Employers laid off 7.7M during April
U.S. employers laid off 7.7 million workers in April — a deep the economic hole that was created by the closure of thousands of offices, restaurants, stores and schools during the pandemic.
The Labor Department also said in a Tuesday report that job openings plummeted and hiring all but disappeared in April. The number of available jobs fell 16 percent from March, to 5 million. Hires declined 31 percent to 3.5 million.
The grim April — which followed an even bleaker March with 11.5 million layoffs — suggests that the economy could take time to recover nearly a decade’s worth of gains that vanished in about 60 days. Hiring did rebound in May as 2.5 million jobs were added on net, the government said in a separate report Friday. But those gains appeared to reflect temporarily laid-off employees returning to work and increases in people with part-time jobs.
The Tuesday report shows how employers responded quickly to the pandemic by furloughing or laying off workers in March, though that slowed the following month as consumer spending appeared to bottom out and even recover slightly.
EMISSIONS Greenhouse gases see a record plunge
Greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. are poised for a record plunge this year, the result of coronavirus lockdown orders that have shuttered factories, closed stores and left cars and jets sitting idle.
Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, which include electricity generation and transportation fuel, will fall 14 percent, according to data released Tuesday by the Energy Information Administration.
That’s almost double the decline the agency had forecast in April when it became clear that electricity consumption had slumped as the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped the U.S. economy. The earlier prediction for a 7.5 percent drop would have been the most this century.
The trend will likely start to reverse as stay-at-home orders are lifted and the economy recovers.
CREDIT Equifax opens offices at 50 percent capacity
Equifax Inc. said it’s begun opening offices at 50 percent capacity, part of a wave of firms preparing to reopen corporate America as the coronavirus pandemic begins to ebb.
The credit bureau will start with U.S. offices before moving on to open international locations, according to a presentation on its website.
Equifax expects revenue to climb by 3.5 percent to 5.5 percent in the second quarter.
AUTOMOBILES Cyberattack hits Honda, but no breach
Japanese carmaker Honda said Tuesday that it has been hit by a cyberattack that disrupted its business in several countries, though it expects the overall impact to be contained.
The company said in a statement there was no breach of data, but that it is working to “minimize the impact and to restore full functionality of production, sales and development activities.”
Production in Japan is back to normal, after being disrupted Monday morning, and was also expected to resume Tuesday in North America.
Production at Honda’s U.K. factory in Swindon has been suspended during the COVID-19 lockdown and the attack is not expected to significantly alter its plans to resume operations this week.
HOUSING Apartment renters fall further behind
More renters are falling behind in their payments due to the pandemic.
About 19 percent of apartment renters nationwide hadn’t made this month’s payment as of June 6, according to the latest data from the National Multifamily Housing Council, which represents major apartment landlords. Almost 90 percent of renters around the country made their April payments — the
first full month that the pandemic impacted the economy.
Late rent payment rates so far in June are running about 1 percent higher than they were a year ago — not a huge increase but apartment owners expect the delinquencies to rise if unemployment remains high.
Apartment owners are concerned that rent payments will decline further when federal unemployment payment assistance expires in July.
COMPUTERS Apple to launch trade-in program
Apple Inc. plans to launch a trade-in program for Mac computers next week at its retail stores in the U.S and Canada, adding the devices to an effort already in effect for other products.
The technology giant informed retail employees that the new program will begin on June 15 in the U.S. and June 18 in Canada. Customers can exchange a Mac for credit toward a new computer or apply the trade-in value to an Apple gift card.
Customers have previously been able to trade in their Macs via Apple’s website. Apple already offers trade-in programs at its stores for many other products, including the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.
The move could help boost sales of Macs by giving customers a way to get credit toward a new model at the point of purchase.