers are uneasy in states where governors are allowing businesses to reopen. Tyler Price is wrestling with his fear of getting sick after the 26-year-old was called back to his job at a steakhouse in a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee.
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The S&P 500 fell 27.08 points, or 0.9%, to 2,912.43. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 288.14, or 1.2%, to 24,345.72, and the Nasdaq fell 25.16, or 0.3%, to 8,889.55. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks fell 50.10 points, or 3.7%, to 1,310.66.
