With 793,000 Americans applying for first-time unemployment benefits last week, the need for relief and a boost to the economy is apparent. Heather Boushey, a member of the Biden administration's Council of Economic Advisers, told Cheddar the number of new jobs added across the country has been on a steady decline.
"A couple weeks ago we got data for January's employment situation, and there we saw that the pace of job growth has slowed," she said.
The drastic sweep of job losses has been felt disproportionately by women, many of whom left the workforce to take on family care responsibilities full-time as schools and daycare centers closed in an effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
According to Boushey, prioritizing economic stimulus initiatives and circulating critical supplies is a surefire way to rejuvenate the economy and will ultimately help schools and daycare centers reopen safely — effectively allowing many women to get back into the labor force.
"The most important thing that we need to get people back to work, to get back to business as usual, is to contain the pandemic, and that's why the American Rescue Plan starts by adding resources for communities and states all across the country to contain the virus, to get those vaccines out, to make sure people have protective gear, to make sure that there's testing widely available, and then the package provides resources to help families, especially those who are out of work, weather this crisis," Boushey noted.
The big question Americans pose now is: when will relief come? Components of the COVID relief bill are being hashed out, particularly whether or not to include a boost to the federal minimum wage of $15. The House of Representatives approved the bill that included the minimum wage hike but Senate Democrats do not appear to be on the same page and might not have the votes to achieve the goal.
"Right now, Congress is working on the legislation. They're doing hearing markups and the extent to which they can move quickly and get their work done and get it to the president's desk to sign," Boushey said. "That is when we'll know when folks can get checks, but it can't happen until Congress acts."
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
