Tag: mar 9 2021

Across the U.S., about a quarter of office workers sent home during the pandemic have returned, according to Kastle Systems, a firm that records employee card swipes in 3,600 buildings around the country. In Chicago and San Francisco, fewer than 20 percent of desk jockeys have returned; in Texas, where COVID-related strictures have been looser,...

President Biden’s $1.9-trillion economic rescue plan includes $14 billion in payroll support for U.S. airlines and $1 billion for their contractors, bringing the government’s total support for the industry to more than $63 billion since the COVID pandemic began. The newest bailout is unlikely to be enough to prevent layoffs across the industry, with air...

The gap between the value of U.S. imports and exports widened 1.9 percent to $68.2 billion in January, the Commerce Department reported, as American consumers bought more pharmaceuticals, cell phones, flat-screen televisions, and other electronic items. Imports grew 1.2 percent to $260.2 billion in January from December, returning to pre-pandemic levels, while exports added 1...

The U.S. Federal Reserve will not tighten monetary policy, Fed chair Jerome Powell reiterated on 4 March at the Wall Street Journal Jobs Summit. “We’re still a long way from our goals of maximum employment and inflation averaging 2 percent over time,” he said. With the U.S. economy still about ten million jobs short of...

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s “Beige Book,” a collection of business anecdotes and comments the central bank publishes eight times a year, confirms signs of an economic recovery and finds businesses’ optimism returning, according to the edition released on 3 March. “Economic activity expanded modestly from January to mid-February,” the Fed reported, and “most businesses remain...

With the dollar steady through late 2020, while down today, its value has grown 2 percent this year against the collection of major foreign currencies measured by the ICE Dollar Value Index. A strong dollar could dampen a global economic recovery, making U.S. products more expensive abroad and damaging emerging nations’ ability to repay dollar-based...

The U.S. economy created 379,000 net new jobs in February, 355,000 of which were in restaurants, hotels, and other hospitality businesses, according to the U.S. Labor Department. The leisure and hospitality industries cast off 500,000 jobs in December and January; therefore, the February gains signal a fundamental turn in the economy, some analysts say. The...

New claims for unemployment benefits rose to 745,000 in the week ended 27 February, up slightly from the previous week’s adjusted tally of 736,000 but slightly below analysts’ expectation of 750,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported. Private-sector employers added only 117,000 jobs in February, according to a 3 March report from ADP. That figure is...