A sign in the window of a FedEx office reads, "Now Hiring," Monday, Oct. 26, 2020 in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
By Christopher Rugaber
U.S. employers added 638,000 jobs in October, a solid pace though far fewer than needed to regain most of the jobs lost to the pandemic recession just as new viral cases are setting record highs.
The gain suggested that a tentative economic recovery may remain intact even in the face of a surging viral outbreak.
The report Friday from the Labor Department said the unemployment rate fell to 6.9% from 7.9% in September. But eight months after the virus struck the United States, the economy still has recovered barely half the 22 million jobs that were lost to the pandemic.
The job market and the overall economy are under intense pressure from the accelerating pandemic. On Thursday, the nation broke another record in the seven-day rolling average for new cases, hitting nearly 90,000. Daily new cases were also on track for another day above 100,000, with surging numbers reported all around the country, including a combined nearly 25,000 in Texas, Illinois and Florida.
The economy, which had rebounded sharply in the July-September quarter as businesses reopened from virus-related shutdowns, is now expanding more slowly. Many businesses, especially restaurants and bars that had made use of outdoor seating, face a dim future as the weather turns colder. Consumers may also pull back again on shopping, traveling and other activities to avoid contracting the virus.
Friday's report follows the expiration of government stimulus for struggling individuals, businesses and state and local governments and the failure of Congress to provide further aid.
Consumer spending on services like restaurants, health care and haircuts is rising much more slowly this fall after having rebounded in May and June. It remains 7% below the pre-pandemic level — a decline that threatens many labor-intensive parts of the economy. The restaurant reservations website OpenTable shows, for example, that just three-quarters of restaurants are now taking reservations, a decline from three weeks ago.
The slowdown has coincided with the waning of $1,200 checks that were sent to most adults in the spring and a $600-a-week federal jobless benefit that expired in July. That was followed by an additional $300 that lasted through mid-September. A study by JPMorgan Chase found that Americans spent roughly two-thirds of such money by the end of August.
“The economy is on its own against the virus,” said AnnElizabeth Konkel, an economist at the job-posting website Indeed. “Accelerating cases are an ever-present threat during winter, and a virus surge means economic uncertainty for businesses. Until that uncertainty is eliminated, the labor market will struggle to return to what it used to be.”
The global oil benchmark has crossed the $100 per barrel mark for the first time since 2014. Oil prices have surged nearly 10 percent since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Russia is the number two oil producer in the world, and it comes at a time when global oil supplies have already been constrained over the course of the past year. Rob Thummel, portfolio manager at Tortoise, joined Cheddar Movers to discuss.
Russia's economy is falling on hard times as businesses throughout the world continue to shut out the country after its invasion of Ukraine. Cheddar News was joined by Christine McDaniel, Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center, to learn more about the situation.
Tech companies such as Google, Apple, and Twitter are the latest to announce back-to-office plans. Google has asked its employees to return starting on April 4th. Heidi Brooks, senior lecturer in organizational behavior at Yale University School of Management, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
Businesses face more challenges for building a positive work environment as offices reopen. Workplace tech platform Envoy's At Work Report showed that hybrid work is currently in vogue, featuring focused work in both the office and at home. Annette Reavis, chief people officer for Envoy, joined Cheddar to discuss how employers can smooth the rough edges for their returning employees. "It is about hybrid though, it's really important for the future that we change our mindset from five days a week," she said. "Those are days of the past to working hybrids. So when you're in the office, you're focused, you're working cross-functionally."
Following the invasion of Ukraine, a multitude of Western companies have paused doing business with Russia. PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and Starbucks are the most recent companies to temporarily cease operations in Russia. Dean of Miami Herbert Business School at the University of Miami, John Quelch, joined Cheddar News to discuss what message this sends to Russia and the Russian consumer. “I would not underestimate the collective strength of all of these multinational companies, essentially coming together to make their collective statement in support of the political statements that have come out of Washington," he said.
Cristyl Kimbrough, real estate attorney and star of 'Ladies Who List: Atlanta,' joins Cheddar News to discuss her new show on OWN and breaking into Atlanta's luxury real estate space.
Carl Tobias, professor of law at the University of Richmond, joins Cheddar News to talk about how Johnson & Johnson funded experiments on mostly Black men comparing the effects of talc and asbestos on their skin.
Amazon unveiled its new mobile app called Amp as a direct competitor to Clubhouse, allowing people to host live radio shows. Although it is still in beta, users can join the waitlist from the iOS store.
