A closed shopping mall is seen in Lima, Ohio on March 24, 2020 amidst the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Megan JELINGER/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
By Christopher Rugaber
A record-long streak of U.S. job growth ended suddenly in March after nearly a decade as employers cut 701,000 jobs because of the viral outbreak that's all but shut down the U.S. economy. The unemployment rate jumped to 4.4% from a 50-year low of 3.5%.
Last month's actual job loss was likely even larger because the government surveyed employers before the heaviest layoffs hit in the past two week. Nearly 10 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits in the last two weeks of March, far exceeding the figure for any corresponding period on record.
Virus-induced shutdowns have forced widespread layoffs throughout the economy, from hotels, restaurants and movie theaters to auto factories, department stores and administrative offices.
One sign of how painfully deep the job losses will likely prove to be: During its nearly decade-long hiring streak, the U.S. economy added 22.8 million jobs. Economists expect the April jobs report being released in early May to show that all those jobs will have been lost.
Ford Motor Co. is resuming construction on a Michigan electric vehicle battery plant that the company postponed two months ago during a strike by the United Auto Workers union.
The marketing slogan for Stanley Tumbler flask products is built for life and it looks like one video proves that to be true after a woman showed her burned-out car on TikTok along with her Tumbler cup, which was left undamaged.
Nvidia's stock closed at an all-time high Monday at above $504 a share, ahead of the company's latest quarterly earnings report which is due out later Tuesday.
The CEOs of three popular tech companies have been subpoenaed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which ordered the heads of Discord, Snap and X to testify at a hearing on protecting children online.
'X' owner Elon Musk says he is suing watchdog group Media Matters after the group published an analysis writing that the social media company was placing advertisements from several brands next to anti-Semitic content.
A federal appeals court appeared inclined Monday to reimpose at least some restrictions on Donald Trump’s speech in his landmark election subversion case.
