When the COVID War was launched back in 2020, we had forecast the work-at-home trend would be a permanent part of the new world order… and it has. With costs rising and a recession looming, U.S. companies are cutting costs by axing office space they no longer need and never will again. The permanent shift...
Author: support
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RED STATES FARED BETTER THAN BLUE ONES IN THE COVID ERA
Since COVID’s arrival in February 2020, red states where Republicans hold sway have benefited more in economic terms than Democrat-controlled blue states, The Wall Street Journal reported. The shift to remote work freed hundreds of thousands of workers to live where they choose. The COVID-era real estate boom also convinced many Baby Boomers to cash...
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AVERAGE NEW-CAR PAYMENT HITS NEW HIGH
New cars purchased in June in the U.S. carried a record average monthly payment of $686, according to car sales website Edmunds.com. The figure is 4 percent higher than January’s average and 13 percent more than a year earlier. Another record: 12.7 percent of June buyers signed up for car payments of at least $1,000...
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U.S. MORTGAGE WEEKLY RATE FALLS MOST IN 13 YEARS
The national average interest rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage fell from 5.7 percent during the week ending 30 June to 5.3 percent by 7 July, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (FHLMC). It was the second consecutive week of lower rates and the largest one-week drop since 2008. Mortgage rates tend to...
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ECONOMY SPROUTS 372,000 NEW JOBS IN JUNE
U.S. employers added 372,000 new workers last month, sustaining the previous three months’ average of more than 350,000 additional jobs per month, The Wall Street Journal noted, but easing off highs touched early this year. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had predicted an average of 268,000 new slots. June’s figure was slightly down from May’s revised...
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GOLD KEEPS FALLING
Gold’s price broke down through $1,800 an ounce last week as the dollar continued strong. On 8 July, the metal traded as low as $1,733 on the London Metal Exchange, the Financial Times reported, after peaking at $2,069 in March shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking gold saw investors pull out a...
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AMERICAN CONFIDENCE IN MAJOR U.S. INSTITUTIONS DOWN FROM LAST YEAR
A new Gallup poll found that Americans are less confident in major U.S. institutions—like the Supreme Court and Congress—than they were a year ago, marking new lows for all three branches of the federal government. The poll found that only 27 percent of Americans have confidence in 14 major American institutions on average. Gallup said...
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NUCLEAR ENERGY, ‘GREEN’ ENERGY? EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT MOCKED FOR GOING NUKE
The proposal advanced by the European Parliament last week that categorizes nuclear energy and gas as climate-friendly investments in hopes to spur private funding in the technology. The European Commission passed the proposal after tense debate among various countries in the EU. The Financial Times pointed out that France, for example, is bullish on nuclear power while...
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FARMERS ACROSS EUROPE FIGHT AGAINST GREEN REGULATIONS THAT THREATEN LIVELIHOODS
It has been the summer of chaos in the Netherlands after the government came out with new green regulations that farmers in the country say will make it impossible to make ends meet. Videos emerged on social media that showed tractors forming blockades and confrontations between protesters and police throughout the country. Videos also showed...
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TOP TREND UNIONIZATION, HEATING UP: TOP GERMAN UNION PUSHING FOR HIGHER WAGES
Germany’s IG Metall union, the largest industrial union in the country, announced Monday that it wants an 8 percent pay increase for its members to help deal with the rising prices as the inflation rate came in at 7.6 percent in June. Joerg Hofmann, the head of the union, told The Associated Press that the...