[naviga:h3]New home sales plunge 15.4% in March as virus hits[/naviga:h3]

WASHINGTON — U.S. new home sales plunged 15.4 percent in March as a winding down in the middle of the month due to the coronavirus began to rattle the breadth of the housing market.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that sales of new single-family homes dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 627,000 last month after sales had fallen 4.6 percent in February.

The decline was expected, though economists say it will grow much worse as the country struggles with a shutdown that has thrown millions of people out of work and disrupted wide swaths of the economy.

The report said that the median price for a new home sold in March was $321,400, down 2.6 percent from a median price of $330,100 in February.

[naviga:h3]Stopping virus a huge challenge at U.S. meat plants[/naviga:h3]

OMAHA, Neb. — Daily reports of giant meat-processing plants closing because workers tested positive for the coronavirus have called into question whether slaughterhouses can remain virus-free.

According to experts, the answer may be no.

Given that the plants employ thousands of people who often work side by side carving meat, social distancing is all but impossible. Because of that, the risk of catching the virus will likely remain even as companies take steps to increase worker protections.

The list of companies dealing with infected workers has been growing every day at plants across the country. Among the latest was the closure Wednesday of Tyson Foods’ huge pork-processing plant in Waterloo, Iowa, after numerous workers tested positive.

The closures shouldn’t cause any immediate meat shortages or big price jumps at supermarkets, but as Purdue University economist Jason Lusk noted, “It’s a very fluid and volatile situation to keep an eye out for in the days to come.”

[naviga:h3]China buys crude as prices collapse, adding to stockpiles[/naviga:h3]

BEIJING — China, the world’s biggest energy consumer, is taking advantage of a plunge in global oil prices due to the coronavirus outbreak to build up its stockpiles of crude.

Imports rose 4.5 percent in March over a year earlier even as the world’s second-largest economy shut down to fight the virus and demand collapsed. For the first quarter of the year imports were up 5 percent.