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OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canada on Friday unveiled billions of dollars in aid and other forms of support to businesses and people expected to be directly affected by U.S. tariffs. Canada relies on the United States for 75% of its exports and a third of all imports. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration imposed 25% tariffs on most imports from Canada and Mexico earlier this week, before announcing a suspension of the charges until April 2 on goods covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade.

CooperCompanies shares fell Friday to their lowest point in more than a year, a day after the maker of consumer-focused medical equipment posted worse-than-expected quarterly sales.

The Federal Reserve is likely to keep its key interest rate unchanged in the coming months as it waits for widespread “uncertainty” stemming from President Donald Trump's policies to resolve, Chair Jerome Powell said Friday at a conference in New York. Powell said the Trump administration is making policy changes in several areas, including trade, taxes, government spending, immigration and regulation, and added that the “net effect” of those changes are what will matter for the economy and the Fed's interest rate policies. “While there have been recent developments in some of these areas, especially trade policy, uncertainty around the changes and their likely effects remains high,” Powell said.

As President Trump and his chainsaw, Elon Musk, dismantle the federal government, economists are starting to worry that one casualty could be the lifeblood of their profession: data.

U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler said on Friday that rising inflation risks argue for an extended period of steady central bank interest rate policy. “Given the recent increase in inflation expectations and the key inflation categories that have not shown progress toward our 2% target, it could be appropriate to continue holding the policy rate at its current level for some time,” Kugler said in the text of a speech prepared for delivery before the Conference on Monetary Policy Transmission and the Labor Market held in Lisbon by the Banco de Portugal.

Bessent said employment should come from private companies, not the federal government.

Shares of clothing and accessories retailer Gap (NYSE:GAP) jumped 18.9% in the pre-market session after the company reported impressive fourth quarter results that beat analysts' revenue and EPS expectations. What drove shares up was the full-year guidance for operating profit growth. The company called for 8-10% growth, which was well above expectations. While store closures continued as part of its optimization strategy, growth in online sales and improved operating efficiency should help sust