In a measure of the bargain-basement economy’s growth, the Dollar General discount chain has announced it will hire 20,000 new full- and part-time workers to staff its stores and distribution centers and drive its truck fleet as the company adds 1,050 stores this year. The additions will grow its 158,000-person workforce by almost 13 percent.  Like other dollar chains, Dollar...

BlackRock, the world’s largest money management firm, reported first-quarter profits of $1.2 billion, up 49 percent compared to $802 million in 2020’s first three months. The firm’s share value rose from $5.15 to $7.77 year on year. BlackRock cashed in on a surging stock market powered by rock-bottom interest rates and stimulus spending at a time when investors were in...

Businesses are finding it challenging to fill open positions due, in part, to the federal government stimulus programs and the lack of skilled workers applying for positions, according to a report. According to ZeroHedge, there are about 100 million Americans who are not in the labor force. Of them, 94 million are not interested in gaining employment. The website reported,...

In 2020, the proportion of dollars in nations’ foreign currency reserves dipped below 60 percent for the first time since 1995, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported. In contrast, the euro’s share of reserves rose to 21.2 percent, the IMF found, its greatest share in six years; Japan’s yen claimed 6 percent, more than it has in two decades. The...

Housing starts in March climbed 19.4 percent from February to 1.74 million units, the highest number since 2007 and the strongest month-on-month performance since 1990, Business Insider reported.  Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast an average of 1.61 million starts for the month. The leap from February to March was due, in part, to February’s storms that halted construction in...

In March, consumer spending gained 9.8 percent from February, when it fell 3 percent, the U.S. Commerce Department reported. The jump was almost twice the 5.5 percent that analysts were expecting and a sharp turnaround from February’s 3-percent contraction after previous stimulus money had been spent and a series of storms slowed travel and business activity. The spending spree was...

The number of new claims for unemployment benefits fell to 576,000 during the week ending 10 April, dropping from the previous week’s revised figure of 769,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported and reaching a low not seen since 14 March 2020, according to Business Insider. A median forecast by economists Bloomberg called for 700,000 new claims. The number of people...

Since November’s U.S. presidential election, $170 billion more has flowed into U.S. stock funds than has left, according to data firm EPFR. In contrast, only a net $29.78 billion funds went into China’s stock funds from December 2020 through 17 April this year, EPFR reported. When the world’s economy collapsed in March 2020, the U.S. economy and its equity markets...

The share prices for special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) retreated in recent days as federal regulators have taken a closer interest in the companies’ free-wheeling operations. The SPAK.NV SPAC exchange-traded fund peaked at $34.87 on 16 February; on 14 April, it closed below $26. The Indxx SPAC & NextGen IPO Index edged above 2,000 on 22 February but ended 16 April...