WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s employers unleashed a burst of hiring in March, adding 916,000 jobs in a sign that a sustained recovery from the pandemic recession is taking hold as vaccinations accelerate, stimulus checks flow through the economy and businesses increasingly reopen. The March increase — the most since August — was nearly double February’s gain of 468,000, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate declined from 6.2% to 6%.
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Global stocks rise; Treasury yields rally after jobs report
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose in many of the markets worldwide that were open on Good Friday, while Treasury yields rallied after a report showed U.S. employers added hundreds of thousands more jobs last month than economists expected. In Asia, stocks in Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai all climbed a day after the S&P 500 passed the 4,000-point level for the first time. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.72% from 1.68% late Thursday. Futures for U.S. stock indexes also rose, suggesting the S&P 500 may add to its record set on Thursday when trading resumes on Monday.
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Biden’s ‘jobs Cabinet’ to sell infrastructure as GOP resists
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden says Republicans have talked for years about the need to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure and predicts GOP lawmakers will face pressure from their supporters if they don’t act. Biden is setting about convincing America it needs his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan and is deputizing a five-member “jobs Cabinet” to help. Biden says the public likes the road, water and other improvements his plan promises. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell objects to the plan’s corporate tax increases and vows to oppose “every step of the way.” Biden said Friday he thinks “Republican voters are going to have a lot to say about whether we get a lot of this done.”
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Biden aims to juice EV sales, but would his plan work?
DETROIT (AP) — Dangling tax credits and rebates in his drive to fight climate change, President Joe Biden wants you to trade your gas-burning car, truck or SUV for a zero-emissions electric vehicle. Some buyers would find his offer persuasive. Yet Biden’s goal is a daunting one: Even if Congress approves his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan, along with its incentives, it would take many years to replace enough internal combustion vehicles with EVs to make a huge dent in tailpipe emissions. Right now, there are about 279 million vehicles on the road in the United States. Of the 14.5 million new vehicles that were sold last year, 2% were fully electric.
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Russian entrepreneurs adapt to virus lockdown challenges
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia had a six-week coronavirus shutdown last spring, but was never fully locked down again after that, easing some suffering for its economy, industries and enterprises. But it also saw its mortality rates rise. When virus infections surged again in the fall, the government resisted imposing restrictions that would have shut many businesses. Russia emerged from 2020 with an economy that overall has shrunk much less than in many Western countries. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Russia’s gross domestic product fell by just 3.6%. That’s a little more than the global average of 3.4%. Still, it was Russia’s biggest plunge since 2009. In recent years, its GDP grew by about 1% to 2% per year.
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Tesla 1Q sales of 185K more than double last year’s numbers
DETROIT (AP) — Tesla delivered nearly 185,000 electric vehicles in the first quarter despite a shortage of computer chips that has hit the global auto industry. The number was more than double the deliveries for the same period last year. And it beat Wall Street estimates of 168,000 for January through March. The company says the Model Y small SUV in China has been well received. Tesla listed no quarterly production figures for its older models, the S sedan and X SUV, but it delivered just over 2,000 of them. It says new equipment has been installed at the Fremont, California, factory and production of new versions is in the early stages.
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China says H&M changed online map after criticism
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese regulators say H&M has agreed to change a “problematic map” online following government criticism, adding to pressure on the Swedish retailer amid a conflict with Western governments over China’s policies in its Xinjiang region. The ruling Communist Party lashed out at H&M, Nike and other shoe and clothing brands last week after the United States, the European Union, Britain and Canada imposed sanctions on officials accused of abuses in Xinjiang in China’s northwest. The announcement by a Shanghai city government agency about maps gave no details, but airlines, clothing brands and others have been pressured to change how Taiwan, the island democracy claimed by Beijing as part of its territory, and other sensitive areas are depicted in maps.
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CEO of Google’s self-driving car spinoff steps down from job
SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — The executive who steered the transformation of Google’s self-driving car project into a separate company worth billions of dollars is stepping down after more than five years on the job. John Krafcik announced his departure as CEO of Waymo, a company spun out from Google, in a Friday blog post that cited his desire to enjoy life as the world emerges from the pandemic. Two of Krafcik’s top lieutenants will replace him as co-CEOs. Under Krafcik’s leadership, Waymo forged partnerships with several major automakers and launched the first ride-hailing service to pick up passengers without a driver or anyone else in the vehicles in Phoenix.