(NEW YORK) — Hiring slowed in April as a rise in fuel prices hammered shoppers weeks into the war with Iran, U.S. government data on Friday showed.
The U.S. added 115,000 jobs in April, according to the report, which marked a cooldown from 178,000 jobs added in March. The reading for April exceeded economists’ expectations.
The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3% in April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said. Unemployment remains low by historical standards.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collected the previous month’s survey data through the second week of March, before the full effects of the oil shock set off by the war.
As in previous months, the health care industry stood out as a top source of hiring in April, adding 37,000 jobs, the BLS said. The retail sector, as well as transportation and warehousing, also contributed to the increase in hiring.
Employment in the federal government continued to decline in April, shedding 9,000 jobs, the BLS said. The federal government has lost 348,000 jobs, or nearly 12% of its workforce, since October 2024, a month before President Donald Trump was elected.
The hiring figure for March was revised upward from 178,000 jobs added to 185,000 jobs added. Hiring for February, however, was revised downward from a loss of 133,000 jobs to a loss of 156,000 jobs.
The fresh data arrived as the war continues to drive up gasoline prices and borrowing costs, threatening a drag on the economy.
The U.S. added an average of about 15,000 jobs per month in 2025, BLS data showed. That performance indicated a drop-off from 186,000 jobs added each month in 2024.
The Middle East conflict, which began on Feb. 28, prompted Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway that facilitates the transport of about one-fifth of the worldwide supply of oil.
The U.S. is a net exporter of petroleum, meaning the country produces more oil than it consumes. But since oil prices are set on a global market, U.S. prices move in response to swings in worldwide supply and demand.
The price of an average gallon of gas stands at $4.54 as of Friday, marking an increase of $1.56 per gallon since the war started, AAA data showed. That amounts to a roughly 50% jump in about two-and-a-half months.
In theory, a prolonged oil shortage could drive up prices for a vast array of goods, sapping energy from consumer spending, which powers most of the nation’s economic growth.
A potential jump in costs for additional goods delivered through the Strait of Hormuz — such as fertilizer and diesel fuel — could also raise prices beyond gasoline, putting pressure on the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates in an effort to quell inflation.
Last month, Fed Chair Jerome Powell described the economic outlook as “highly uncertain.”
“We’re kind of waiting to see what happens with events in the Middle East,” Powell said.
The Fed has opted to hold interest rates steady at three consecutive meetings since the outset of 2026. Before that, the Fed cut interest rates a quarter-point three straight times.
The benchmark interest rate stands at a level between 3.5% and 3.75%. That figure marks a significant drop from a recent peak attained in 2023, but borrowing costs remain well above a 0% rate established at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
If the Fed moved to raise interest rates, it would hike borrowing costs for many consumer and business loans, risking a slowdown in hiring.
Markets peg a roughly 70% chance of interest rates holding steady for the remainder of this year, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
A smartphone screen displays a folder containing AI applications Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, Copilot, and DeepSeek. . (Photo by Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Visual investigation: Scores of online resellers are using AI to fool customers by pretending to be mom-and-pop stores
Scores of online companies are increasingly turning to generative AI technology to deceive consumers, falsely portraying themselves as struggling small businesses to charge a premium for lower quality products, an ABC News visual investigation found.
ABC News has identified dozens of similar online retailers — selling everything from clothing to jewelry to lamps — that used AI images and videos to portray themselves as down-on-their-luck craftsmen or small business owners in need of support.
These kinds of sites have proliferated online and take advantage of consumer trends. Experts warn that by the time others leave reviews or complain about the misleading claims, the sites often go offline or move on to selling another product.
“You can use AI to create very realistic media, right? So you can take and create photos of people who look like someone who might be making handmade goods,” said Marshini Chetty, an associate professor of computer science at the University of Chicago. “You can create reviews at scale. You can create testimonials. And then even when you generate these sites, they already use these kind of manipulative tactics.”
According to Denny Svehla, a musician from Rockford, Illinois, the ad he saw for a retiring craftsman selling flat caps appeared completely normal at first.
