The daily business briefing: November 1, 2019

1. 12th UAW official charged in corruption investigation

Federal prosecutors charged a 12th United Auto Workers official with alleged corruption Thursday. The union official, Edward Robinson, was accused of conspiring with colleagues to embezzle more than $1.5 million in union money to fuel "lavish lifestyles," and to defraud the U.S., both felonies punishable with up to five years in prison. The alleged crimes occurred between 2010 and this year. Robinson led a union community action program council where UAW President Gary Jones served as director. Investigators in the widening corruption scandal raided the homes of Jones and his predecessor, Dennis Williams, in August.

CNBC

2. Altria slashes value of its Juul investment due to vaping backlash

Tobacco giant Altria Group said Thursday that it had taken a major hit from its investment in e-cigarette maker Juul Labs due to the recent backlash over vaping problems. Marlboro-maker Altria, which invested $12.8 billion in Juul in December 2018, said it was devaluing its 35 percent stake in the company by $4.5 billion. Altria said the move reflected the "increased likelihood" that the Food and Drug Administration would "remove flavored e-vapor products from the market." Juul has struggled in the last year as it was targeted in new federal and state investigations into how its marketing practices affected the sharp rise of vaping by teenagers. Also, state and local authorities have issued vaping bans due to an outbreak of lung injuries and deaths linked to vaping-product use.

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The New York Times The Associated Press

3. Job growth expected to have slowed in October

The Labor Department releases its monthly employment report on Friday, and economists expect it to show that job growth slowed sharply. The 40-day General Motors strike by United Auto Workers members hurt the October job numbers, but hiring already was slowing. The unemployment rate is expected to inch up from 3.5 percent, near a 50-year low. Due to the affect of the GM strike, however, economists warn that it will be difficult to see from the data how strong the labor market is and how hiring is affecting consumers. "There is going to be more noise than signal in this employment report because of the GM strike,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics.

Reuters

4. WeWork ex-CEO's chief of staff files pregnancy-discrimination complaint

The former chief of staff of ousted WeWork co-founder and leader Adam Neumann filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Thursday accusing Neumann of pregnancy discrimination. The ex-employee, Medina Bardhi, said Neumann and other WeWork officials subjected her to a pattern of unfair treatment and derision. She said Neumann used words like "vacation" and "retirement" to refer to her maternity leave. Another top WeWork official allegedly told Bardhi, "Wow, you're getting big," in front of another colleague. Bardhi also said in the complaint that Neumann smoked marijuana on a corporate jet, leaving her and others to inhale second-hand smoke, and that women at the company made significantly less than male counterparts.

The New York Times Gizmodo

5. Stocks struggle on fresh skepticism on U.S.-China trade progress

U.S. stock index futures struggled early Friday after Wall Street closed down on Thursday due to renewed concern over the prospects of a U.S.-China trade deal. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 0.5 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed with more slight losses. The losses came after a published report raised doubts about a trade deal, even though President Trump said the two sides were working on finding a location for a meeting where he and Chinese President Xi Jinping could sign "phase one" of a deal to tone down their trade war. "It's mainly the concerns about whether there will be some kind of trade deal with China, both the first round and the bigger agreement that, obviously, appears further away," said Kate Warne, chief investment strategist at Edward Jones.

The Associated Press