Americans’ incomes fell in August by the most in three
months after the government’s supplemental unemployment benefits expired,
threatening to temper consumer spending that increased during the month.
The 2.7% decrease in personal income followed an upwardly
revised 0.5% gain a month earlier, according to Commerce Department data
released Thursday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists
called for a 2.5% drop in August. Consumer spending on goods and services
increased 1% from the prior month after a downwardly revised 1.5% gain in July.
The decline in income highlights the impact of the
expiration of the extra $600 in weekly jobless benefits at the end of July,
which had temporarily propped up household finances and helped spur
consumption. While President Donald Trump in early August announced an
additional $300 a week in federal jobless benefits, many states didn’t get
those funds out until early September, and the benefit only lasts six weeks
The income and spending report showed wages and salaries rose 1.3% in
August. Three months earlier, worker pay excluding bonuses increased 2.7%. At
the same time, unemployment insurance payments made up 3.2% of annualized
income in August, compared with 6.6% in July.
“Labor income now has a big headwind when you add the fact that that
extra unemployment income has been taken away at the beginning of August and
the fact that state and local governments are straining,” James Sweeney, chief
economist at Credit Suisse Group AG, said on Bloomberg TV.
More
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-01/u-s-personal-income-falls-after-federal-jobless-benefit-expires?cmpid=BBD100120_BIZ&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=201001&utm_campaign=bloombergdaily
UK events industry warns of
90,000 COVID job losses October 2, 202012:11
AM
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s events industry warned Prime Minister Boris
Johnson on Friday that more than 90,000 people in the exhibitions sector would
be made redundant in the coming weeks unless he offered more support to replace
a government job furlough scheme.
Under rules designed to stop a resurgence of COVID infections, people in
Britain are generally not allowed to meet in groups of more than six, making
traditional conferences, concerts and other large events impossible to
organise.
Until now, many jobs in the sector have been supported by a government
programme that paid up to 80% of staff wages, but that comes to an end this
month.
The Events Industry Alliance, an umbrella group for trade bodies, said
its members could not afford to use a new scheme, which offers a smaller amount
of government support to businesses that bring workers back on reduced hours.
“Over 90,000 people will be made redundant in the coming weeks due to
continued event closures and the inability of their employers to access the new
Job Support Scheme as they are not able to trade at all,” the group wrote in a
letter to Johnson and finance minister Rishi Sunak.
More
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-britain-events/uk-events-industry-warns-of-90000-covid-job-losses-idUKKBN26M7P3
H&M to close hundreds of
stores as online shift accelerates October 1,
20207:19 AM
STOCKHOLM
(Reuters) - H&M plans to close hundreds of stores next year as the
coronavirus crisis drives more shoppers online, the world’s second biggest
fashion retailer said on Thursday, after reporting a smaller than expected drop
in third-quarter profit.
H&M, which over decades expanded its network of shops around the
world, will aim to cut their number by a net 250 next year, representing 5% of
its current network.
H&M has been shutting more stores and opening fewer over the past
couple of years as it adapts to the online shift that is driving more
competition. The retailer said earlier this year its net number of stores would
decline already in 2020.
The company also said sales had continued to recover in September from
the impact of the virus.
Chief Executive Helena Helmersson said: “Although the challenges are far
from over, we believe that the worst is behind us and we are well placed to
come out of the crisis stronger.”
Rival fashion retail groups have also seen a recovery, with market
leader Inditex, the owner of Zara, reporting a return to profit in its May-July
quarter.
More
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-h-m-results/hm-to-close-hundreds-of-stores-as-online-shift-accelerates-idUKKBN26M4T2
But manufacturing is picking up in GB and Germany. But
can it last if unemployment surges again?
UK factories grow for fourth
month, job losses slow - PMI October 1,
20209:38 AM By Reuters Staff
LONDON
(Reuters) - British factory activity grew for a fourth month in a row in
September, though more slowly than in August, and the sector cut the fewest
jobs since before the COVID-19 lockdown, a survey showed on Thursday.
The IHS Markit/CIPS manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) came
in at 54.1. That was down a touch from a preliminary reading of 54.3 and below
August’s two-and-a-half-year high of 55.2, but well above the 50.0 threshold
denoting growth.
