Economy

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Thursday he worries about women, children and business owners who face long-term consequences from the coronavirus pandemic. Asked to name his chief concerns as the world tries to recover from the Covid-19 crisis, Powell said it’s “the risk that there is some longer-run damage to the productive capacity of

A pedestrian wearing a protective face mask walks by a going out of business sign displayed outside a retail store in New York City. Noam Galai | Getty Images A Covid-19 vaccine will not result in an “instant stimulus” to the U.S. economy, which still needs greater fiscal support as its recovery loses momentum, an

A United States Postal Service (USPS) worker works in the rain in Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York, April 13, 2020. Andrew Kelly | Reuters LONDON — The next six months will remain turbulent as the global economy keeps grappling with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, Eric Rosengren,

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks to reporters after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates in an emergency move designed to shield the world’s largest economy from the impact of the coronavirus, during a news conference in Washington, U.S., March 3, 2020. Kevin Lamarque | Reuters The Fed’s two-day meeting is expected to end

The Federal Reserve held short-term borrowing rates near zero in a decision Thursday that characterized the economy as growing but not near where it was before the coronavirus pandemic hit. As markets widely expected, the Fed kept its benchmark interest rate anchored in a range between 0%-0.25%, where it has been since an emergency cut

A worker wearing a protective mask and gloves assembles face shields at the Cartamundi-owned Hasbro manufacturing facility in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts on Wednesday, April 29, 2020. Adam Glanzman | Bloomberg | Getty Images The U.S. economy, which has shown signs of recovering, could see its prospects turn given the intensifying spread of Covid-19 in the

Employment growth was better than expected in October and the unemployment rate feel sharply even as the U.S. faces the challenge of surging coronavirus cases and the impact they could have on the nascent economic recovery. The Labor Department reported Friday that nonfarm payrolls increased by 638,000 and the unemployment rate was at 6.9%. Economists

The labor market was stronger than expected in October, showing good momentum ahead of the latest wave of coronavirus cases. The economy added 638,000 nonfarm payrolls and the unemployment rate fell by a full percentage point to 6.9%. The government compiled the data for the report in the middle of October. Stock futures temporarily erased

Volunteers hand out potatoes in Auburn, Washington on May 7, 2020. JASON REDMOND | AFP | Getty Images That’s a big jump from the prior month, when 19% of the unemployed were out of work for at least six months. The number of long-term unemployed swelled by 1.2 million people in a month, to 3.6

Economists mostly expect job growth slowed in October, as the pace of rehirings dropped off and layoffs increased. Job growth was expected to total 530,000 in October, and the unemployment rate is expected to fall to 7.7%, according to Dow Jones. That number includes about a 150,000 decline in public sector jobs from the end

First-time claims for unemployment insurance continued a modest trend down last week, though the total remains well above what was considered normal prior to the coronavirus pandemic and was a touch higher than Wall Street estimates. The Labor Department reported Thursday that 751,000 U.S. workers filed for benefits, compared with 758,000 the previous week. Economists

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman. Panayiotis Tzamaros | ullstein bild via Getty Images The U.S. may need several hundred billion dollars a month in “disaster relief” to keep the economy afloat as a raging coronavirus outbreak continues to suppress prospects for workers and businesses, Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said on Thursday. “We really are

A worker wearing a protective mask and gloves assembles face shields at the Cartamundi-owned Hasbro manufacturing facility in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, on Wednesday, April 29, 2020. Adam Glanzman | Bloomberg via Getty Images Private job creation showed a sharp deceleration in October as the U.S. economy struggled against a resurgence in the coronavirus pandemic, according

The number of first-time unemployment-benefits filers fell to the lowest level in the pandemic, declining for a second straight week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Initial weekly U.S. jobless claims came in at 751,000 for the week ending Oct. 24, down 40,000 from the previous week. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected initial jobless claims

The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve building stands in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. Erin Scott | Bloomberg via Getty Images The Federal Reserve has lowered the barriers on its lending program for smaller businesses as part of an effort to broaden the appeal of the sparsely used facility. In another pair

A Sale Pending sign is seen in front of a home in Miami, Florida. Joe Raedle | Getty Images Potential homebuyers may be hitting the limit of what they can afford. Pending home sales, a measure of signed contracts on existing homes, fell 2.2% in September compared with August, according to the National Association of

Coming off the worst quarter in history, the U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace ever in the third quarter as a nation battered by an unprecedented pandemic started to put itself back together. Third-quarter gross domestic product, a measure of the total goods and services produced in the July-to-September period, expanded at a 33.1%

A Regal Cinemas movie theater stands at night on 42nd Street in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020. Amir Hamja | Bloomberg | Getty Images Third quarter GDP is expected to grow at a sharp double digit pace, but the economy is still behind where it was earlier in the year and may