The daily business briefing: August 3, 2018

1. Labor Department reports another month of solid job gains

U.S. employers added 157,000 jobs in July, fewer than the 194,000 economists polled by MarketWatch expected but enough to nudge the unemployment rate down to 3.9 percent from 4 percent, near an 18-year low. The July figure was considered solid but it was down from 248,000 added jobs in June, a figure adjusted up from an initial report of 213,000. Strong spending by consumers and businesses is boosting growth and increasing demand for workers across the economy, and the tightening job market has been slowly pushing wages higher, too. Average wages rose by 7 cents or 0.3 percent to $27.05 per hour, and yearly pay rate increases remained unchanged at 2.7 percent. U.S. stock futures pared early gains after the report.

MarketWatch The Associated Press

2. Apple becomes first trillion-dollar U.S. company

Apple on Thursday became the first U.S. company in history to reach a market capitalization of $1 trillion. The iPhone maker reached the once-unthinkable milestone after climbing back over 21 years from being a near-bankrupt computer maker to the creator of groundbreaking and enormously popular consumer tech products, from the iMac to the iPod to the iPhone. Apple is now one of a tiny cluster of massive technology and internet companies, including Amazon, Facebook, and Google, that have led a nine-year bull market and put the broader economy on track for its fastest growth rate in a decade. Apple's stock price rose, giving it a new 13-figure valuation, after it reported the latest in a string of strong quarterly earnings, with its profit rising nearly a third to $11.5 billion.

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The New York Times

3. Report: Trump donor agreed to pay Cohen $10 million in nuclear plant deal

A big Trump campaign donor, real-estate developer Franklin Haney, agreed to pay President Trump's former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen $10 million for help getting successful funding for a nuclear power plant, The Wall Street Journal reported late Thursday, citing anonymous sources. The assistance allegedly included securing a $5 billion government loan. Cohen is under federal investigation for possible charges including unregistered lobbying, campaign finance violations, and bank fraud, the Journal reported. Success fees like the one the Journal described are considered unethical but not illegal. Haney's lawyer denied the report.

The Wall Street Journal MarketWatch

4. Trump administration unveils emission standards rollback

The Trump administration on Thursday released its long-anticipated proposal to freeze antipollution and fuel-efficiency standards for cars, dialing back one of former President Barack Obama's major efforts to fight climate change. The plan would halt a 2012 rule requiring automakers to nearly double passenger-vehicle fuel economy to an average of 54 miles per gallon by 2025. It also holds off on making manufacturers produce more hybrids, electric vehicles, and other fuel-efficient vehicles. The Trump administration rules also would challenge the rights of California and other states to set their own, tougher exhaust emission standards. California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) said his state would fight the policy. "For Trump to now destroy a law first enacted at the request of Ronald Reagan five decades ago is a betrayal and an assault on the health of Americans everywhere," he said.

The New York Times

5. Heineken strikes $3.1 billion deal with China's top brewer

Heineken has agreed to a $3.1 billion partnership with China Resources Enterprises, the parent company of China's largest brewer. The deal will give the Dutch brewer greater access to the world's biggest beer market. Heineken, the world's No. 2 brewer, will get a 40 percent stake in China Resources Beer, maker of top-selling Snow Beer. Under the deal, China Resources Enterprises will buy 0.9 percent of Heineken for $537.5 million. The deal will help Heineken expand in China, and CR Beer abroad, Heineken's new partner said. "We believe we can win together in this new era of the Chinese beer market, in which the premium segment will become increasingly important," said Chen Lang, chairman of China Resources Enterprise.

Reuters