Business Highlights
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Trump administration targets diversity hiring by contractors
NEW YORK (AP) - American companies promising to hire more Black employees in leadership roles and teach their workforce about racism are getting a message from President Donald Trump´s administration: Watch your step. Trump´s Labor Department is using a 55-year-old presidential order spurred by the Civil Rights Movement to scrutinize companies like Microsoft and Wells Fargo over their public commitments to boost Black employment and leadership roles. It´s not that they haven´t done enough to add diversity to their ranks, but they might be going too far, according to government letters sent last week warning the companies against using "discriminatory practices" to meet their diversity goals.
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Twitter tightens limits on candidates ahead of US election
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Twitter is imposing tough new rules that restrict candidates from declaring premature victory and tighten its measures against spreading misinformation, calling for political violence and spreading thoughtless commentary in the days leading up to and following the Nov. 3 U.S. election. Tweets that falsely claim a candidate has won will be labeled to direct users to the official U.S. election results page on Twitter. Posts that encourage violence or call for people to interfere with election results will be removed. Twitter is also making it more difficult to retweet posts that are labeled for misleading information about civic integrity and COVID-19 or for including manipulated photos or videos.
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Official says vaccine expected in January, countering Trump
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Trump administration official leading the response to the coronavirus pandemic says the U.S. can expect delivery of a vaccine starting in January 2021, despite statements from the president that inoculations could begin this month. Dr. Robert Kadlec said in an email Friday that the administration "is accelerating production of safe and effective vaccines ... to ensure delivery starting January 2021." Kadlec is the Department of Health and Human Services´ assistant secretary of preparedness and response. President Donald Trump said at a White House press briefing last month: "We think we can start sometime in October."
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COVID-19 relief pushes U.S. budget deficit to a record $3.1T
WASHINGTON (AP) - New, eye-popping federal budget figures show an enormous $3.1 trillion deficit in the just-completed fiscal year, a record swelled by coronavirus relief spending that pushed the tally of red ink to three times that of last year. The Congressional Budget Office says the deficit equaled 15% of the U.S. economy, a huge gap that was the largest since the government undertook massive borrowing to finance the final year of World War II. The government borrowed 48 cents of every dollar it spent, CBO said, fueled by a 47% increase in spending.
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Stocks climb, closing out biggest weekly gain in 3 months
NEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street closed out its best week in three months Friday as investors drew encouragement from ongoing negotiations on Capitol Hill aimed at delivering more aid to the ailing U.S. economy. The S&P 500 rose 0.9%, its third gain in a row, and added 3.8% for the week. The solid finish follows a weekslong run of mostly shaky trading over worries that Congress and the White House won´t deliver more support for the economy as it reels from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Investors also worry that stock prices simply got too high during the summer.
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China Golden Week holiday pumps up tourism, boon to economy
HONG KONG (AP) - Some 637 million Chinese tourists took domestic trips during the eight-day Golden Week holiday, spending the equivalent of tens of billions of dollars at a time when China is seeking to boost consumer spending to stimulate the economy. The holiday, which began Oct. 1, saw more than 45% of China´s population take trips within the country and spend 466.6 billion yuan ($69.5 billion), according to data from China´s Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
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UK bolsters salary support for those hit by local lockdowns
LONDON (AP) - The British government will pay two thirds of the salaries of workers in companies that have to close as a result of new coronavirus lockdown restrictions, which are widely expected to come into effect next week. Treasury chief Rishi Sunak responded Friday to calls from businesses, local leaders and unions to provide a financial support package to prevent mass job losses in sectors that will be subject to new restrictions.
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2 former eBay employees plead guilty in harassment scheme
BOSTON (AP) - Two former eBay Inc. employees have pleaded guilty to their roles in a campaign to terrorize a publisher and editor of an online newsletter critical of the company with a scheme that included live spiders and other disturbing deliveries sent to their home. Stephanie Popp and Veronica Zea pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to commit cyberstalking and conspiracy to tamper with witnesses. They are among seven former eBay employees charged in the scheme, that involved other anonymous deliveries sent to the couple´s home, including a funeral wreath and a bloody pig Halloween mask.
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The S&P 500 rose 30.31 points, or 0.9%, to 3,477.14. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 161.39 points, or 0.6%, to 28,586.90. The Nasdaq composite climbed 158.96 points, or 1.4%, to 11,579.94. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks picked up 9 points, or 0.6%, to 1,637.55.