“Output and new orders increased as new work intakes improved from both
domestic and overseas markets,” IHS Markit said, pointing to more companies
reopening after the lockdown and staff returning to work from temporary
layoffs.
Britain’s economy is recovering from its COVID-19 lockdown more quickly
than predicted by the Bank of England and other forecasters, although it
probably remains as much as 10% smaller than before the pandemic, BoE Governor
Andrew Bailey has said.
The pace of the bounce-back is expected to slow in the coming months as
the government scales back its job subsidies and seeks to clamp down on rising
COVID-19 cases.
But Thursday’s PMI survey for the manufacturing sector - which accounts
for about 10% of Britain’s economy - showed little sign of a slowdown in
September.
More
https://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKZRN000O0S
Euro zone factory recovery
continued in September as Germany boomed October 1,
20209:19 AM By Jonathan Cable
LONDON
(Reuters) - The recovery in euro zone manufacturing activity gathered pace last
month but it was largely driven by strength in powerhouse Germany, and rising coronavirus
cases across the region may yet reverse the upturn, a survey showed.
While the manufacturing sector is enjoying something of a revival, most
market watchers and policymakers will focus on a survey for the bloc’s dominant
service industry, which accounts for around two-thirds of GDP, due on Monday.
Its preliminary reading returned to contraction territory last month,
suggesting renewed coronavirus-led lockdown restrictions were having an impact.
“If you look across the region, the fact is large numbers of services
firms may no longer be viable in a world where we have a significant amount of
COVID-19 restrictions in place and that means there could be a big employment
shake out,” said Peter Dixon at Commerzbank.”
Factories also cut headcount in September, albeit at a shallower pace
than the previous month, and official data showed unemployment across the
region rose to 8.1% in August.
More
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-eurozone-economy-pmi/euro-zone-factory-recovery-continued-in-september-as-germany-boomed-idUKKBN26M55Y
I, the great general of the German soldiers, send this letter to
the Hereros. The Hereros are German subjects no longer. They have killed,
stolen, cut off the ears and other parts of the body of wounded soldiers, and
now are too cowardly to want to fight any longer. I announce to the people that
whoever hands me one of the chiefs shall receive 1,000 marks, and 5,000 marks
for Samuel
Maherero . The Herero nation must now
leave the country. If it refuses, I shall compel it to do so with the 'long
tube' (cannon). Any Herero found inside the German frontier, with or without a
gun or cattle, will be executed. I shall spare neither women nor children. I
shall give the order to drive them away and fire on them. Such are my words to
the Herero people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lothar_von_Trotha
Covid-19 Corner
This
section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
Trump Self-Quarantines; India
Nears 100,000 Deaths: Virus Update Bloomberg News October
2, 2020, 12:04 AM GMT+1 Updated on October 2, 2020, 5:25 AM GMT+1
U.S. President Donald Trump said he would begin
self-quarantine while waiting for coronavirus test results after Hope Hicks, one of his closest
aides, tested positive for Covid-19. Hicks traveled with Trump aboard Air Force
One to and from the presidential debate in Cleveland on Tuesday.
Amazon.com Inc. said close to 20,000 of its employees had
tested positive for the virus during the pandemic. A $1 billion funding package
to help the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fight Covid-19 has
remained mostly unspent, people familiar with the matter said.
Australia will allow New Zealanders to visit the country
without quarantining in an effort to revive tourism. India’s death toll rose to
almost 100,000.
Key
Developments: Global Tracker :
Cases pass 34.1 million; deaths exceed 1 millionHow Russia Shortened the Covid
Vaccine Race to Declare Victory Londoners Told to Act to
Stop Covid with City at ‘Tipping Point ’ Europe’s Banks Lead the Way
in Global Jobs Cull This Year: Chart New York, San Francisco rents plunge in work-at-home
shift English soccer could be next in line
for a coronavirus bailout https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-01/amazon-workers-had-covid-19-cdc-funds-stalled-virus-update?srnd=coronavirus
Amazon reports over 19,000, or
1.44%, of U.S. frontline employees had COVID-19 October 1, 202010:21
PM
(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O
Some staff, elected officials and unions in
recent months have said Amazon put employees’ health at risk by keeping
warehouses open during the pandemic. Amazon said its rate of infection was 42%
lower than expected when considering the virus’ spread in the general
population.
