WASHINGTON (Reuters) &#8211; U.S. employers announced another 262,649 job cuts in July as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to weigh on demand, the latest indication that the labor market recovery is losing steam.



The layoffs reported by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray &amp; Christmas on Thursday were up 54% from June.



The job cuts, the third-largest monthly total since the coronavirus pandemic began, followed data this week showing a big step-down in private payrolls in July and further contraction in employment at manufacturing and services industries.



Hiring announcements totaled 246,507 in July, almost matching layoffs, Challenger, Gray reported.



“The downturn is far from over, especially as COVID cases rise around the country,” said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president at Challenger, Gray. “Consumers are buying fewer goods and services, businesses are closing, and bankruptcies are rising.”



July’s job cuts brought the total so far this year to 1.848 million, up 212% from the same period in 2019. The year-to-date layoffs are just 109,180 away from the record 1.957 million job cuts announced in 2001.



The weak labor market data raises the risk of a sharper slowdown in job growth in July. The Labor Department will publish its closely watched, and broader, monthly employment report on Friday. According to a Reuters survey of economists, nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 1.6 million in July, down from the record 4.8 million jobs created in June.



According to Challenger, Gray &amp; Christmas, COVID-19 was cited as the reason for 63,517 job cuts in July. The respiratory illness has been blamed for 1.075 million layoffs so far this year. The balance of job cuts in July were attributed to market conditions, a downturn in demand and bankruptcies.



Several retailers including J.C. Penney and Lord &amp; Taylor have filed for bankruptcy since March. Job cuts remained concentrated at bars, restaurants, hotels and amusement parks. The automotive sector cut 83,853 jobs. Hiring announcements totaled 246,507 in July, almost matching layoffs.



“It is clear that many job losses are now permanent, and it will be challenging for many workers to find new jobs and feel safe taking jobs that are public-facing,” said Challenger.

US COVID-19

Job cuts announced by U.S. companies jump 54% in July: report

NEW YORK (Reuters) &#8211; U.S. stocks climbed on Wednesday on the heels of a surprise quarterly profit from Disney and as investors stayed optimistic that a deal was near for a U.S. coronavirus fiscal aid package.



Walt Disney Co’s (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/DIS.N">DIS.N</a>) shares jumped, to put it among the biggest boosts to the S&amp;P 500 and Dow. The stock notched its biggest daily percentage gain since March 24 as revenue declines for Disney parks and media networks were not as bad as feared.



“That is helping the Dow and that has been a laggard versus the S&amp;P this year, but it is more than that,” said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird in Milwaukee. “At a time when everyone is talking about how big and how important these megacaps are to the S&amp;P, kind of quietly you are starting to see a little bit of a leadership rotation.”



Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.DJI">.DJI</a>&nbsp;rose 373.71 points, or 1.39%, to 27,202.18, the S&amp;P 500&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.SPX">.SPX</a>&nbsp;gained 21.52 points, or 0.65%, to 3,328.03 and the Nasdaq Composite&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.IXIC">.IXIC</a>&nbsp;added 58.22 points, or 0.53%, to 10,999.39.



Square Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/SQ.N">SQ.N</a>) surged after the payments processor reported a 64% rise in second-quarter revenue, as consumers increased online buying and used its peer-to-peer Cash App platform during the pandemic.



As quarterly results have come in better-than-feared and heavyweight technology and technology-related companies have surged, a heavy dose of fiscal and monetary stimulus have helped fuel a rally in equities to bring the S&amp;P 500 to less than 2% from its closing record on Feb. 19.



With 384 companies in the S&amp;P having reported earnings through Wednesday morning, results are coming in 23.5% above expectations, in aggregate, according to Refinitiv data, the highest on record back to 1994.



Economic data painted a mixed picture, as U.S. services industry activity gained momentum in July, according to an ISM survey, with new orders jumping to a record high. However, hiring declined, supporting views that a recovery in the labor market was faltering.



Earlier, the ADP National Employment Report, which can be an inconsistent precursor to the government payrolls report set for Friday, showed U.S. private employers hired far fewer workers than expected last month.



“We know we had this tremendous rebound off the lows but what we need now is sustained strength,” said Delwiche.



U.S. Congressional Democrats and White House officials were set to resume negotiations on coronavirus relief legislation on Wednesday, with administration officials aiming for an agreement by Friday.



Financials .SPSY, industrials .SPLRCI and materials .SPLRCM, that track economic growth, outperformed among the major S&amp;P sectors.



Teladoc Health Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/TDOC.N">TDOC.N</a>) fell after agreeing to buy chronic care provider Livongo Health Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/LVGO.O">LVGO.O</a>) in a deal valuing the company at $18.5 billion, betting on a boom in online care and consultations spurred by the coronavirus crisis. Livongo shares also fell.



Electric truck maker Nikola Corp NKLA.O slumped after it reported a bigger quarterly loss in its first results as a listed entity.



Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by David Gregorio

wall street

Wonderful world of Disney boosts Wall Street

NEW YORK (Reuters) &#8211; Gold pushed further past $2,000 an ounce on Wednesday in the face of a weak dollar and expectations of more stimulus measures for the pandemic-ravaged global economy, while stocks in Europe and on Wall Street rallied on encouraging corporate earnings.



Oil prices rose to their highest since early March on a big drop in U.S. crude inventories and on the weak dollar, which was pushed lower by data showing euro zone business activity returned to modest growth in July.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1110" height="624" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1571595826001_6178348203001_6178348593001-vs-1110x624.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-378177" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1571595826001_6178348203001_6178348593001-vs-1110x624.jpg 1110w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1571595826001_6178348203001_6178348593001-vs-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1571595826001_6178348203001_6178348593001-vs-820x461.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1571595826001_6178348203001_6178348593001-vs-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1571595826001_6178348203001_6178348593001-vs-696x392.jpg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1571595826001_6178348203001_6178348593001-vs-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1571595826001_6178348203001_6178348593001-vs-600x338.jpg 600w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1571595826001_6178348203001_6178348593001-vs.jpg 1280w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px" /><figcaption>Gold prices hit a first time high of $2000: Is the momentum sustainable?</figcaption></figure>



The final Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) from IHS Markit climbed to 54.9 from June’s 48.5, better than a 54.8 flash estimate, indicating significant improvement consistent with the continued easing of lockdowns, analysts said.



Gold set a new record after scaling $2,000 for the first time on Tuesday, as investors seek a store of value on fears government stimulus in response to the pandemic will trigger inflation, devalue other assets and keep bond yields low.



Spot gold prices XAU= rose 1.1% to $2,039.59 an ounce, after earlier reaching a record $2,055.10. U.S. gold futures GCv1 hit a record $2,070.30 and settled up 1.4% at $2,049.30.



The dollar standard of the past 50 years is being openly questioned because of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s enormous increase in money supply, said Ryan Giannotto, director of research at alternative ETF provider GraniteShares.



“The dollar is collapsing under the weight of $3 trillion in printed dollars, this all comes out in the wash with higher gold prices,” Giannotto said.



Gold has gained nearly 35% so far in 2020 and is one of the year’s best-performing assets.

gold-is-money-2430051_1280

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(Reuters) &#8211; The U.S. economy, battered by a resurgence in the spread of COVID-19, needs increased government spending to tide over households and businesses and broader use of masks to better control the virus, several U.S. central bankers said on Monday.



The calls for increased government intervention came as U.S. lawmakers and the White House resumed talks on a new government relief package, including a possible extension of unemployment benefits that expired on Friday.



“Four months ago, when we did the first stimulus, we thought the economy faced a pothole and the stimulus put a plate over it so we could navigate. Now escalation of the virus may be making that pothole into a sinkhole and creating a need for a longer plate,” Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said in webcast remarks to the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce.



“Quickly pulling away the support that consumers and businesses are receiving would be a pretty traumatic move for what’s happening in the economy.”



Echoing those sentiments, though in slightly different terms, were Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard. Kaplan pushed back on the notion that the extra $600 weekly benefits to the unemployed had made it harder for businesses to hire, while Bullard said earlier efforts to keep businesses and households whole through the crisis have paid off so far.



“We’ve looked at a number of studies, we’ve done our own work: we don’t see it as much in the data but I can tell you I’m hearing it from business people,” Kaplan told Bloomberg TV earlier Monday when asked about whether the enhanced jobless aid was deterring people from returning to work.



“While it may have made it hard for certain individual businesses to hire, it has helped create jobs, because it has helped bolster consumer spending, so the net effect still has probably been positive for the economy for employment.”



Kaplan also said he did not agree with his colleague, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, who at the weekend said he thought the U.S. economy should shut back down again for four to six weeks to suppress spread of COVID-19.



Instead, Kaplan said, universal mask-wearing could substantially mute transmission of the virus without a widespread lockdown. “I think we are going to have to learn to live with this virus. We are going to have to learn to re-engage in our daily activities but still control the virus,” he said. “Widespread mask-wearing is essential to that.”



Bullard, too, emphasized mask-wearing as a significant risk-management tool, especially as he does not expect health officials to be able to reduce disease transmissions to zero because it is so contagious. He also warned against placing too much emphasis on the development of a successful vaccine.



“If you put too much emphasis on the idea that a vaccine is going to come and save us, and someone’s going to crack a very difficult scientific problem &#8230; then you get people not doing anything and sitting around waiting for the vaccine,” Bullard said in a presentation during an online event hosted by the bank’s Memphis, Tennessee, branch. “So If you do that, you do risk a depression because you could get a lot of business failures while you’re waiting, potentially a very long time for a vaccine to come and save the day.”



The regional bank presidents’ comments came just days after the Fed’s latest two-day policy meeting, at which officials repeated their pledge to do all in their power to help the economy weather the recession that began in February as the outbreak began ricocheting around the globe. The U.S. central bank has slashed interest rates to near zero &#8211; where they are expected to remain for years &#8211; and has rolled out roughly a dozen emergency programs to backstop financial markets and support businesses.



