Category: TRENDS ON THE U.S. ECONOMIC FRONT

For the many economies that depend on tourism, remittances from relatives abroad, and exporting raw materials, a new global wave of the COVID virus could leave them even less able to service their already burdensome foreign debt, the IMF has warned. These countries typically must import a range of necessities. The loss of income from...

GERMAN INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION BEGINS TO STIR. Several sectors of Germany’s industrial economy are beginning to boost production, according to a survey by the ifo Institute. The institute’s production indicator, based on the outlook of manufacturing executives, rose from a feeble collective 4.4 points in June to 14.7 in July. Among the most optimistic sectors: Germany’s...

The Blackstone Group, one of the world’s largest investment managers with $545 billion under management last year, has paid $4.7 billion for the majority ownership of Ancestry.com, the website that enables people to trace their family trees. Ancestry.com also is the world’s leading provider of DNA test kits that allow people to screen for genetic...

The Disney Co. lost $4.72 billion in the three months ending 27 June, its first losing quarter since 2001. Its theme parks were closed, movie releases delayed, and sporting events that dotted its television broadcast schedule were canceled. A year earlier, the company had posted $1.43 billion in profits. Revenues fell 42 percent to $11.8...

Tailored Brands, owner of Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Banks clothiers, is rebalancing its inventory from business attire to a new emphasis on casual chic as it works through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, filed on 2 August. The company’s revenues fell 5.6 percent over the last two years as business dress codes loosened, a trend institutionalized...

Already dressed up with masks for Halloween and everyday life looking like a trip to the Mad House, with Al Hallow’s Eve just nine weeks away, still fearful of the COVID Goblin, planned events are being canceled. Universal Studios Hollywood’s annual Halloween Horror Nights, which runs from mid-September past Halloween night, priced tickets last year...

It’s old news to Trends Journal subscribers. We had forecast this back in March. But now it’s big news in the business media. First hotels, then retail storefronts. Next, the value of office space, especially in urban centers, will shrink an average of 17.2 percent in 2020, says Moody’s Analytics REIS. The value of retail...

Vehicle loans, which have almost doubled in number since 2010, face a rising likelihood of mass-scale defaults with millions unemployed, future federal unemployment bonuses in doubt, and banks less able, or less willing, to defer payments or negotiate lower balances. During the current crisis, auto lenders offered to defer payments for many borrowers for as...

With new claims for unemployment benefits topping one million for 20 weeks in a row, whether job growth continues robustly, weakly, or at all depends on three factors, analysts say. First, 45 million working Americans have school-age children. If schools do not fully reopen, many parents will forego full-time work to remain at home to...

The U.S. economy sprouted 1.76 million jobs in July, significantly fewer than the 4.79 million added in June but surpassing analysts’ consensus expectation of 1.5 million. The gain still leaves the economy 12.88 million jobs short of the number it supported in February, according to the U.S. labor department. The unemployment rate dropped to 10.2...