HAVANA (AP) — For Sonia Pérez, stepping into Havana’s Doña Alicia restaurant felt like entering a movie. Even as Cuba struggles with power outages and technological scarcity, this eatery has leaped into the 21st century with digital menus, Alexa-enabled assistance, touchless bathrooms and even a food-delivering robot.
“I thought I was in a cartoon movie!” said the 64-year-old government employee, marvelling at the contrast with the technological realities outside. “I wish there were more of these in Cuba... We are really very behind in technology.”
While commonplace globally, such automation is a complex feat in Cuba due to the island’s frequent power cuts and a lack of modern technology.
Opened seven years ago, the restaurant gradually embraced technology, starting with tablets at tables, followed by Alexa services and culminating in the arrival of Doña Alicia — a food-delivering robot named after the owner’s grandmother — who now assists human waiters in the dining room.
Guests are greeted with digital menus on screens at their tables, allowing them to browse and order traditional Cuban dishes such as savory pork steak, pasta and sweet desserts. The bar further enhances the experience offering drinks such as mojitos or freshly made daiquiris. Human servers are on hand for those less tech-savvy.
The prices align with those of other private restaurants, making them unaffordable for the average Cuban and reflecting the island's inflation.
Despite the challenges of limited and often unreliable internet access in Cuba (mobile internet only became widespread in 2018, and outages are frequent due to the energy crisis), Doña Alicia appears to be navigating these obstacles.
Manager Yadiel Hernández believes the technological advancements help attract customers by creating a unique and appealing dining experience in Havana.
“We’ve noticed a change,” said Hernández. “Both children and adults find it interesting to have a robotic assistant bring food to the table...it's a novel experience.”
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Customers watch as a robot arrives with their food at Dona Alicia restaurant in Havana, Wednesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
WASHINGTON (AP) —
American employers added a better-than-expected 177,000 jobs in April as the job market showed resilience in the face of President Donald Trump's trade wars.
Hiring was down slightly from a revised 185,000 in March and came in above economists’ expectations for a modest 135,000. The unemployment rate remained at a low 4.2%, the Labor Department reported Friday.
President Donald Trump’s aggressive and unpredictable policies – including massive import taxes – have clouded the outlook for the economy and the job market and raised fears that the American economy is headed toward recession.
Transportation and warehousing companies added 29,000 jobs last month, a sign that companies might have been stocking up on imports before Trump hit them with new taxes.
Labor Department revisions shaved 58,000 jobs from February and March payrolls.
Average hourly earnings ticked up 0.2% from March and 3.8% from a year ago, nearing the 3.5% that economists view as consistent with the 2% inflation the Federal Reserve wants to see.
The report showed that 518,000 people entered the labor force, and the percentage of those working or looking for work ticked up slightly.
“We are not seeing right now any really adverse effects on the employment market,’’ Boston College economist Brian Bethune said before the report came out.
But many economists worry the job market is likely to deteriorate.
Trump’s massive taxes on imports to the U.S. are likely to raise costs for Americans and American businesses that depend on supplies from overseas. They also threaten to slow economic growth. His immigration crackdown threatens to make it more difficult for hotels, restaurants and construction firms to fill job openings. By purging federal workers and cancelling federal contracts, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency risks wiping out jobs inside the government and out.
“Looking ahead, we expect the steep tariff increases and the surge in uncertainty and financial market volatility will result in a more pronounced labor market downshift than previously anticipated,” Lydia Boussour, senior economist at the accounting and consulting giant EY, wrote this week. “Large cuts to the federal workforce and the cancellations of many government contracts will also be a drag on payroll growth in coming months.’’
A slowdown in immigration “will weigh on labor supply dynamics, further constraining job growth. We foresee the unemployment rate rising toward 5% in 2025.’’
Trump’s policies have shaken financial markets and frightened consumers. The Conference Board, a business group, reported Tuesday that Americans’ confidence in the economy fell for the fifth straight month to the lowest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
American workers have at least one thing going for them. Despite the uncertainty about fallout from Trump’s policies, many employers don’t want to risk letting employees go – not after seeing how hard it was to bring people back from the massive but short-lived layoffs of the 2020 COVID-19 recession.
“They laid millions of these people off, and they had a hell of a time getting them back to work,’’ Boston College’s Bethune said. "So for now, the unemployment rate and the number of people filing claims for jobless benefits every week remain low by historical standards.
Bethune does not expect Musk’s cuts to the federal workforce to show up much in the April jobs numbers. For one thing, job cuts orders by the billionaire’s DOGE are still being challenged in court. For another, some of those leaving federal agencies were forced into early retirement – and don’t show up in the Labor Department’s count of the unemployed.
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