Trump faces an increasingly tough crowd President Trump won over Americans with a promise to return the country to “boom” times of low taxes and deregulation. Fifty days into office, he’s now pitching an economy in “a period of transition” for which he can’t rule out a recession. His stay-patient message may get tested on … Read more
Delta Air Lines on Monday cut its financial forecast for the first three months of the year, saying that growing economic concerns among businesses and consumers had lowered demand for domestic travel. The airline’s warning was the latest sign that the U.S. economy, or at least perceptions of it, have been weakening in part because … Read more
Trump stays the course Even President Trump has acknowledged that his pugnacious economic agenda is looking increasingly risky. Asked on Fox News this weekend if he expected a recession this year, he allowed only, “I hate to predict things like that.” That dodge comes as his trade war continues to escalate and companies warn that … Read more
Global stock markets dropped on Monday as investors worried about the health of the U.S. economy and the destabilizing effects of tariffs of business. Futures for the S&P 500 fell 1.5 percent in premarket trading, suggesting that when the U.S. market officially opens it will extend last week’s losses, which were the steepest in several … Read more
The United States buys more steel from Canada than from any other country, and those imports will become much more expensive under tariffs President Trump intends to impose this week. That’s good news to Stephen Capone, president of Capone Iron Corporation of Rowley, Mass., which makes steel stairs, handrails, gratings and other products and has … Read more
The railroad tracks that slice through downtown Freehold, N.J., used to be lined by dozens of men, waiting for work. Each morning, the men — day laborers, almost all from Latin America and undocumented — would be scooped up by local contractors in pickup trucks for jobs painting, landscaping, removing debris. In recent weeks, the … Read more
It might be a moment of hush before chaos ensues, or it may be business as usual. U.S. employers added 151,000 jobs in February, the first full month under the new Trump administration, the Labor Department reported on Friday. The gain extended a streak of job growth to 50 months. The unemployment rate ticked up … Read more
President Trump inherited an economy that was, by most conventional measures, firing on all cylinders. Wages, consumer spending and corporate profits were rising. Unemployment was low. The inflation rate, though higher than normal, was falling. Just weeks into Mr. Trump’s term, the outlook is gloomier. Measures of business and consumer confidence have plunged. The stock … Read more
Who’s in the room President Trump’s tariff policy has given corporate chiefs and investors a serious case of whiplash. While the markets cheered on Wednesday’s delay on auto sector levies, setting off an impressive late-day rally, the move also adds to the confusion about what comes next. The latest: There’s increasing buzz that agricultural products … Read more
Macy’s, the largest department store in the United States, saw slightly improved sales across all of its stores during the holiday season, but like other retailers it warned of a potentially rocky year ahead. Macy’s said comparable sales at stores that it owns were down 1.1 percent in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Feb. … Read more