economy

Oil prices plunged below $3 a barrel on Monday, hitting a record low as the coronavirus pandemic continues to slash demand globally and cause storage issues. The U.S. marker, West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 83 percent to $2.96 per barrel, spurred by traders abandoning the May contract that expires on Tuesday. The price is the lowest …

Crude oil prices plunged below zero for the first time in history on Monday, with traders actually paying to get barrels of the stuff off their hands as the coronavirus kills demand. The May futures contract for West Texas Intermediate crude, which is set to expire Tuesday, settled at negative $37.63 per barrel, down $55.90 …

The U.S. coronavirus death toll reached 40,628 by Monday morning as state governors publicly worried they won’t have the amount of tests needed to safely reopen parts of the economy. “The administration, I think, is trying to ramp up testing. They are doing some things with respect to private labs,” Maryland governor Larry Hogan, a …

Neiman Marcus Group is preparing to seek bankruptcy protection as soon as this week, becoming the first major US department store operator to succumb to the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, people familiar with the matter said. The debt-laden Dallas-based company has been left with few options after the pandemic forced it to temporarily …

China’s economy contracted for the first time in decades as the coronavirus outbreak ravaged the country and economic activity ground to a halt. Gross domestic product was down 6.8 percent from the same time during the previous year, according to data released Friday by China’s National Bureau of Statistics. The contraction was slightly more exaggerated than …

Less than 50 percent of 25 large U.S. companies surveyed said that decoupling from China would be “impossible,” a 22 point reduction from a similar survey conducted last October, amid growing concerns over reliance on Chinese manufacturing following the coronavirus pandemic. The American Chamber of Commerce in China and the American Chamber of Commerce in …

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) took aim at Democrats for stifling efforts to refund the popular small business lending program that ran out of $349 billion on Thursday. “One week ago Mr. President, I warned that the Paycheck Protection Program was running out of money. I tried to a pass clean funding bill. …

The Trump administration’s guidelines for reopening the U.S. economy will give recommendations to state governments on when to relax business closures, effectively recognizing that the final decision rests with individual governors. “The buck stops with the governors,” a senior administration official involved in development of the guidelines told the Wall Street Journal. During a conference call …

Democratic candidate Kyrsten Sinema speaks to supporters after winning the U.S. Senate race in Scottsdale, Ariz., November 12, 2018. Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D., Ariz.) on Thursday called on the Senate to pass emergency funding for federal small business loans as soon as possible, bucking Democratic senators who are pushing for additional demands. The Paycheck Protection …

The White House has invited Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) to join its task force on reopening the U.S. economy, following Hawley’s proposal that the federal government pay 80 percent of workers’ wages until the coronavirus crisis subsides. “Just finished call w/ [President Trump] as part of his Task Force on Reopening – becoming more …