Economists surveyed by FactSet had predicted 21 million private payroll job losses last month.  Big businesses with more than 500 employees reduced workforce by almost 9 million. Medium-sized firms (50-499 employees) shed 5.27 million. Companies with fewer than 50 workers cut some 6 million positions. Service sectors shed just over 16 million;  trade, transportation and utilities lost 3.44 million jobs.

In the week ending April 11, an additional 5.245 million initial unemployment insurance claims were filed in the US, as the US economy continues to get crushed by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the April 11 week jobless claims were lower than the 5.803 million in claims expected by analysts polled by FactSet.Over the past month, nearly 22 million jobless claims were filed, the highest on record. Continuing jobless claims  was 11.9 million for the latest reported week. Several analysts and economists expect job losses in April to be as high as 20 million, which would translate into a jobless rate of around 15%.

Banks might be the first in line to seize the $1,200 coronavirus pandemic relief checks,  according to a news report.  The American Prospect emphasized that Congress did not exempt Cares Act payments from private debt collection – which means, banks have the power to  use the transferred checks to settle consumers’ delinquent loan or past-due fees.  Congress exempted individuals from debt collection only if the debt is owed to federal or state agencies, unless the debt involves a child-support payment.   

 According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), COVID-19 crisis is likely to push the global economy into  the worst recession since the Great Depression. “It is very likely that this year the global economy will experience its worst recession since the Great Depression, surpassing that seen during the global financial crisis a decade ago,” said IMF Economic Counsellor Gita Gopinath, in the latest World Economic Outlook report.  The U.S economy is predicted to contract by -5.9 percent. However, IMF also mentioned that if the coronavirus pandemic subsides in the second half of 2020 and if effective policy actions are taken around the globe, the global economic growth will rebound to 5.8 percent next year. 

The Federal Reserve launched an additional $2.3 trillion in lending program for small and mid-size US businesses as well as local governments, to support the economy amid COVID-19 pandemic. On Thursday, the US central bank announced that it will pump upto $600 billion into small and mid-size companies, as part of its Main Street lending facility.Loans will be directed towards businesses with upto 10,000 employees or less than $2.5 billion in revenue. The Fed will also directly inject up to $500 billion into local governments, by directly buying municipal bonds with up to two year’s duration.

The figure represents the largest monthly job losses since March 2009.  leisure and hospitality accounted for almost two-thirds of the job losses, concentrated in food services and drinking places.Other industries that shed jobs significantly included healthcare and social assistance, professional and business services, retail trade, and construction The full-month unemployment rate could be even worse, since the recent data reflects developments up to March 21 - before states began implementing non-essential shutdowns of business . On Thursday, it was revealed that the initial jobless claims in the US was 6.6 million in the week ended March 28, which is almost double the new claims made just a week earlier.

Congress and the White House reached a historic, $2 trillion stimulus bill aimed to revive the US  economy from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The economic relief package, will include $250 billion for direct payments to individuals and families, $350 billion in small business loans, $250 billion in unemployment insurance benefits and $500 billion in loans for distressed companies. The package has set aside $50 billion of loans to U.S. airlines, and $150 billion for hospitals.  

The U.S. economy is set to contract by a worrisome -24% in the second quarter, according to Goldman Sachs economists. With the Covid-19 outbreak, Goldman Sachs’ analysis is probably one of the most grimmest outlooks.The outlook represents the sharpest single-quarter decline in gross domestic product since the U.S. began reported GDP in its current form. Goldman Sachs  economists expect US unemployment to surge to 9% rate in the next couple of quarters, citing an apparent  rise  in job losses happening very quickly.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate voted to approve an emergency aid package meant to cushion some of the economic damage from coronavirus crisis. The Senate voted 90-8 to pass legislation on providing more than $100 billion in aid, including financing free testing for the virus, expanded paid sick leave, additional food aid and other urgent steps. Details of the plan were worked out last week between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin. The bill will now go to President Donald Trump for signing into law.Congress and the White House are now discussing additional economic stimulus legislation.

The Federal Reserve announced that it will set up a Commercial Paper Funding Facility  to bolster liquidity in commercial paper market. The central bank said it will create a special purpose vehicle, under the direction of the Treasury, to purchase short-term, high-quality unsecured debts issued by companies.  Commercial paper markets directly finance a wide range of economic activity, supplying credit and funding for auto loans and mortgages as well as liquidity to meet the operational needs of a range of companies, as mentioned by the Fed. The Fed hopes to boost liquidity in the commercial paper market which is facing risks from the Coronavirus crisis.

