The daily business briefing: June 3, 2016

1. Jobs report falls far short of expectations

The Labor Department reported Friday that the U.S. added just 38,000 new jobs in May, far below the 155,000 new nonfarm jobs economists predicted. The monthly job gains were the smallest since the fall of 2010. The Labor Department also said that 59,000 fewer jobs than initially reported were created in the two previous months. The unemployment rate fell from 5 percent to 4.7 percent — the lowest level since December 2007, before the Great Recession — as hundreds of thousands of people left the labor force. U.S. stock futures dropped on the news, which could push the Federal Reserve to delay raising interest rates.

MarketWatch The New York Times

2. Oil prices stay strong as OPEC meeting ends with no output change

Crude oil prices held steady around $50 per barrel on Friday after OPEC leaders ended a Thursday meeting in Vienna without agreeing on an output freeze to reduce supplies and boost prices. Participants in the meeting said the sense of urgency was fading as supply and demand moved back into balance on their own. "The worst was over," Qatari energy minister Mohammed Al-Sada said. "The market is heading towards rebalancing."

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Reuters CNN

3. Aetna raises $13 billion for Humana acquisition

Aetna sold $13 billion in bonds on Thursday to finance its $34 billion takeover of fellow health insurer Humana. Shares of both companies rose by more than 4 percent, as investors interpreted Aetna's move as a sign that the deal is not meeting resistance from antitrust regulators. Aetna repeated its belief that it will wrap up the acquisition later this year. Still, there are no guarantees. Other companies raised funds for acquisitions only to have antitrust concerns block the deals.

MarketWatch

4. Lew presses China to reduce excess capacity for the sake of global markets

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said Friday that the U.S. would press China to reduce the excess capacity in its economy because it was "distorting markets and important global commodities." The remarks, which Lew made in Seoul, came ahead of the two-day U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue scheduled to start Monday in Beijing. China has promised to reduce excess capacity in some areas, such as steel and aluminum, but following through will be tricky because it would force millions of workers to find new jobs.

Bloomberg

5. Trump vows to reopen Trump U., criticizes judge presiding over lawsuit

Donald Trump vowed on Thursday to reopen Trump University once a lawsuit over the defunct for-profit school is resolved. Trump also escalated his criticism of U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is presiding over the case, saying the judge's Mexican heritage represents a conflict because of Trump's promise to crack down on illegal immigration over the Mexican border. "I'm building a wall. It's an inherent conflict of interest," Trump told The Wall Street Journal. A University of Pennsylvania law professor called Trump's claim that Curiel shouldn't preside "absolute nonsense."

MarketWatch The Wall Street Journal