The U.S. economy peaked in February before sliding into a recession as the coronavirus pandemic hit, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, a group that’s considered the official determiners of when recessions begin and end.
Why it matters: There was no doubt the U.S. was in the midst of a recession, given the shelter-in-place measures that brought economic activity to a near halt and caused millions of layoffs — but this is the group's fastest call yet, as it's sometimes taken as long as a year to make such calls in the past.
AstraZeneca approached Gilead Sciences last month about a possible merger, although the two companies aren't currently in formal talks, as first reported by Bloomberg.
Why it matters: This still feels highly unlikely but, if consummated, would be the largest health care merger in history. AstraZeneca has a current market cap of around $140 billion, while Gilead's is $96 billion. It also could portend a rash of pharma deal-talk ahead of treatments or vaccines for COVID-19.
BP plans to cut its global workforce by 10,000 jobs, or 14%, with most of the reduction occurring by year's end, the company announced this morning.
Driving the news: "The majority of people affected will be in office-based jobs. We are protecting the frontline of the company and, as always, prioritizing safe and reliable operations," CEO Bernard Looney said in an email to staff that he made public.
A new report from NYU finds that a heavy reliance on contractors to handle content moderation at Facebook, Google and YouTube has led to bad working conditions and a lack of attention to real-world harms caused by inflammatory or deceptive content.
Why it matters: A great deal of attention is paid to these platforms' content policies, but much of the actual moderation work is being left to people who don't even directly work for the companies.
The Nasdaq hit a new record high on Friday and the S&P 500 and Dow are close to doing the same, but the rally has not been universal, the Wall Street Journal reports.
What it means: "Most stocks are down this year, many by 20% or more. A few fortunate winners have generated big gains, fueling the misperception that losses have been minimal. The result is a market that isn’t as irrationally exuberant as it might appear."
American Airlines is looking to pack more passengers onto flights in the coming months and unlike many peers has not instituted a seating cap to enforce social distancing.
Why it matters: That drive for more ticket sales at the possible expense of customer safety may be what's helping its stock outperform other major airlines that have put policies in place.
Economists have long been disparaged for inaccurate predictions, but Friday's jobs report laid bare a new problem for the world's largest economy: questionable data.
Why it matters: Economic data is a crucial element in the movement of asset prices that determine what Americans pay for just about everything.
