Business Highlights

Roundup of top economy stories

WASHINGTON — The U.S. trade deficit rose for the third straight month in May. Both exports and imports fell as the coronavirus outbreak continued to take a toll on world commerce. The Commerce Department said Thursday that the gap between the United States buys and what it sells abroad rose 9.7% in May to $54.6 billion, highest since December 2018. The coronavirus pandemic has devastated world trade. U.S. exports fell 4.4% in May to $144.5 billion, lowest since November 2009. Imports slid 0.9% to $199.1 billion, lowest since July 2010.

OAKLAND, Calif. — A Black Facebook employee, joined by two others who were denied jobs at the social network,

has filed a complaint

against the company, saying it discriminates against Black workers and applicants in hiring, evaluations, promotions and pay. The charge was filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by Oscar Veneszee, Jr., who has worked as an operations program manager at Facebook since 2017 and claims he has not been fairly evaluated or promoted despite his “excellent performance” at the company. Facebook did not immediately respond to a message for comment Thursday.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell last week with the benchmark 30-year home loan hitting its lowest level ever. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average rate on the key 30-year fixedrate mortgage fell to 3.07%, down from last week’s 3.13%. For the second week in a row, it is the lowest level since Freddie began tracking average rates in 1971. A year ago, the rate stood at 3.75%. The average rate on the 15-year fixedrate mortgage also fell slightly to 2.56% from 2.59% last week, but it is down from 3.18% a year ago.

SPERLONGA, Italy — Europe is containing its

jobless rise but the economy is still in trouble. The unemployment rate in the 19 countries that use the euro currency inched higher to 7.4 % in May from 7.3% in April as governments used active labor market support programs to cushion the impact of the virus outbreak on workers. European governments have held down the rise in unemployment due to the shutdowns through programs that pay part of workers salaries in return for companies not laying them off. But some people have just stopped looking for work and aren’t being counted as unemployed.