Government

Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits gradually eased last week despite a stream of business reopenings, underscoring the longer-term labor-market challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Managing crises such as the coronavirus pandemic requires communication, planning and flexibility, said Ed Emmett, senior fellow at Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research.

The Federal Reserve pledged to maintain at least the current pace of asset purchases and projected interest rates will remain near zero through 2022, as Chairman Jerome Powell committed the central bank to using all its tools to help the economy recover from the coronavirus.

The German government agreed June 10 on a long-term strategy for increasing production and use of hydrogen as part of a plan to cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Approval of a comprehensive highway funding package would help industries assisting in an economic recovery, the chairman of American Trucking Associations told a House panel June 9.

Greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. are poised for a record plunge this year, the result of coronavirus lockdown orders that have shuttered factories, closed stores and left cars and jets sitting idle.

FMCSA has extended and modified its emergency declaration for motor carriers that are providing direct assistance in support of coronavirus-related relief efforts.

Federal trucking regulators have extended through Sept. 30 a waiver from certain pre-employment drug testing requirements for truck drivers during the COVID-19 emergency.

A coalition that includes freight stakeholders and myriad transportation interests is calling on senators to advance legislation that would prioritize testing for critical infrastructure workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

American Trucking Associations says fleets could feel the brunt of stormwater runoff regulation changes proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency.