For about a year now, the labor market has existed in a state of eerie calm: Not many people were losing their jobs or quitting, but not many of those seeking work were getting job offers. The mass layoffs now underway across the federal government, along with its employees who are voluntarily heading for the … 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
When the White House finally released the text of Mr. Trump’s orders on Thursday evening, it appeared that some of the tariffs — those covered in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement that Mr. Trump negotiated and celebrated in his first term — were indeed permanently suspended. Other tariffs were merely paused. Most everyone involved was confused, … Read more
Air traffic was disrupted across Florida when a SpaceX Starship, a prototype of the spacecraft that Elon Musk says will one day take people to Mars, disintegrated during its latest test flight. For the second consecutive time, the upper stage of the most powerful rocket ever built malfunctioned. It started spinning out of control after … Read more
Athena didn’t crash. But what did happen to it? Hours after the 15-foot-tall robotic spacecraft arrived at the moon’s surface, closer to the lunar south pole than any spacecraft has been, it remained unclear whether its touchdown was smooth enough to perform its intended work, or if it toppled over in the process, potentially limiting … Read more
Walgreens Boots Alliance said on Thursday that it had agreed to be acquired by Sycamore Partners, a private equity firm, in a $10 billion deal that will take the struggling pharmacy chain out of the glare of public markets. Walgreens has faced declining prescription reimbursements and falling sales at its retail locations for years — … Read more
Jordan Tkacsik was perusing his friend Paul Bartlett’s sports memorabilia and trading card shop last year when he noticed something unusual in a section full of Pokémon collectibles. It was a Cheetos cheese puff, but not just any Cheeto. Rather, it was a Flamin’ Hot Cheeto that bore an uncanny resemblance to Charizard, an orange … Read more
Stocks tumbled on Thursday, adding to a string of recent losses, even after the Trump administration offered a reprieve on tariffs on Canada and Mexico. The S&P 500 dropped 1.8 percent, taking the slide for the index this week to 3.6 percent and putting it on course for its worst week since a banking crisis … Read more
At a confirmation hearing for Dr. Marty Makary on Thursday, senators focused heavily on the safety of the abortion pill, with Republican lawmakers urging him to restrict access and Democratic lawmakers demanding that he maintain its current availability. Dr. Makary, President Trump’s nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration, signaled that he shared Republicans’ … Read more
When the United States signed a free-trade agreement with Canada and Mexico more than 30 years ago, the premise was that partnering with two other thriving economies would also benefit America. This week, President Trump abruptly scrapped that idea. He imposed a sweeping 25 percent tariff on the roughly $1 trillion of imports that Mexico … Read more