“I’ve been making flat caps and newsboy caps by hand since 1973. Closing the workshop next Wednesday and I’ll be honest, I’ve still got way more inventory than I know what to do with — just needs to go,” one slickly produced ad said. “Every cap on that shelf has hours of my work in it — real materials, hand finished, built to outlast the man wearing them. 53 years and not one shortcut.”
For Svehla — a Neil Diamond tribute artist who runs a small business with his wife — the story felt personal, and he wanted to help.
“I get the pressure, so I thought, ‘Man, I am going to buy a cap,'” Svehla told ABC News. “I even gave him a tip.”
According to Svehla, he first became suspicious about the purchase when he got an update showing that the “handmade” hats he bought were being shipped from mainland China. When the hats eventually arrived, he said he was disappointed at their quality and even more annoyed at the deception.
“I’m sitting there thinking I’m trying to help someone,” Svehla said. “He’s going to end up going out of business after 52 years. I’ve been in business for 50 years myself, and I’m looking at, you know, what am I going to do if I can’t go anymore?”
Unbeknownst to Svehla, the website that sold him the hats is one example of a growing trend of sites that use generative AI technology to portray themselves as struggling small businesses. At least three similar sites — George’s Caps, Henry’s Caps, and Walter’s Caps — offered similar pitches to consumers, claiming they are retiring after decades in business and need to offload their inventory.
A representative of George’s Caps, when reached by ABC News, did not address questions regarding whether George is a real person or if claims regarding his retirement are fabricated. They touted the quality of the products they sell, saying, “We are actually well aware that there are some genuinely poor operators in this space. We hear about them directly from our own happy customers who have tried competitors and been disappointed before finding us.” The representative said, “I would also challenge the assumption that foreign made goods are automatically inferior. What matters is the quality standard being maintained and the commitment to the customer.”
Other sites use AI to make emotional appeals. One purportedly New York-based clothing retailer shared an AI-generated image of their damaged storefront — with shattered glass and police tape — to announce their “big sale.”
“Our store has been completely destroyed and after years of love and dedication to our business, we see no other way out. As if we hadn’t fought enough against the big giants with their huge budgets, this has dealt us the final blow,” the ad claimed.
But that store didn’t list an address in New York, and online detection tools suggested the image was made entirely with artificial intelligence.
Another site claimed to be a New York-based lamp company that was closing after two decades in business and now offering customers a massive discount on their remaining inventory.
“It’s not easy to close the doors of something that’s been part of your soul. But the time has come. Aluné, our beloved lamp boutique in New York, is packing up for the very last time,” their post said, showing an image of a middle-aged man and woman laying out their lamps on a sidewalk.
But after weeks online, the site has since been removed, and multiple experts said that the site’s advertising was generated with AI. When ABC News visited their address on one of New York’s priciest streets — between retailers for Chanel and Versace — there was no trace of the company or evidence that it ever existed.
None of these businesses responded to a request for comment from ABC News.
According to Chetty, massive advances in AI technology has made it easier to quickly create convincing sites that can fool even the savviest online shoppers.
“People can do this at scale, create these images, create these websites, put them up quickly, take them down quickly,” she said.
And Chetty noted that those kinds of sites can thrive on social media, where consumers are often distracted and more likely to make a quick purchase. ABC News has identified dozens of videos on platforms like YouTube and TikTok where retailers used AI to generate videos showing fake craftspeople making their products. Expert analysis — paired with online detection tools — confirmed they were created with AI technology, and their websites were linked to generic holding companies or companies oversees.
None of the other retailers who were contacted by ABC News responded to a request for comment.
Many of the videos prey on customers’ emotions by showing interactions that try to create sympathy by showing creators being picked on in public.
“This comment says, ‘You’re a 32-year-old man making Mario lamps for kids in your bedroom, let that sink in,'” one video said, mimicking a video format where creators respond to negative comments.
ABC News identified four nearly identical videos, where different middle-aged men — seemingly in the same garage — spoke the same script.
While Chetty said that AI videos like these might have been easier to spot a few years ago, even experts sometimes struggle to identify what’s real from what’s fake.
“Maybe you’re walking down the street in New York, you’re not thinking too deeply and you’re just clicking away. That’s kind of how they get you, right?” she said. “Because they know that they want you to make a quick decision. They know you’re not paying careful attention. And it’s very easy to kind of take advantage of you at that point.”
