The daily business briefing: May 7, 2020

1. April payrolls dropped by record 20.2 million jobs

American businesses cut 20.2 million jobs in April as the coronavirus crisis forced widespread shutdowns, according to the ADP National Employment Report released Wednesday. The private sector payroll losses were the worst ADP has reported since it started tracking the jobs numbers in 2002. Previously, the worst month was February 2009, when private payrolls dropped by 834,665. "Job losses of this scale are unprecedented," ADP Research Institute co-head Ahu Yildirmaz said. The April total alone was more than double the total losses during the Great Recession. And the report doesn't reflect the full scale of the losses. The report is based on a sample from the week of April 12. More than 30 million Americans filed initial unemployment claims in six weeks.

CNBC

2. GM reports a profit despite coronavirus shutdowns

General Motors reported Wednesday that it made a $294 million first-quarter profit despite plant shutdowns forced by the coronavirus crisis. Still, it was a rough quarter, with the automaker's net profit down 86.7 percent compared to the first quarter a year ago due to drops in production and sales. The coronavirus crisis cost the company an estimated $1.4 billion before taxes. Crosstown Detroit rival Ford reported in late April that it lost $2.2 billion in the first quarter, and expected to lose another $5 billion, before taxes, in the second quarter. Industry experts said GM was the U.S. automaker in the best position to weather the crisis because it spent years cutting costs and getting out of unprofitable markets.

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Detroit Free Press CNBC

3. China reports unexpected rise in exports

China on Thursday reported that its dollar-denominated exports rose unexpectedly rose in April. The country's General Administration of Customs said exports rose by 3.5 percent over the same period a year ago. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a decline of 15.7 percent. Citigroup's chief economist for China, Liu Li-gang, had predicted that medical exports would boost the figure as China shipped supplies around the world. Imports fell by 14.2 percent in April due to restrictions on movement imposed to fight the coronavirus pandemic, signaling more trouble ahead as the global economy falls into a recession. China's April trade surplus was $45.34 billion, far above the $6.35 billion predicted by economists polled by Reuters. In March, exports fell by 6.6 percent in the world's second largest economy.

CNBC Reuters

4. Sinclair Broadcasting faces record $48 million fine

The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday that Sinclair Broadcast Group would pay a $48 million fine to resolve complaints stemming from the company's attempt to buy another TV station operator, Tribune Media. The fine is the largest civil penalty the FCC has ever imposed on a broadcaster. "Sinclair's conduct during its attempt to merge with Tribune was completely unacceptable," said Ajit Pai, the commission's chairman. "Today's penalty, along with the failure of the Sinclair/Tribune transaction, should serve as a cautionary tale to other licensees seeking commission approval of a transaction in the future." Sinclair, which is pushing to rival Fox News as a conservative media leader, said it was pleased to be putting the matter behind it and moving forward.

The New York Times

5. Stock futures rise ahead of jobless-claims report

U.S. stock index futures surged early Thursday as investors awaited the federal government's next report on weekly new jobless claims. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq were up by more than 1 percent three hours before the opening bell. The Dow and the S&P dropped by 0.9 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively, on Wednesday, while the Nasdaq gained 0.5 percent. Economists expect the Labor Department to report that another 3.05 million workers filed for jobless benefits last week. That would bring the total over the last six weeks to a record 33 million Americans applying for unemployment benefits as businesses across the nation shut down or reduced operations due to the coronavirus crisis.

CNBC