economy

The US trade deficit rose in March as the coronavirus outbreak battered America’s trade with the world. The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that the gap between what the US sells and what it buys abroad widened 11.6 percent in March, to $44.4 billion, from $39.8 billion in February. US exports fell 9.6 percent, to $187.7 …

California has borrowed nearly $350 million in federal funding to pay for surging unemployment claims amid the coronavirus pandemic, the first state to do so. A Treasury Department spokesman told the Wall Street Journal on Monday that the state had already begun to access its pre-approved $10 billion loan for paying unemployment through the end …

The US Treasury Department on Monday said it plans to borrow nearly $3 trillion in the second quarter of 2020 — more than five times larger than the previous record — as the federal government spends at a frantic pace to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus on the US economy. In a statement, Treasury …

The Trump administration is “turbocharging” an initiative to remove the US from dependency on a China-based supply chain and weighing imposing new tariffs to punish the Communist Party in Beijing for its response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report on Monday. The economic damage and death toll from the COVID-19 outbreak has prompted …

American clothing company J. Crew filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, the first major retailer to do so during the coronavirus pandemic. Crew’s parent company, Chinos Holdings, filed for Chapter 11 protection in federal bankruptcy court for the Eastern District of Virginia after its board reached a decision on Sunday night, following weeks of negotiations …

The Trump administration is stepping up an effort to reduce dependence on Chinese manufacturing following the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, including possible new incentives for companies to shift supply chains, such as tax benefits and subsidies. “We’ve been working on [reducing the reliance of our supply chains in China] over the last few years but we …

The Trump administration said this week that Planned Parenthood will not receive any of the coronavirus-relief funding earmarked for small businesses that are struggling amid the pandemic. The administration will not grant the mammoth abortion provider any funding from the $670 billion Paycheck Protection Program, according to reports. “Through the Paycheck Protection Program, President Trump is …

Some foreign workers who lived in the U.S. at some point during the last two years have mistakenly received economic stimulus checks designated for U.S. citizens due to an Internal Revenue Service glitch. Thousands of college-age workers, some of whom left the U.S. before the coronavirus was discovered in the country and are currently residing …

The US Justice Department reportedly has launched a probe of the federal government’s $670 billion Paycheck Protection Program. The investigation has already turned up instances of potential fraud, according to Politico, and arrives as large publicly traded companies have received harsh scrutiny for dipping into the federal pot. Last week, after it surfaced that companies …

Turning Point USA, a young conservative political organization run by Charlie Kirk, applied for a $1.2 million small business coronavirus loan through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), only to publicize an ideological rejection of it as “money from big government.” Kirk, who tweeted on Wednesday that his organization was “rejecting” a loan, did not confirm …