Bullard also said he expects that economic growth has resumed in the current third quarter, but that after a better-than-expected start to the rebound in May and June, the rebound slowed in July with the resurgence in infections in many areas of the country.



“I think the slowdown in July would be consistent with the idea that we shouldn’t expect a completely smooth transition as you go forward because this is a crisis and there’s going to be ups and downs.”

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GENEVA (Reuters) &#8211; The World Health Organization warned on Monday that, despite strong hopes for a vaccine, there might never be a “silver bullet” for COVID-19, and the road to normality would be long.



More than 18.14 million people around the world are reported to have been infected with the disease and 688,080​ have died, according to a Reuters tally, with some nations that thought they were over the worst experiencing a resurgence.



WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and WHO emergencies head Mike Ryan exhorted all nations to rigorously enforce health measures such as mask-wearing, social distancing, hand-washing and testing.



“The message to people and governments is clear: ‘Do it all’,” Tedros told a virtual news briefing from the U.N. body’s headquarters in Geneva. He said face masks should become a symbol of solidarity round the world.



“A number of vaccines are now in phase three clinical trials and we all hope to have a number of effective vaccines that can help prevent people from infection. However, there’s no silver bullet at the moment &#8211; and there might never be.”



Ryan said countries with high transmission rates, including Brazil and India, needed to brace for a big battle: “The way out is long and requires a sustained commitment.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">INVESTIGATION</h3>



The WHO officials said an advance investigation team was not yet back from China, where the virus originated.



A larger, WHO-led team of Chinese and international experts is planned next, to study the origins of the virus in the city of Wuhan, although the timing and composition of that is not yet clear.



Tedros urged mothers to continue breastfeeding even if they had COVID-19, as the benefits “substantially” outweighed the risks of infection.



The WHO head said that, while the coronavirus was the biggest global health emergency since the early 20th century, the international hunt for a vaccine was also historic.



“There are many vaccines under trial, a couple in the final stage of clinical trials &#8211; and there is hope. It does not mean that we will have the vaccine, but at least the speed with which we reached the level we reached now is unprecedented,” he said.



“There are concerns that we may not have a vaccine that may work, or its protection could be for just a few months, not more. But until we finish the clinical trials, we will not know.”

Dr Matshidiso Moeti – WHO Regional Director for Africa

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MELBOURNE (Reuters) &#8211; Australia’s second-most populous state of Victoria declared a state of disaster on Sunday and imposed a nightly curfew for the capital Melbourne as part of its harshest movement restrictions to date to contain a resurgent COVID-19.Near empty shelves are seen at the vegetable section of a supermarket amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in this August 2, 2020 photo obtained from social media. Klarissa Leahy/via REUTERS



Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city already under a reimposed six-week stay-home order, has struggled to rein in the disease, with record numbers of infections of the new coronavirus reported last week.



On Sunday, Victoria reported 671 infections, one of its highest, and seven COVID-19 deaths. High numbers of community transmissions and cases of unknown origins have forced the new restrictions, which will be in place for six weeks, officials said.



“The current rules have avoided thousands and thousands of cases each day, and then thousands of people in hospital and many more tragedies than we have seen. But it is not working fast enough,” Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews told a televised briefing.



A curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. every day will be implemented from Sunday evening in Melbourne, barring the nearly five million people in the city from leaving their houses except for work or to receive or give care.



The sweeping new restrictions limit the time Melbourne residents may spend on outdoor exercise and essential shopping. All schools will move to remote learning from Wednesday.



Supermarkets will remain open, and restaurants, already closed for dining in, will be able to continue with their takeaway and delivery services.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">FEDERAL BACKING</h3>



The federal government backed Victoria’s measures, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison saying in a post on his Facebook page that they were “regrettably necessary” to stop the spread of the pandemic.



“We are all in this together and we will get through it,” Morrison said.



Australia’s Health Minister Greg Hunt said at a televised briefing the federal government supports the measures with a ‘heavy’ heart.



“We do so because they will help save and protect lives,” Hunt said.



The backing by the federal government, ruled by a Liberal Party-led coalition, for the measures by Victoria’s Labor Party government shows national unity across the political spectrum in a country with a loose federal system.



Australia has fared far better than many other countries in keeping the coronavirus from spreading, but at a high economic cost. It has recorded around 18,000 coronavirus cases and just over 200 COVID-19 deaths, but the recent surge in Victoria has proven difficult to contain.



The state of disaster gives Victoria police additional powers to ensure people are complying with public-health directions.



“We have no choice but to make these decisions and to push on,” Andrews said. “This is the only option we have.”Slideshow&nbsp;(2 Images)



Restrictions on movement and business operations elsewhere in the state will be less severe than in Melbourne. Andrews said further restrictions for Victoria businesses will be announced on Monday.



Neighbouring New South Wales, the most populous state, reported 12 infections on Sunday, with the state now “strongly” recommending the use of face masks in public.

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