Thursday’s business headlines

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Here’s a look at Thursday’s business headlines.

Jobs

In separate notices to the state, six additional companies have announced temporary or permanent layoffs, affecting more than 2,300 workers.

Among them, Master Guard has temporarily laid off 680 employees at its facility in the Fountain County town of Veedersburg. The automotive parts supplier says it is unsure how long the layoff will last.

The Tropicana Evansville casino says it will temporarily furlough 529 employees beginning Saturday. The move is the result of the Indiana Gaming Commission requiring all casinos to close as a result of the pandemic.

Also, Ashbury Automotive Group is conducting temporary furloughs at seven Bill Estes and Hare car dealerships in central Indiana.

Tests

There’s a new web tool called the COVID-19 Testing Locator that lets users know how far they are from testing locations and where they can find the closest site that will test them for the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Anyone in the US can access the COVID-19 Testing Locator for free starting Thursday.

Rent

Nearly a third of U.S. apartment renters didn’t pay rent in April.

That’s according to the National Multifamily Housing Council and a consortium of real-estate data providers.

Only 69% of tenants paid any of their rent between April 1 and 5, compared with 81% in the first week of March and 82% in April 2019.

Jobless claims

Claims for unemployment benefits last week are expected to total about 5.25 million, bringing the number of Americans filing to more than 15 million in three weeks.

This report is expected to be heavy with retail workers.

Economists say there could be more longer-term and permanent layoffs included in more recent claims, as companies look to trim costs and adjust to long term changes in consumer behavior.