Reuters Business News

Tesla Inc has not been given permission to resume operations at its vehicle factory in the San Francisco Bay area as local lockdown measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus remain in effect, a county health official said on Friday.

The U.S. economy lost a staggering 20.5 million jobs in April, the steepest plunge in payrolls since the Great Depression, laying bare both the economic and human tragedy wrought by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

(This May 7 story changes monthly to weekly in paragraph 35)

Bitcoin is about to undergo a scheduled technical adjustment as the number of new coins awarded the computer wizards who "mine" the cryptocurrency will be cut in half, but forecasting which way its price will move afterward is more complicated now.

The U.S. economy likely lost a staggering 22 million jobs in April, in what would be the steepest plunge in payrolls since the Great Depression and the starkest sign yet of how the novel coronavirus pandemic is battering the world's biggest economy.

The U.S. Postal Service on Friday said its losses more than doubled to $4.5 billion in the quarter ending in March and warned the economic slowdown spurred by the spread of COVID-19 could severely hurt its finances over the next 18 months.

Major U.S. stock indexes climbed on Friday and were on track to log solid gains for the week after data showing historic job losses from the coronavirus crisis were slightly fewer than feared.

Wirecard Chief Executive Markus Braun apologised to shareholders on Friday as the company announced a reshuffle of its management board and appointed a new compliance officer, days after the hedge fund TCI demanded Braun's removal.

Wall Street's main indexes gained on Friday as staggering job losses in April due to the coronavirus outbreak were still slightly better than feared, adding to optimism from an easing in U.S.-China friction.

U.S. private employers laid off a record 20.236 million workers in April as mandatory business closures in response to the novel coronavirus outbreak savaged the economy, setting up the overall labor market for historic job losses last month.

Hackers linked to Iran have targeted staff at U.S. drugmaker Gilead Sciences Inc in recent weeks, according to publicly-available web archives reviewed by Reuters and three cybersecurity researchers, as the company races to deploy a treatment for the COVID-19 virus.

Top U.S. and Chinese trade representatives played down deep differences over the economic wreckage of the coronavirus pandemic and said they would press ahead with implementing their "Phase 1" trade deal after an overnight phone call.

The U.S. economy lost a staggering 20.5 million jobs in April, the steepest plunge in payrolls since the Great Depression and the starkest sign yet of how the novel coronavirus pandemic is battering the world's biggest economy.

U.S. stock markets gained on Friday after data showed the economy lost fewer jobs in April than feared due to the coronavirus crisis, adding to optimism from an easing in tensions between Washington and Beijing.

J.C. Penney Co Inc is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection as soon as next week with plans to permanently close about a quarter of its roughly 850 stores, becoming the latest major U.S. retailer to succumb to fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, according to people familiar with the matter.

Amid the carnage of the U.S. employment report for April was one bright spot: superstores led by Walmart Inc , the world's largest retailer, added more than 90,000 jobs.

U.S. wholesale inventories fell in March, albeit less than initially estimated, and further decreases are likely as the novel coronavirus outbreak continues to weigh on imports of goods.

The U.S. economy shed 20.5 million jobs in April, and the unemployment rate rose to 14.7%, a government report Friday showed.

J.C. Penney Co Inc is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection as soon as next week with plans to permanently close about a quarter of its roughly 850 stores, becoming the latest major U.S. retailer to succumb to fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, according to people familiar with the matter.

Microsoft Corp. said on Friday it would create its first datacentre region in Italy under a $1.5 billion investment plan as the U.S. company expands its cloud computing services to more locations across the world.