Access to affordable credit helps me pay my employees, but I don't really need it.

Infliction is killing me!

But who cares? Big retailers are making record profits!

That's why we support the Durban Marshall Credit Card Bill!

See? Banks and credit unions help small businesses make payroll.

This bill would cut the vital resources they need.

While increasing megastore profits, they deserve it. Don't they?

Tell Congress, stop the Durban Marshall money grab for corporate megastores.

Paid for it by the Electronic Payments Coalition.

Here's your midday brief for Friday, March 6th. I'm Anthony Bansy for the Wall Street Journal.

The Labor Department reports that the U.S. lost 92,000 jobs in February, falling far

short of the 50,000 job gain economists expected.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4%.

The weak job numbers raise expectations that the Federal Reserve will have to cut rates.

But the central bank's job is complicated. It's also watching to see if inflation worsens.

The war in the Middle East has already raised energy prices.

We're exclusively reporting that Kuwait has begun cutting production at some oil fields

after running out of room to store its crude,

signaling a broader oil storage crisis in the region. That's already caused Iraq to slash its

oil production by more than half, and major storage facilities in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab

Emirates are filling up fast and expected to hit limits in under three weeks. The Iran war has

paralyzed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, where typically around a fifth of global

...