U.S. construction spending down 1.3% in February

WASHINGTON » Spending on U.S. construction projects fell 1.3% in February with housing and nonresidential construction both showing weakness even before the coronavirus struck in the United States. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that the various changes left total construction spending at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.37 trillion, up 6% from a year ago.

Sprint and T-Mobile merge, creating new wireless giant

NEW YORK » T-Mobile has completed the takeover of Sprint, creating a new wireless giant that rivals AT&T and Verizon. The companies announced the deal, valued at $31.6 billion, two years ago, but pushback from state and federal regulators delayed it.

Macy’s added to clearance from benchmark S&P 500

NEW YORK » The S&P 500 Index is moving department store giant Macy’s from the benchmark S&P 500 to the S&P SmallCap 600 as of Monday. Macy’s, which has been struggling amid competition from discounters and online retailers like Amazon, had a rough 2019, slipping 42% as the broader market surged. The company announced this week furloughs of most of its 125,000 employees.

U.S. lost 27,000 jobs in March, before virus hit

WASHINGTON » U.S. companies shed 27,000 jobs in March, according to a private survey, before the full impact of the viral outbreak. Payroll processor ADP said small businesses took the biggest hit, losing 90,000 jobs, while medium-sized and large companies added workers.