Coronavirus
Lawmakers Highlight Supply Chain Concerns Amid Pandemic
House lawmakers recently pointed to the need for enhancing the manufacturing environment for products and equipment to avoid future disruptions along supply chains affected during the coronavirus pandemic.
Meadows Says Democrats Rebuff White House on Stopgap Jobless Aid
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said Democrats rebuffed multiple proposals from the Trump administration to extend lapsing supplemental unemployment benefits and have continued to raise the ante in talks on a stimulus package to bolster a U.S. economy hobbled by the coronavirus pandemic.
July 31, 2020Oil Pares Monthly Gain With Global Supply Onslaught Looming
Oil is set to eke out a monthly gain, yet futures lost steam on July 31 amid threats that the market will soon become oversupplied.
US Incomes Fall in June as One-Time Stimulus Boost Fades
U.S. incomes fell more than expected in June as the effects of the government’s one-time stimulus checks dissipated, though an increase in unemployment-insurance payments pointed to the importance of expiring federal relief.
Amazon Plows Through Pandemic With Record Profit
Amazon .com Inc. justified its big investments to keep operating through the COVID-19 pandemic with sales growth and a record profit that far exceeded analysts’ estimates, showing that staying open when so many businesses were forced to close was a rare opportunity.
Tech Leads Stock Rebound From Lows Amid Earnings
Stocks pared losses as a rally in big technology companies tempered concern over a slow economic rebound. After the close of regular trading, Apple Inc., Amazon .com Inc., Alphabet Inc. and Facebook Inc. jumped as results crushed Wall Street estimates.
July 30, 2020United Air Warns Outlook Threatens One-Third of Pilot Jobs
United Airlines Holdings Inc. warned that it’s considering furloughs for as many as one-third of its nearly 12,000 pilots, citing a resurgence in U.S. coronavirus cases that’s weakened sales.
Walmart Is Eliminating Hundreds of Corporate Jobs
Walmart Inc. has eliminated hundreds of corporate positions, according to people familiar with the matter, as retailers around the country slim down at the back-office level.
US Economy Shrank at Record-Breaking 33% Rate Last Quarter
The U.S. economy shrank at a dizzying 32.9% annual rate in the April-June quarter — by far the worst quarterly plunge ever — when the viral outbreak shut down businesses, throwing tens of millions out of work and sending unemployment surging to 14.7%, the government said July 30.
House Lawmakers Examine FEMA’s Disaster Response Policies
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted several congressional transportation leaders to examine the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s ability to assist citizens during events that impede access to freight and passenger corridors.