The daily business briefing: October 4, 2019

1. Economy adds lower-than-expected 136,000 jobs, unemployment rate drops

The Labor Department reported Friday that the U.S. economy added 136,000 new non-farm jobs in September, falling short of a 150,000 increase forecast by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. The job growth was the slowest in four months as U.S. companies grew more hesitant to hire new workers as signs of possible economic trouble piled up. The hiring was still considered solid, with August and July gains revised up by a total of 45,000, although gains for the year through August averaged about 160,000 compared to 223,000 a month in 2018. The unemployment rate dropped to 3.5 percent, the lowest in 50 years.

MarketWatch

2. Services sector slowdown adds to concerns about economy

The enormous U.S. services sector slowed down in September, adding to concerns of possible economic trouble ahead. The Institute for Supply Management said Thursday that its non-manufacturing index dropped from 56.4 in August to 52.6 in September. Anything above 50 represents growth, but the September level was the lowest in three years. The employment measure of ISM's index fell to 50.4, the lowest level since February 2014 and barely indicating any growth at all. The services sector accounts for two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. The data showing slowing growth in the sector came after a manufacturing-activity index showed contraction for the second straight month as the impact of the U.S.-China trade war spreads.

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The Associated Press

3. Trump unveils plan countering Democrats' 'Medicare-for-all'

President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to change the Medicare program to "protect" beneficiaries from Democrats' Medicare-for-all proposals, which Trump said would undermine health-care coverage for the elderly. "They want to raid Medicare to fund a thing called socialism," Trump told a cheering crowd in Florida. The executive order was designed to boost Medicare Advantage, private Medicare insurance currently used by 22 million seniors, by expanding the range of services private plans can offer, administration officials told reporters. Trump suggested drug companies seeking to thwart his efforts to bring down prescription drug costs were backing up Democrats in their impeachment inquiry, which he dismissed as a hoax.

NPR CNBC

4. Tesla shares dive as deliveries narrowly miss mark

Tesla shares plunged by 6 percent on Thursday after the electric car maker reported disappointing quarterly delivery figures. Tesla said it delivered 97,000 cars in the quarter, just missing Wall Street expectations of 97,477 and a target of 100,000 that CEO Elon Musk said last week the company had "a shot" at reaching. Tesla has been ramping up production of its first mass-market vehicle, the Model 3 sedan, aiming to deliver 360,000 to 400,000 total vehicles in 2019. To reach that goal, it now has to deliver 105,000 in its final quarter.

Reuters The Motley Fool

5. Stock futures turn higher after jobs report

U.S. stock index futures turned higher Friday morning after the release of the federal jobs report, which showed solid but slowing hiring that brought the unemployment rate to a 50-year low. Ahead of the report, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq had edged down by about 0.3 percent. All three of the main U.S. indexes made solid gains on Thursday, rebounding from two days of losses as weak economic data raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will slash interest rates at its meeting later this month to boost the economy.

CNBC