U.S. President Donald Trump greets Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of a bilateral meeting at Gimhae Air Base on October 30, 2025 in Busan, South Korea. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — When President Donald Trump arrives in Beijing next Thursday, he’ll be the first U.S. president to set foot in China in nearly a decade. The last visit was Trump’s own, in 2017.
He arrives in a very different position than he expected: the trip was originally scheduled for earlier this spring, then postponed because of the Iran war.
Trump had said the war would only last four to six weeks. Instead, there’s no end in sight with the the Strait of Hormuz remaining closed and U.S. gas prices surging — as the president faces record-low approval ratings.
That backdrop has flipped the leverage dynamic, according to experts who study the region.
The leverage flip
Beijing would have preferred this war never started — the energy disruption and the hit to global demand are real headaches for an export-dependent economy, experts say. But they say the conflict has handed Xi a relative advantage: Trump now has too many fires to put out at home and abroad to risk another escalation cycle with China.
“China is a relative bright spot in Trump’s foreign policy right now,” said Jon Czin, a former director for China at the National Security Council.
The longer the Iran war drags on, Czin argued, the more it minimizes the chance of another economic confrontation — Beijing has also already demonstrated it can retaliate — as it did with tariffs and rare earth export controls — and the administration backed down before.
Both sides are still trying to eke out an edge in the run-up. The Treasury Department recently sanctioned Chinese oil refiners and shipping firms tied to Iranian crude to cut off funding. In an unprecedented move, Beijing invoked a “blocking rule” for the first time, directing Chinese companies not to comply with sanctions on Chinese oil refiners.
Daniel Shapiro, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, points out the war has reduced the U.S. military posture in the Indo-Pacific with long-term consequences for deterring China and defending Taiwan.
“Trump’s position and leverage at the summit is considerably weaker if he goes to Beijing with the war still unsettled, or even with renewed escalation. And the Iranians know that. So they are whittling down the terms to end the war to something much more modest than what Trump originally envisioned,” Shapiro wrote in a post on X.
What Trump wants
The administration clearly wants Beijing to use its influence over Tehran. Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week urged Beijing to use the Iran’s foreign minister’s visit to China earlier this week to press Tehran on reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
“I hope the Chinese tell him what he needs to be told,” Rubio said when asked about China’s top diplomat meeting with Iran’s foreign minister. “And that is that what you are doing in the strait is causing you to be globally isolated. You’re the bad guy in this.”
Beyond the war in Iran, Trump will be looking for wins on trade and investment: For instance, Chinese commitments to buy Boeing planes and U.S. agricultural goods as well as an extension of the trade truce reached during the last Trump-Xi meeting in South Korea last year, according to experts.
The administration also wants China to continue its pause on rare earth export controls, analysts say. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has also proposed a “Board of Trade” to manage economic ties between the countries and goods the two sides are trading.
What Beijing wants — and what it doesn’t
Here’s the gap between the administration’s public framing and what analysts who study China most closely are saying: Beijing doesn’t actually plan to deliver much on Iran or get deeply involved.
Beijing’s statement after the meeting with the Iranian Foreign Ministry was carefully worded to not blame Iran for the crisis while also calling for greater efforts to open the Strait of Hormuz.
“The Chinese are not interested in assuming any kind of direct role in the conflict,” according to Patricia Kim, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “They see this as a problem that the United States needs to solve, and they have no interest in intervening on Tehran’s behalf.”
Czin’s read is similar. While Beijing’s meeting with the Iranian foreign minister this week let it “posture as peacemakers,” he says the Chinese don’t want Iran to take up too much summit time. His analog: even on North Korea, right on China’s doorstep, Beijing rarely puts real pressure on Pyongyang.
China’s energy buffer is part of why the urgency is lower than the Trump administration assumes. Beijing has built strategic oil reserves, invested heavily in green energy, and can shift to domestically produced coal. The bigger risk for China isn’t the energy crunch itself.
“The bigger issue for China is the secondary and tertiary effects from this conflict,” Czin said — such as a war-driven global slowdown that hits the Southeast Asian and European consumers that Chinese exports depend on.
