Weekly newsletter September 05 to September 09
September 05, 2022
September 06, 2022
Biden Administration Eyes Shift to Annual COVID-19 Shot The Biden administration on Tuesday signaled that it wants COVID-19 vaccines to become an annual shot much like the flu vaccine, pending a new variant that comes out of left field.
Photo: WION
OPEC agrees to cut production after oil price slump OPEC said Monday it would reduce oil production next month, the cartel's first output cut since the depths of the pandemic, as it braces for a global economic slowdown to hit demand. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied oil producing nations, including Russia, agreed to shave 100,000 barrels per day off their production targets in October.
“It is becoming increasingly clear that looking forward with the COVID-19 pandemic in the absence of a dramatically different variant, we likely are moving towards a path with a vaccination cadence similar to that of the annual influenza vaccine with annual, updated COVID-19 shots matched to the currently circulating strains for most of the population,” leading infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said at a press briefing. White House COVID-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha agreed with Fauci. “Barring any new variant curveballs – we've seen curveballs – but barring those variant curveballs, for a large majority of Americans, we are moving to a point where a single annual COVID shot should provide a high degree of protection against serious illness all year. That's an important milestone,” Jha said.
Just a month ago, the OPEC+ group agreed to increase production in September by the same small amount — equivalent to about 0.1% of global demand — after coming under intense pressure from the United States and other big oil consumers to do more to bring down energy prices and inflation. OPEC+ agreed to "revert to the production level of August 2022 ... noting that the upward adjustment of 0.1 [million barrels per day] to the production level was intended only for the month of September 2022," the group said in a statement. The impact of an attempt by G7 nations to cap the price at which Russia can sell oil remains unclear, although Moscow has already said it will suspend supplies to countries that go along with it. Photo: US News Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/09/05/energy/opec-oil-gas-prices/index.html
Source: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2022-09-06/bidenadministration-eyes-shift-to-annual-covid-19-shot
September 07, 2022
September 08, 2022
Weekly jobless claims fall again, underscoring tight job market Despite fears of a recession, the labor market is showing no signs of weakening. The number of first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell by 6,000 to 222,000 for the week ended September 3, according to Department of Labor data released Thursday. The initial weekly claims figure, which is at its lowest level in just over three months, is below the previous week's downwardly revised level of 228,000 and lower than economists' expectations of 240,000, according to Refinitiv estimates. Continuing jobless claims for the week ended September 3 increased by 36,000 to 1.47 million, the highest level in nearly five months, according to the Labor Department.
Photo: Bloomberg
Fed’s Barr Says More Scrutiny of Bank Mergers Will Be a Priority The Federal Reserve’s new top bank watchdog is pledging to take a tough approach to evaluating mergers between lenders as tie-ups between regional firms grow politically contentious in Washington. Michael Barr, the Fed’s vice chair for supervision, said in his first major speech since taking office in July that reviewing the central bank’s process for approving combinations was one of his priorities. While rules already prevent the biggest Wall Street giants from merging, Democrats have been arguing that more scrutiny is needed for tie-ups involving regional firms.
"We don't expect initial claims to continue to fall, but don't look for a sharp spike either," Nancy Vanden Houten, lead US economist with Oxford Economics, told CNN Business. "Even as the economy is weighed down by higher interest rates, labor markets are only starting to loosen slightly. So, we think employers will be reluctant to let go of workers and will slow hiring first." August's job gains, however, remain well above prepandemic times, when the monthly average was about 200,000, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows. And despite a recent spate of layoff announcements from large firms in sectors such as tech and retail, job openings remain plentiful. In July, the number of available positions ticked up to 11.2 million jobs — almost double the number of unemployed people looking for work.
“I plan to make sure that the crypto activity of banks that we supervise is subject to the necessary safeguards that protect the safety of the banking system as well as bank customers,” Barr said. “Banks engaged in crypto-related activities need to have appropriate measures in place to manage novel risks associated with those activities and to ensure compliance with all relevant laws, including those related to money laundering.” Photo: CNN News
Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-07/fed-s-barr-says-morescrutiny-of-bank-mergers-will-be-a-priority
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/09/08/economy/us-jobless-claims/index.html
September 08, 2022
Photo: US News
Majority of Americans Say Inflation Has Caused Financial Hardship Most of Americans now say inflation is causing them financial strain, according to a new poll from Gallup. Fifty-six percent of Americans say that rising prices caused hardships for their families, up from 49% in January, despite signs of stabilizing prices and improving confidence in the economy. The increase in money problems was most prevalent among middle-class households, with 63% saying that rising prices caused hardship, compared to 56% in January and 46% last November. Forty percent of upperincome households also said that inflation was causing concern, an increase from 32% in January and 28% in November. Lower-income Americans were less likely to report an increase in hardship, though as a group they reported the most difficulty overall. In August, 74% of lower income households said that rising prices were causing a burden, an increase from 66% in January. Reports of financial troubles due to inflation decreased by 4 points for lower-income households from November to January. Seven percent of those polled reported that they were looking for a new job or increasing the hours they work, to earn more money. A small percentage of households also reported more extreme responses, including incurring more debt and postponing medical treatment. Source: https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2022-09-07/majority-of-americans-sayinflation-has-caused-financial-hardship