Business Highlights

By The Associated Press

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41 million have lost jobs since virus hit, but layoffs slow

WASHINGTON (AP) — Roughly 2.1 million people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, a sign that companies are still slashing jobs in the face of a deep recession even as more businesses reopen and rehire some laid-off employees. About 41 million people have now applied for aid since the virus outbreak intensified in March, though not all of them are still unemployed. The Labor Department’s report Thursday includes a count of all the people now receiving unemployment aid: 21 million. That is a rough measure of the number of unemployed Americans. The national jobless rate was 14.7% in April, the highest since the Great Depression.

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Trump escalates war on Twitter, social media protections

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is escalating his war on social media companies, signing an executive order challenging the liability protections that have served as a bedrock for unfettered speech on the internet. He declared he was “fed up” with what he considers bias as prepared to sign the order on Thursday. Still, the move appears to be more about politics than substance, as the president aims to rally supporters after he lashed out at Twitter for applying fact checks to two of his tweets. Legal experts have expressed doubts Trump can do much by himself, without an act of Congress. And the order is certain to face legal challenges.

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Hong Kong’s business hub status imperiled by security law

HONG KONG (AP) — A security law proposed by China could imperil Hong Kong’s status as one of the world’s best places to do business. The law, approved Thursday in Beijing, led Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to say Washington will no longer treat Hong Kong as autonomous from Beijing. The Chinese government has not given details of its proposed law, which is aimed at suppressing secessionist and subversive activity in the former British colony. Businesses and experts say the uncertainty over Hong Kong’s future may lead companies to shift operations elsewhere, while attracting and retaining talent in the city will be a challenge.

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Wall Street’s rally ends on fears about US-China tensions

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street’s rally ran out of fuel in the last hour of trading on Thursday, and the market fell to its first loss in four days amid worries about rising U.S.-China tensions. The S&P 500 had been climbing for much of the day and was up as much as 1.1% at one point. But it all disappeared after President Donald Trump said he’ll hold a news conference about China on Friday. That raised immediate worries among investors about possibly worsening relations between the world’s largest economies, which had signed a deal earlier this year to at least pause their trade war.

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US economy shrank at 5% annual rate in Q1

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy shrank at an even faster pace than initially estimated in the first three months of this year with economists continuing to expect a far worse outcome in the current April-June quarter. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic health, fell at an annual rate of 5% in the first quarter, a bigger decline than the 4.8% drop first estimated a month ago. It was the biggest quarterly decline since an 8.4% fall in the fourth quarter of 2008 during the depths of the financial crisis.

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Airlines increase job cuts as pandemic crushes air travel

DALLAS (AP) — From Britain’s EasyJet to American and Delta in the U.S., airlines are cutting even more jobs to cope with a crushing drop in air travel caused by the coronavirus. Easyjet said Thursday it will cut up to a third of its 15,000 employees, and the U.K. budget carrier estimates that it could take three years for demand to return to pre-pandemic levels. American Airlines says it will cut 30% of management and administrative jobs, about 5,000 jobs. And Delta Air Lines is announcing new programs to encourage even more employees to retire early. Global air travel is down about 90%.

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NSA: Russian agents have been hacking major email program

BOSTON (AP) — The U.S. National Security Agency says the same Russian military hacking group that interfered in the 2016 presidential election and unleashed a devastating 2017 malware attack has been exploiting a major email server program since last August or earlier. The timing of the intelligence agency’s advisory is unusual considering that the critical vulnerability was identified 11 months ago and a patch was issued. The affected email program — Exim — is widely used though far less known than such commercial alternatives as Microsoft’s proprietary Exchange. The NSA did not identify any targets of the Russian hacking group, which is known as Sandworm.

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The S&P 500 ended the day down 6.40 points, or 0.2%, at 3,029.73. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 147.63, or 0.6% to 25,400.64. The Nasdaq composite fell 43.37, or 0.5%, to 9,368.99. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks shed 35.69 points, or 2.5%, to 14,000.67.

The Associated Press

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