What Beijing actually wants from the summit is more stability: lock in the trade truce, push back on U.S. export controls on advanced technology and ease restrictions on Chinese investment in the U.S.
What’s unclear is how hard Xi will push Trump on Taiwan. Any small shift in U.S. declaratory language on Taiwan would be significant, though Czin is skeptical Trump would stick with new wording even if he agreed to it.
Bottom line
Expect fanfare, expect deliverables on the margins — purchase commitments or a possible Board of Trade announcement — and don’t expect breakthroughs on the hard issues, experts say.
The summit’s significance is less in what it produces than in what it preserves: a tenuous stability that both leaders, for different reasons, want to keep intact through the rest of the year.
“Stadium Arcadium’ album artwork. (Warner Records)
Hey, oh, Stadium Arcadium is 20 years old.
The hit ninth studio effort from Red Hot Chili Peppers was released on May 9, 2006 — 20 years ago Saturday. The 28-track double album gave RHCP their first-ever #1 record on the Billboard 200 and is certified four-times Platinum by the RIAA.
The song “Dani California” was released as Stadium Arcadium‘s lead single, and was accompanied by a video featuring Anthony Kiedis and company cosplaying as different rock bands from throughout history. While it may bear a resemblance to Tom Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” “Dani California” was a huge hit, reaching #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. That was the last time the Peppers have been in the top 10 of the all-genre chart.
Stadium Arcadium also spawned singles in “Snow (Hey Oh)” and “Tell Me Baby.” It won best rock album at the 2007 Grammys and was nominated for album of the year.
In 2009, guitarist John Frusciante announced he was leaving the Peppers and was replaced by Josh Klinghoffer. Stadium Arcadium remained the last RHCP album to feature Frusciante until his return to the band in 2019, and the release of 2022’s Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen.
We now have our first look at Harlan Coben’s new mystery show, I Will Find You. Netflix has released the official teaser and release date for the upcoming series. It will debut to the streaming service on June 18. Sam Worthington, Britt Lower, Milo Ventimiglia, Logan Browning and Chi McBride star in the series, which will have eight 45-minute episodes. It follows an innocent father serving life for the murder of his own son who discovers his child may still be alive …
We Were Liars has added six new actors as series regulars in its season 2 cast. Prime Video has announced that Josh Dallas, Costa D’Angelo, Parker Lapaine, Peyton List, Elysia Roorbach and Madison Wolfe have joined the second season of the series adaptation of E. Lockhart’s novel …
Shailene Woodley has scored her next role. Deadline reports that the actress is set to lead the upcoming erotic thriller film Mother’s Helper. She will star alongside Milo Callaghan and Luke Kirby. The film follows a woman who is struggling to balance work, kids and marriage, and hires a handsome young man to help out around the house …
Even though she’s a global pop/country superstar, Canadian Shania Twain sees hosting the 61st Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas as a homecoming of sorts.
“This is fun to me,” she says. “Hosting the ACMs is a chance to go celebrate all of the other artists, meet the new artists, the up-and-coming artists, [to] celebrate a lot of the artists that have been rockin’ it the last several years that I have not been around much, to say ‘congratulations’ and ‘way to go’ and all that kinda stuff.”
After finding success in multiple formats, the “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?” hitmaker leaves little doubt which one is closest to her heart.
“For me, it is a chance to reconnect with my favorite genre, which is my root music, country, and do my best job representing my genre,” she says of hosting the ACMs.
Shania has quite a collection of ACM trophies herself, having won both top new female vocalist and album for The Woman in Me in 1995, before taking the entertainer trophy in 1999. The academy also gave her its special Poet’s Award for her songwriting in 2022.
The 61st ACMs take place Sunday, May 17, at MGM Grand Garden Arena and stream live on Prime Video at 8 p.m. ET.
Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead June 1976. (Photo by Ed Perlstein/Redferns/Getty Images)
The 50th anniversary of an iconic Grateful Dead concert will be celebrated in Boston in June.
The Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame and Rhino Records have teamed for a special event marking the anniversary of the band’s June 11, 1976, concert at the Boston Music Hall, now known as the Boch Center Wang Theatre.