The Federal Reserve on Sunday slashed the Fed’s funds  rate by an additional -100 bps to combat economic risks from Coronavirus crisis. On Sunday, the Fed lowered its policy rate by 100 bps on Sunday to a range of 0% to 0.25%, which is the record low last seen during the global financial crisis in 2008.stocks plunged  after being halted from trading soon after markets opened.

 Economists polled by Reuters had predicted  a deficit of $46.1 billion for January. The coronavirus crisis has  disrupted production and supply chains related to and in China, and is  a potential factor behind the lower imports in the US.US goods exported to and imported from China both were lower in January, compared to December. US overall goods imports fell -2.0% from prior month to $203.4 billion.

While  sell-offs was the  narrative in equity markets on Friday, plummeting bond yields reflected investors’  massive rush to safety. On Friday, the S&P 500 lost -1.7%.Each is down more than -10% from their most recent 52-week high. On Thursday, the Federal Reserve announced a policy rate cut of 0.5 percentage points.

In a major surprise move, the Federal Reserve cut its policy rate  by 50 basis points Tuesday,  to combat risks from the coronavirus crisis. Following a meeting of G-7 finance ministers and central bankers where they expressed resolve to combat risks from Coronavirus, the Fed announced its decision to lower the federal fund rate to 1-1.25%.It's the biggest rate cut since the fall of 2008 . The Fed cited “evolving risks” to the economy due to Coronavirus crisis. The S&P 500 spiked 37 points higher following the announcemnt, but slipped soon after. 10-year Treasury bond yields climbed to 1.103% while 2-year note yields traded at 0.78%

IHS Markit Ltd. reported its fiscal fourth-quarter 2019 earnings and revenues – both of which surpassed Zacks Consensus Estimate. The information provider company’s adjusted earnings for the quarter came in at 65 cents per share, beating the consensus estimate by 6.6%.Revenues increased + 5% year-over-year for the quarter. Revenues at the company’s Resources segment rose +75 year-over-year to $237.6 million; recurring revenues of this segment grew +5% organically. The Transportation segment’s revenue increased +9% year-over-year to $324.5 million.

While that might have assuaged trade war fears, certain elements of the apparent truce still remain unclear for now. Thanks to the phase one agreement, China held off tariffs that were scheduled for Sunday on US goods.The US also withdrew from its prior plan of slapping 15% tariffs on $160 billion worth of Chinese imports by Sunday.  Reuters reported that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told reporters that China would buy at least $16 billion more agricultural goods in each of the next two years,  adding to the 2017 baseline of $24 billion.

The year-over-year wage growth rate came in at + 3.1%, above analysts’ forecasts of +3%. The latest jobs reports potentially spells hope amid uncertainties related to US-China trade relations, slowing business fixed investment and weakening manufacturing output of recent times. Manufacturing sector added 54,000 positions in November, out of which 41,000 were in auto manufacturing.General Motors workers, who came back from their October strike, helped in boosting job gains. U.S.

Just a day after reports surfaced of U.S. administrators considering delisting some Chinese firms from U.S. stock exchanges, a U.S. Treasury official said that there are no such plans currently. Citing  people familiar with and the matter, a Bloomberg report indicated on Friday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is pondering ways to limit U.S. investors’ portfolio flows to China, including delisting of Chinese companies from U.S. stock exchanges, putting a lid on Americans’ government pension funds exposure to China, and capping the Chinese companies included in stock indexes managed by U.S. firms. Responding to the same, Treasury spokeswoman Monica Crowley said that the administration is not  planning on blocking Chinese companies from listing shares on U.S. stock exchanges at this time. According to Bloomberg’s Friday report (citing people familiar with the matter), administration officials for weeks have been considering their options, and Treasury has be

On Sunday, the U.S. kicked off its latest round of tariff on China goods. The U.S.is  imposing 15% tariff rate on a range of imports from China, including footwear, smart watches and flat-panel televisions  - which are largely consumer goods.As part of this fresh round of levies, tariffs on $112 billion worth of Chinese goods have already been slapped on Sunday, with plans to impose duties on another $160 billion in mid-December. The tariffs prior to Sunday’s announcement were more focused on intermediate inputs like industrial components. According to the American Apparel and Footwear Association, 91.6% of Chinese apparel imports will be affected by the new round of tariffs, while 68.4% of home textiles and 52.5% of footwear would be hit as well. The remainder of the tariffs on China, planned for December, are expected to include cell phones and laptops as well. However, U.S. President Donald Trump has indicated that U.S. negotiations/talks with China are still und

President Donald Trump had threatened earlier this month that a new round of 10% tariffs could be slapped on an additional $300 billion worth of Chinese imports.But Tuesday’s announcement could potentially assuage concerns on trade war intensity, atleast as of now. Trump said Tuesday that his decision to delay tariffs  was to mitigate an impact on holiday shopping.