In the recap of this week, we found that U.S. stocks end higher, as investors calculate the U.S. government $2.2 trillion rescue package will help businesses keep employees. Also as it seems the major global oil producers will agree to reduce output in the coming months. This agreement is important because oversupply is further undoing the oil market’s structure, & there may be more trouble to come as the world quickly runs out of storage capacity. The collapse in demand has shut refineries from South Africa to Canada, leading to even more excess barrels in the market.
U.S. Labor Department: The U.S. lost 701,000 jobs in March as the growing coronavirus pandemic devastated the American economy & ended more than a decade of uninterrupted employment growth. The unemployment rate rose to 4.4% from 3.5% in February, the largest 1-month jump since January 1975.
The coronavirus economic freeze could cost 47M jobs & send the unemployment rate past 32% (Great Depression Levels). At-risk jobs ultimately could be lost to a government-induced economic freeze, aimed at halting the spread of COVID-19. A record 3.3M Americans filed initial jobless claims for the week ended March 21 & economists expect another 2.65M or more to join them this week.
The Russian central bank will suspend its gold purchases; manufacturing activity in China rebounded; up to 240K Americans could die as a result of the coronavirus; the European Commission questions Viktor Orban’s emergency powers; the U.S. failed to lock down crucial medical supplies; “Chinese Starbucks” shares fall due to accounting fraud; the unemployment rate in the US rose to 4.4%.
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