Shakedown at Boston Music Hall: Grateful Dead 50th Anniversary Celebration 6/11/76 – 6/11/26 will take place June 11, 50 years to the day of the original concert. It will take place at the Boch Center’s Grand Lobby and feature a performance by Dead tribute band Playing Dead.
It will also include Dead-themed food and beverages, including Dogfish Head Brewery’s Grateful Dead Citrus Daydream and Juicy Pale Ale on tap, plus merch and more. There will also be an exhibit highlighting The Dead’s history in Boston.
The 1976 concert was the fifth show in The Dead’s comeback tour after an extended hiatus. Grateful Dead historian David Lemieux notes, “The perfection they achieved on this tour is on full display on June 11, 1976, in Boston.”
A special five-LP recording of the concert was recently released for Record Store Day.
“The Dead played here more than a dozen times, but this show, 50 years ago, stands out as one of the absolute highlights of the Wang Theatre’s 100-year history. We have hosted some incredible acts from Bruce Springsteen and Aerosmith to Whitney Houston and Lady Gaga, and the Dead show remains an all-time fan favorite,” said Casey Soward, president and CEO of the Boch Center. “We look forward to welcoming everyone to this historic theatre in partnership with Rhino Records as we pay homage to one of the greatest shows in the Dead’s extensive catalog.”
Billie Eilish and James Cameron attend the ‘Billie Eilish Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour Live in 3D’ U.S. Premiere on May 6, 2026, in Los Angeles, California. (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)
BILLIE EILISH – HIT ME HARD AND SOFT: THE TOUR (LIVE IN 3D), a concert film the Grammy-winning star co-directed with James Cameron, hits theaters Friday, and Billie says she’s happy that she and her fans will be able to watch it “forever.”
At the LA premiere, Billie told ABC News of the film, “I just feel really, really grateful that it’s gonna exist forever, and I’ll get to watch this show and this tour that I loved so much, and made so many memories with them, forever.”
“I think that’s really magical for them to have and for me to have,” she continued. “It’s just a moment in time captured forever.”
Billie also wants her fans to “sing and dance if they want and just have fun” while watching the film. She notes, “It’s a concert. It is a movie, but it’s a concert.”
The Oscar winner was also “really grateful” that a director “as incredibly talented and legendary” as James was “so eager to collaborate with me and listen to my feelings and thoughts and opinions” while working on the project.
As for James, he tells ABC News that initially they were simply going to film a show on Billie’s tour. But then, he says, “It got complicated, because then we started trying to tell a story about [Billie’s] relationship with her fans … and what her … reality is like.” As a result, he says, “It kind of grew a little bit.”
But throughout, James says he was impressed with “how in control … of the show and of the process” Billie was while filming. In fact, he says, “I had to keep up with her, and that energy of — I don’t want to say perfectionism, because that sounds a bit elitist — but I would say, the pursuit of excellence.”
Grouplove performs during Innings Festival at Tempe Beach & Arts Park on February 20, 2026 in Tempe, Arizona. (Tim Mosenfelder/WireImage)
Artists including Grouplove and Rainbow Kitten Surprise are taking part in the 2026 Bonnaroo SuperJam, the festival’s annual collaborative performance.
Dubbed SUPERJÂM ESOTERÍCA: THE ALCHEMY OF POP, the set will be led by pop star Kesha and will also feature country artist Margo Price, indie rocker Blondshell and electro-funk duo Chromeo.
Bonnaroo 2026 will be held June 11-14 in Manchester, Tennessee. The SuperJam will take place on June 13.
Festival headliners include The Strokes and Noah Kahan.
Mötley Crüe will be joined by Carrie Underwood for their performance on the upcoming season finale of American Idol.
The former American Idol winner is a noted rock fan and previously covered the Crüe song “Home Sweet Home” to be used as the show’s season 8 farewell song.
While that means they’ll probably be playing “Home Sweet Home” together, we’re holding out hope for a mash-up called “Jesus, Take the Feel(good).”
The American Idol finale will air May 11 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. It will stream the next day on Hulu and Disney+.
As previously reported, the episode will also feature performance from Shinedown, Blues Traveler and Gin Blossoms, among others.
Disney is the parent company of ABC News and Hulu.
