The daily business briefing: May 3, 2017

Auto sales fall in their longest slump since 2009, Apple announces an unexpected drop in iPhone sales, and more

An Apple iPhone 7s in London
(Image credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images)

1. Auto sales decline in longest slump since 2009

U.S. automakers reported Tuesday that their sales declined for the fourth straight month in April. That makes the slump their longest since 2009 during the financial crisis. "The market is tapped out," said Adam Silverleib, vice president of Silko Honda, a Massachusetts dealership. He added that recent consumer optimism "hasn't translated into what's happening in dealerships where we’re trying to sell cars." The top six auto makers in the U.S. market all posted retreating sales that were worse than expected, sending Ford and Fiat Chrysler stock falling by more than 4 percent, and General Motors by nearly 3 percent. Manufacturers already were getting ready to cut production, which could spell job losses just as President Trump is counting on the car industry to help add U.S. jobs.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.