- President Trump plans
to temporarily suspend immigration
into the US to protect American jobs.
States are quickly burning
through their funds
to pay out unemployment claims.
Some are asking for help.
International stocks drop
after some US crude oil
futures plunged below zero
for the first time.
Hi, I'm Jason Bellini
with the latest reporting
on the coronavirus crisis
from the Wall Street journal.
President Trump tweeted that
because of the invisible enemy
that is the coronavirus,
he plans to sign an executive order
to temporarily stop immigration to the US.
While providing few other details,
he said the goal is to
protect American jobs.
Administration officials said the order
wouldn't make substantial changes
to current policy
because nearly every form
of immigration has been paused,
including processing visas.
The order is likely to
face legal challenges.
New York has asked the federal government
for a $4 billion loan
with no interest to help
ensure the state continues
to pay unemployment benefits.
States usually tap their
unemployment trust fund balances
to pay regular benefits
but nearly half of states
have logged double-digit
percentage declines
in their balance since the end of February
before the pandemic shut down the economy
and triggered a record 22 million people
filing for unemployment.
Massachusetts has used up about half
of its available funds
and California's balance
dropped nearly 40%
to $1.9 billion in mid-April.
No state has run out of money
but officials are already
planning for the possibility.
Global stocks dropped today
after some oil prices fell below zero
for the first time on Monday.
May oil contracts briefly dropped
below minus $37 per barrel,
meaning that some investors
could be paid money
to receive oil.
Some storage facilities
are overwhelmed as demand
has fallen drastically
with lockdowns in many countries.
We report that Saudi Arabia
and other OPEC members
are now looking to possibly
cut oil production sooner
than the May date they had agreed upon
with the US and Russia.