Amazon in a blog post here
The disclosure by Amazon offers a rare look
at the disease’s impact on a big U.S. employer. Amazon has kept facilities open
to meet a surge in demand from shoppers stuck at home, adding temperature
checks, social distancing software and other safety procedures.
---- Amazon said that out of its 1,372,000
frontline employees at Amazon and its Whole Foods Market subsidiary, 19,816
tested positive or were presumed to have COVID-19 between March 1 and Sept. 19.
The figure includes seasonal staff and those who may have been infected outside
work, it said.
By contrast, 33,952 would have contracted the virus had Amazon’s rate
equaled that of the general populace, when accounting for employees’ age and
geography, it said.
More
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-amazon-com-cases/amazon-reports-over-19000-or-1-44-of-u-s-frontline-employees-had-covid-19-idUKKBN26M7IU
Poland reports record number of
new daily coronavirus infections October 1,
20209:58 AM
WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland reported a record number of new daily
coronavirus infections on Thursday, with the Health Ministry announcing 1,967
new cases as it battles a rise in cases with new curbs.
For the past week, Poland has seen more than 1,000 new cases per day.
The authorities announced a previous record of 1,587 new infections on Friday.
New restrictions were announced in the worst affected areas on Tuesday,
with the government saying restaurants and bars would have to close at 10 p.m.
The government also updated on Thursday its list of red and yellow zones
- areas that have more cases and therefore tougher restrictions - which will
come into effect on Saturday.
Since the start of the pandemic, Poland has recorded a total of 93,481
coronavirus infections and 2,543 deaths.
Poland was at first successful in containing the outbreak, but lifted
most restrictions in May and cases began rising in the summer as people
travelled for vacations and attended weddings.
Schools and kindergartens reopened on Sept. 1.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-poland/poland-reports-record-number-of-new-daily-coronavirus-infections-idUKKBN26M5DB?il=0
Elon Musk: I Refuse to Get a
COVID Vaccine September 29th 2020
In a New
York Times interview
“You won’t get a vaccine,” Swisher mused. “Why is that?”
“I’m not at risk for COVID, nor are my kids,” Musk
answered.
Musk has had a complicated track record when it comes to
the ongoing pandemic — and as he himself admitted to Swisher, it’s “a hot
button issue where rationality takes a backseat.”
But it’s undeniably been a weird turn for the
scientifically-minded entrepreneur, who’s spread misleading
information about the virus and infamously tweeted in early March that
he predicted there to be “close to zero new cases” by the “end of April.” He
also opined
that “the coronavirus panic is dumb.”
Back to Work Musk also became embroiled in a heated
back and forth in May with local authorities in Alameda County, home
of one of his electric car company’s factories. Musk pushed for a premature
reopening of the facility, despite local lockdown rules forbidding a return
to workplaces.
To Musk, it seems as though the pandemic is
essentially just nature taking its course. When Swisher pushed him, telling him
that “this storm is coming again,” Musk retorted with a blunt “everybody dies.”
More
https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-refuse-covid-vaccine?mc_eid=f4cd094325&mc_cid=fbdfef99a1
Next, some vaccine links
kindly sent along from a LIR reader in Canada. The links come from a most
informative update from Stanford Hospital in California.
World
Health Organization - Landscape of COVID-19 candidate vaccines . https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/draft-landscape-of-covid-19-candidate-vaccines
NY
Times Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker . https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/science/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker.html
Stanford
Website . https://racetoacure.stanford.edu/clinical-trials/132
Regulatory
Focus COVID-19 vaccine tracker . https://www.raps.org/news-and-articles/news-articles/2020/3/covid-19-vaccine-tracker
Some other useful Covid links.
