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The Week in Business: more job gains

    The Department of Labor reported another solid month of job growth in April on Friday. U.S. employers have added 428,000 jobs, the ministry said, the same as the revised figure for March. The unemployment rate remained at 3.6 percent in April. The United States has regained nearly 95 percent of the 22 million jobs lost at the height of the pandemic lockdowns. Employers’ push for workers as the economy recovered helped push wages up — the April survey found that average hourly wages were 5.5 percent higher than a year earlier — but those gains for workers were largely offset by a rise in prices. The labor supply has lagged behind vacancies and the labor force has unexpectedly contracted in April.

    The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by half a percentage point on Wednesday, the largest increase since 2000, and made a plan to reduce its massive bond holdings — decisive measures to cool off rapid inflation. Fed chairman Jerome H. Powell said half a percentage point increases were “on the table” for upcoming meetings, but he dismissed the idea that policymakers are considering an even bigger move. The Fed’s move came after the consumer spending price index — the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation — showed prices rose 6.6 percent over the year through March, the fastest rate of increase since 1982.

    Billionaire mogul Elon Musk revealed on Thursday that he had raised about $7 billion from 18 entities to fund his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter. The investors came from a mix of Mr. Musk’s Silicon Valley connections — including venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz and tech moguls like Oracle’s Larry Ellison — as well as cryptocurrency firms, family offices, sovereign wealth funds, real estate companies and mutual fund companies, the file shows. . The new funding commitments were a sign that Mr. Musk, who leads electric car maker Tesla and rocket company SpaceX, was still figuring out his plans for Twitter after signing a deal to buy the company on April 25. It was unclear how Mr. Musk would execute his financing plans, which included $21 billion in his own cash and a $12.5 billion loan for his shares in Tesla. The new commitments reduce the size of the loan against those shares.

    Stock market swings have become more dramatic than usual. Although markets recovered after the Federal Reserve raised rates on Wednesday, they collapsed on Thursday, highlighting Wall Street’s concerns about what the Fed’s campaign to slow inflation will mean for the economy. The S&P 500 fell 3.6 percent on Thursday, after gaining 3 percent on Wednesday. The plunge wiped out hopes of a quick recovery after April turned out to be Wall Street’s worst month since March 2020. The Nasdaq composite fell 5 percent, its biggest drop since June 2020. Treasury yields rose, with yields at 10. -year US Treasury notes, a measure of borrowing costs across the economy, rose above 3 percent, reaching its highest level since 2018.

    The Consumer Price Index for April – the Ministry of Labor’s monthly report on prices for goods and services – will be released on Wednesday. Economists will look to see if the numbers indicate that the country’s inflation crisis is showing signs of peaking. Last month, the report found that prices in March were 8.5 percent higher than a year earlier, the fastest pace in 12 months since 1981. A rise in gasoline prices due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, rising costs for food and rent and strong demand contributed.

    Rivian, a potential competitor of the electric car manufacturer Tesla, will announce its profit figures for the first three months of this year on Wednesday. After some manufacturing challenges – with Rivian slashing supply targets for the year – amid a time of global supply chain turmoil, the earnings report may show whether the company is rebounding. Both Amazon and Ford reported losing billions of dollars in the first three months of the year after the value of their stake in Rivian fell. Rivian, which makes a high-end truck and SUV, faced a backlash after it announced a 20 percent price increase for two of its vehicles, a decision it subsequently reversed.

    Energy giant Shell reported its largest quarterly profit ever on Thursday, and BP reported its highest profit in a decade on Tuesday, amid rising oil and natural gas prices. The Amazon Labor Union lost its vote at a second Staten Island warehouse, after taking a historic victory last month at a larger Amazon facility nearby. Stationary bike manufacturer Peloton, an early pandemic winner who lost steam as people returned to gyms, will report profits this week.