US manufacturing falls in April due to virus

U. S. manufacturing retreated again in April, a victim of economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

T h e I n s t i t u t e f o r Supply Management, an association of purchasing managers, reported Friday t hat i t s manufacturing index dropped to 41.5 last month from 49.1 in March.

Anyt h i n g b e l o w 5 0 signals contraction.

T h e n e ws wa s b a d a c r o s s t h e b o a r d : Production, new orders, hiring and export orders all fell faster in April than they did in March.

WASHINGTON US construction spending increases 0.9% in March

U . S . c o n s t r u c t i o n spending edged up 0.9% i n March a s b u i l d i ng activity escaped the early impacts of the coronavirus shutdowns.

T h e C o m m e r c e Department s ai d t hat the increase followed a 2.5% drop in spending in February.

Economists had been f o r e c a s t i n g a n o t h e r d e c l i n e i n Ma r c h a s t he efforts t o contain the spread of the virus started to take hold.

WASHINGTON Panel wants Bezos to testify in antitrust probe

H o u s e l a w m a k e r s investigating the market dominance of Big Tech are asking Amazon CEO Jeff

Bezos to testify to address possible misleading statements by the company on its competition practices.

I n a l ett er t o Bezos on Fri day, l e a ders of t h e Ho u s e J u d i c i a r y Committee from both parties are holding out the threat of a subpoena if he doesn't agree voluntarily to appear.

Amazon used sensitive information about sellers on its marketplace, their products and transactions to develop its own c o mpeti n g p r o d u c t s , according to a recent Wall Street Journal report.

PITTSBURGH US Steel expects to lay off 2,700 workers

U.S. Steel expects to l ay of f r oughly 2, 700 e m p l o y e e s a s t h e d e mand f o r i r o n a n d steel drops during the coronavirus pandemic, the company said.

T h e P i t t s b u r g h - based steelmaker, one of the nation's largest, announced its plans in a f i l i ng Thursday, t he same day it reported a first-quarter loss of $391 million.

The company said that it sent notices of plans for layoffs to 6,500 employees but that it expects the actual number affected to be about 2,700.

The company did not s ay where t he l ayoffs would be but said it will also temporarily idle two blast f aciliti es, one i n Gary, Indiana, and one outside Pittsburgh.

Overall, the company has idled seven of its 10 blast furnaces in the U.S.