U.S. filings for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week to the highest in almost three months amid holidays that may have played a role in the increase, Labor Department figures showed April 5.

U.S. consumer sentiment advanced last week to a 17-year high as greater optimism about household finances and the buying climate more than offset a deterioration in views about the economy, the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index showed April 5.

The U.S. trade deficit widened by more than forecast to a fresh nine-year high in February amid broad-based demand for imports, ahead of Trump administration tariffs that have raised the specter of a trade war.

The latest tariff salvos between the United States and China have brought a trade war closer to reality. It’s a risk that the world’s biggest economy is well-positioned to ride out.

Tit-for-tat tariff threats from the United States and China ignited fears that a trade war is beginning between the world’s two largest economies, lowering U.S. stock futures.

Growth in U.S. service industries cooled in March for a second month as orders settled back from the fastest pace in more than 12 years, a survey from the Institute for Supply Management showed April 4.

Companies added more workers than forecast to U.S. payrolls in March, signaling the job market remains robust, according to data released April 4 from the ADP Research Institute in Roseland, N.J.

The security reasons given by the White House for imposing tariffs on Europe make no sense, the prime minister of Denmark said as he questioned the underlying logic of U.S. trade policy.

China will respond to any tariffs imposed by the U.S. against alleged violations of intellectual property rights with the same proportion, scale and intensity, said its U.S. ambassador Cui Tiankai.

Stock prices opened the second quarter with another sharp decline April 2 as investors grew increasingly worried about the rising U.S. trade dispute with China and a flurry of problems hammering the nation’s marquee technology firms.