Business Highlights

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Hiring held last month but signs of caution as virus worsens

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defying fears of another slowdown, U.S. businesses kept hiring at a solid pace in October. Yet there are signs they remain cautious about the economy’s future as the pandemic worsens. The Labor Department said Friday that employers added 638,000 jobs and the unemployment rate tumbled a full percentage point to 6.9%, extending what has been a faster recovery than many economists expected in the spring. But the pace of hiring isn’t robust enough to rapidly soak up the millions of Americans who were thrown out of work by the pandemic recession.

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AP Explains: 5 key takeaways from the October jobs report

WASHINGTON (AP) — The American job market is clawing its way back — steadily if slowly — from the devastation inflicted by the coronavirus-caused recession. What no one knows is just how long it might take for workers to be made whole. In October, the government said Friday, employers added 638,000 jobs. It was a solid gain, more than economists had expected. And it was even stronger than the headline number suggested. Yet even with last month’s hiring, the economy has regained barely 12 million of the 22 million jobs it lost in March and April, when the virus suddenly paralyzed much of the economy.

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US consumer borrowing up $16.2 billion in September

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumers increased their borrowing in September, helped by the first gain in the category that covers credit cards in seven months. The Federal Reserve reported that total borrowing rose by $16.2 billion in September, rebounding after a drop of $6.9 billion in August. The increase included a $3.98 billion increase in the category that includes credit cars, the first advance since February. Credit card use had fallen for six straight months as households cut back on use of credit cards once the pandemic hit and millions of people lost their jobs. The category that covers auto loans and student loans increased by $12.2 billion in September. This category has been rising steadily since a $6.9 billion drop in April.

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Fed signals readiness to do more for economy as virus rages

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate at a record low near zero Thursday and signaled its readiness to do more if needed to support an economy under threat from a worsening coronavirus pandemic. The Fed announced no new actions after its latest policy meeting but left the door open to provide further assistance in the coming months. The central bank again pledged to use its “full range of tools to support the U.S. economy in this challenging time.” The economy in recent weeks has weakened after mounting a tentative recovery from the deep pandemic recession in early spring.

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FDA panel reviews 1st new Alzheimer’s drug in 2 decades

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. regulators are deciding whether to approve the first drug that’s claimed to slow mental decline from Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia. A panel of outside experts meets Friday to advise the Food and Drug Administration on the drug. The evidence is murky. One study suggested the drug helped, but a second study did not. Some people want the FDA to require a third study while others want approval now. The drug likely would be very expensive and could have a profound impact on Medicare. It’s given through an IV once a month.

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Stocks close a blistering week, even as uncertainty lingers

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street took a breather Friday after a blistering rally that gave the market its biggest weekly gain since April and indicated investors see plenty of benefits from more gridlock in Washington. The S&P 500 inched down by less than 0.1%, leaving its blockbuster gain for the week at 7.3%. It was the first loss of the week for the index. While stocks cooled, the bond market got a shot of optimism about the economy from a report showing U.S. employers hired more workers last month than economists expected. Treasury yields climbed, a sign of improved confidence.

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Italy shuts down 4 regions as Europe tries lighter lockdowns

MILAN (AP) — The center of Milan stood remarkably empty as luxury boutiques, jewelry shops and other non-essential businesses in Italy’s vibrant financial capital closed on the first day of a partial lockdown. Restrictions imposed in four Italian regions on Friday to stop the coronavirus’s resurgence allow a great deal more freedom than the nationwide near-total lockdown Italy was under for 10 weeks starting in March, but nonetheless brought recriminations from regional governments that feel unfairly targeted. Italy’s move echoes those in many parts of Europe, where infections are surging again, but governments have been reluctant to impose the kind of nationwide shutdowns they did in the spring because of the terrible economic damage they did.

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North Denmark in lockdown over mutated virus in mink farms

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — More than a quarter million Danes have gone into lockdown in a northern region of the country where a mutated variation of the coronavirus has infected minks being farmed for their fur, leading to an order to kill millions of the animals. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Friday’s move was contain the virus, and it came two days after the government ordered the cull of all 15 million minks bred at Denmark’s 1,139 mink farms. Health experts say that tests need to be done but that there is so far no evidence that the mutated version poses an increased danger to people or vaccine efforts.

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Marriott bounces back as activity in China surges

Marriott is reporting dramatic improvements in the third quarter as travel demand rebounded in China. Average occupancy at hotels in China was 61% during the quarter, down just 10% from a year ago. Occupancy in North America was 37% as some leisure demand returned. That was down 40% from the July-September period a year ago. The world’s largest hotel company on Friday reported earnings of $100 million in the July-September period, down from $387 million in the same quarter a year ago. It said 94% of its hotels are now open worldwide. Earnings, adjusted for one-time items, were 6 cents per share. Wall Street had been expecting an 8 cent loss, according to a survey of analysts by FactSet.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 66.78 points, or 0.2%, to 28,323.40. The Nasdaq composite edged up by 4.30 points, or less than 0.1%, to 11,895.23. The S&P 500 inched down 1.01 point, or less than 0.1%, to 3,509.44. The Russell 2000 small-cap index fell 15.89 points, or 1%, to 1,644.16.