economy

The US entered a recession in February as the coronavirus slammed the brakes on the nation’s longest economic expansion, the National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday. The declaration from the influential panel of experts makes official what workers and investors have known for months: The pandemic sparked a historic economic downturn that unfolded at …

US stocks climbed again Monday as Wall Street clutched onto optimism about the economy recovering from the coronavirus crisis. The Dow Jones industrial average soared as much as 314.90 points, or 1.1 percent, to 27,425.88 by midday, building on Friday’s 829-point rally fueled by a shockingly strong jobs report. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose as much …

A number of prominent political reporters misrepresented comments President Trump made about George Floyd during his Friday press statement, falsely claiming that the president suggested Floyd would be happy with the May job numbers that had been released hours earlier. Trump spoke at length about the release of May’s unexpectedly positive job numbers, which showed …

The unemployment rate dropped over the past month as the economy added 2.5 million jobs, defying predictions of additional layoffs in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Unemployment now sits at 13.3 percent, falling from 14.7 percent in April. Many economists had expected the unemployment rate to reach 20 percent or higher. The Bureau of …

The outbreak of the coronavirus has dealt a shock to the global economy with unprecedented speed. Following are developments Friday related to the national and global response, the workplace and the spread of the virus. JOB CONCERNS: Mall operator CBL & Associates warned Friday in a regulatory filing that there’s “substantial doubt” that it will …

Another 1.9 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, bringing the total of jobless claims since the coronavirus pandemic began up to 42 million. The level of new claims outpaced the Dow Jones estimate of 1.775 million. However, last week’s new claims were still lower than the previous week’s total, which were revised upwards …

Los Angeles officials announced plans to slash the city’s police budget by up to $150 million in order to reinvest the funding in communities of color, as protests against police brutality and the death of George Floyd continue to rock the city. The city will “identify $250 million in cuts so we can invest in …

Nearly 1.9 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week as the coronavirus crisis put 42 million people out of work in less than three months, new data show. The weekly figure reported by the US Department of Labor continued its steady decline to fall below 2 million for the first time since mid-March. Yet …

The United Auto Workers faces the threat of a government takeover after former president Gary Jones pleaded guilty on Wednesday to racketeering charges. Jones admitted that he helped steal over $1 million from rank-and-file union members, in a case that helped reveal widespread corruption at the highest levels of the union. Former vice president of …

Sweden’s response to the coronavirus resulted in too many deaths and could have been improved, the country’s chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell told Swedish radio on Wednesday. Tegnell designed a unique strategy by which the country allowed non-essential businesses to remain open, urging citizens to comply with social distancing regulations and to avoid unnecessary travel. Sweden’s …