Johns Hopkins Coronavirus
resource centre
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
Rt Covid-19
https://rt.live/
Covid19info.live
https://wuflu.live/
He further gave orders that:
This proclamation is to be read to the troops at roll-call, with
the addition that the unit that catches a captain will also receive the
appropriate reward, and that the shooting at women and children is to be
understood as shooting above their heads, so as to force them to run [away]. I
assume absolutely that this proclamation will result in taking no more male
prisoners, but will not degenerate into atrocities against women and children.
The latter will run away if one shoots at them a couple of times. The troops
will remain conscious of the good reputation of the German soldier.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lothar_von_Trotha
Technology Update.
With events happening
fast in the development of solar power and graphene, I’ve added this section.
Updates as they get reported. Is converting sunlight to usable cheap AC or DC
energy mankind’s future from the 21st century onwards.
Tesla Autopilot scores low for
driver engagement in European safety rating October 1,
20209:11 AM
(Reuters) - Tesla Inc's TSLA.O Autopilot has ranked
sixth in 10 driver assistance systems evaluated in a European safety assessment,
scoring low on its ability to keep drivers engaged.
The Tesla Model 3’s Autopilot scored just 36
when assessed on its ability to maintain a driver’s focus on the road. But it
gained the highest marks for performance and ability to respond to emergencies,
receiving an overall score of 131 and a rating of ‘moderate’.
In contrast, the Mercedes DAIGn.DE GLE's system,
which had the highest overall score of 174 and received the top rating of 'very
good', received a score of 85 for driver engagement. Most other vehicles had
scores of 70 or above for driver engagement.
The European New Car Assessment Program
(NCAP), which worked with UK insurance group Thatcham Research, called the
assessments the first consumer ratings specifically focused on driver
assistance systems - technology that automates some tasks, including
acceleration, braking and steering support.
Safety and insurance researchers have
frequently warned of the risks of consumers overestimating the systems’
abilities, a misconception increased by some automakers calling their products
Autopilot, ProPilot or CoPilot.
Tesla’s Autopilot has been criticized by the
U.S. National Transportation Safety Board for allowing drivers to turn their
attention from the road and U.S. regulators have investigated 15 crashes since
2016 involving Tesla vehicles equipped with Autopilot.
“Unfortunately, there are motorists that
believe they can purchase a self-driving car today. This is a dangerous
misconception that sees too much control handed to vehicles that are not ready
to cope with all situations,” said Matthew Avery, a Euro NCAP board member and
research director at Thatcham Research.
In addition to the Mercedes GLE, the BMW BMWG.DE 3-Series and the
Audi VOWG_p.DE Q8,
received the highest rating of 'very good' while two models, the Renault RENA.PA Clio and the
Peugeot PEUP.PA received
the lowest rating of 'entry'.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-autos-selfdriving-safety/tesla-autopilot-scores-low-for-driver-engagement-in-european-safety-rating-idUKKBN26M55W?il=0
Maybe, but after the
VW and Audi diesel pollution scandal, can we trust Europe’s auto numbers?
US Politics Betting Odds https://www.oddschecker.com/politics/us-politics
The Battle of
Gonzales was the first military engagement of the Texas Revolution . It was fought near Gonzales , Texas , on October 2, 1835, between
rebellious Texian settlers and a detachment of
Mexican army soldiers.
In 1831, Mexican
authorities lent the settlers of Gonzales a small cannon to help protect them
from frequent Comanche raids. Over the next four
years, the political situation in Mexico deteriorated, and in 1835 several
states revolted. As the unrest spread, Colonel Domingo de Ugartechea , the commander of all Mexican troops in Texas,
felt it unwise to leave the residents of Gonzales with a weapon and requested
the return of the cannon.
When the initial
request was refused, Ugartechea sent 100 dragoons to retrieve the cannon. The
soldiers neared Gonzales on September 29, but the colonists used a variety of
excuses to keep them from the town, while secretly sending messengers to
request assistance from nearby communities. Within two days, up to 140 Texians
gathered in Gonzales, all determined not to give up the cannon. On October 1,
settlers voted to initiate a fight. Mexican soldiers opened fire as Texians
approached their camp in the early hours of October 2. After several hours of
desultory firing, the Mexican soldiers withdrew.
More
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gonzales
No comments:
Post a Comment