Category: Trade

Daily Briefing – 268

COVID Update – 

Governor Cuomo issued a press release yesterday morning providing an overview of New York’s COVID-19 tracking data from Sunday March 21st. 

Hospitalization tracking data for the Mid-Hudson region and the rest of the State are below.  

Hospitalizations

• Patients Currently in Hospital statewide: 4,370
• Hospitalizations Mid-Hudson Region: 499

ICU Beds In Use (All Uses)

• Occupied ICU Beds Statewide: 4,085
• Occupied ICU Beds Mid-Hudson Region: 396

Other Data

• Statewide Positivity Rate: 3.29%
• Mid-Hudson Positivity Rate: 4.62%

Useful Websites:

• Read the press release
• See the School Districts Dashboard 
• See the SUNY Dashboard
• State Vaccine Information Site

NYS Vaccine Update – Vaccine Eligibility Expands to 50-Plus Age Group Today

The governor announced at a press event yesterday that the age requirement for COVID-19 vaccines was dropping from 60-plus to 50-plus, beginning Tuesday.  “Tomorrow morning, 50 and above, make your appointment and get your vaccine,” Gov. Cuomo said. 

 As of 11 am Monday 5,198,113 (plus 65,947 from a day earlier) New Yorkers have received at least one vaccine dose and 2,692,691 are fully vaccinated (Plus 38,557).  In the Hudson Valley 511,939 (plus 8,134) have at least one dose and 242,125 (plus 2,231) are fully vaccinated. 

• Read the press release
• Visit the vaccine tracker site
• Visit the am I eligible site
• See the list of eligible underlying medical conditions

U.S. Cases Falling Overall, But Rising in Several Northern States

The Johns Hopkins database reports 33K new cases yesterday, down
13% from Sunday last week. Hospitalizations and deaths are still falling, thanks to vaccination. There is some upward pressure  concentrated in northern states where the weather is still cool. Michigan remains the most troubling state; cases have almost tripled over the past month, and the rate of increase is accelerating. Cases are rising steadily in New Jersey, up 36% from their late February low, and the trend also is clearly increasing in Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Delaware, and New Hampshire. 

The most open southern states are performing better, with cases flat in Florida and falling in Texas and Mississippi. It seems likely that warmer weather is helping,

Read more at US News and World Report

AstraZeneca Vaccine Is Safe, 79% Effective in U.S. Trials

AstraZeneca’s vaccine was shown to be safe and 79% effective in preventing symptomatic disease in U.S. clinical trials involving more than 32,000 people, the U.K. drugmaker said.

The company said it would prepare to request emergency authorization in the U.S., a move that—if approved—will add another vaccine available for Americans.

Read more at the AP

Chip-Plant Fire Spreads Concerns About Global Auto Production

A fire at a factory of one of the world’s leading auto chip makers has added to the troubles of car makers that already have slashed production because of a semiconductor shortage. The fire Friday left a swath of charred equipment in the factory owned by a subsidiary of Renesas Electronics Corp.  in Hitachinaka, northeast of Tokyo. The company said it would take at least a month to restart the damaged operations.

Car makers have already been struggling with a shortage of semiconductors stemming in part from an unexpectedly strong comeback after the coronavirus pandemic hit last year. That left factories ill-prepared to increase production quickly.

Read more at the WSJ

Covid-19 Vaccine Manufacturing in U.S. Expanding

After a slow start, Pfizer Inc., its partner BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc. have raised output by gaining experience, scaling up production lines and taking other steps like making certain raw materials on their own.  Pfizer figured out how to stretch scarce supplies of special filters needed for the vaccine production process by recycling them. Moderna shortened the time it needed to inspect and package newly manufactured vials of its vaccine. The companies—along with Johnson & Johnson, which recently launched a Covid-19 vaccine—also are teaming up with other firms to further increase production.

In addition, the U.S. government has helped vaccine makers access supplies under the Defense Production Act, suppliers and government officials say. The Biden administration this month said it used the act to provide $105 million in funding to help Merck & Co. make doses of J&J’s Covid-19 vaccine and to expedite materials used in its production.

Read more at the WSJ

Vaccine Battle Heats Up With EU Ready to Halt U.K. Shipments

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said that the EU will not share its vaccine supply with poorer countries until it has achieved “a better production situation”. Her volte-face on the spirit of the bloc’s commitment to COVAX, an international initiative to provide poor countries with vaccines, comes as many EU members face a third wave of covid-19 infections (see main stories). Meanwhile, Britain will reportedly go on a diplomatic drive this week to persuade individual member-states to veto any move to block exports of vaccines across the English Channel.

Read more at Bloomberg

Stimulus Checks Have Left U.S. Households Flush to Spend

Last week a third round of relief payments started showing up in the accounts of millions of Americans, $1,400 payments so far sent to roughly 90 million adults totaling about $242 billion. That is on top of $600 per recipient payments sent in December and $1,200 sent earlier last year and in all will add up to more than $800 billion.

It turns out there is a lot we already know to answer that. Americans have spent some of it, saved a lot of it and used large portions to pay down burdensome debt. That leaves the economy primed for a consumer boom once business fully reopens and poses risks that worry some people on Wall Street, including higher inflation and an asset bubble. Moreover, it leaves a different debt overhang — federal debt — that poses new uncertainties for business, households and Uncle Sam himself.

Read more at Morningstar

DOL Creates New Whistleblower Protocols

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced that OSHA will now be responsible for overseeing worker retaliation complaints that are filed under the Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act (CAARA) and the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA). In addition to enforcing whistleblower protections for workers regarding federal health and safety laws, over the years OSHA also has been made responsible by Congress for overseeing the enforcement of the whistleblower provisions of 25 different statutes. In fact, only about 62% of the whistleblower claims OSHA investigates deal with safety and health violations.

OSHA’s staff handles complaints of retaliation arising from—among other things—employees reporting violations of securities and tax laws as well as violations of consumer product, food, nuclear industry, motor carrier, pipeline and maritime safety, and health insurance reform laws.

Read more at EHS Today

McMahon: Tax Increases On The Highest Earners 

A year after the Empire State was clobbered by the coronavirus, New York’s Legislature confronts an embarrassment of revenue riches. State taxes have rebounded more strongly than expected from the pandemic meltdown — capped by a massive injection of $12.6 billion in no-strings-attached federal stimulus funds. 

Yet among their budget priorities for the fiscal year starting April 1, the Democratic super-majorities in the state Assembly and Senate want to raise $7 billion or $8 billion more in new taxes — mostly from a few thousand multimillionaire earners.

Read more at the Empire Center

NY Income Tax Deadline Extended

The Department of Tax and Finance will be extending the New York State income tax deadline to May 17. This aligns with the federal decision to do the same and provides New Yorkers still coping with the complications of the COVID-19 pandemic ample time to file. 

Read more at the Department of Taxation and Finance

Some Schools Have Been Open for Months – Here’s What They Learned

Teachers and administrators whose buildings have been open for many months have come to some hard-earned conclusions about how to make it all work. Some of what they learned is consistent with what many scientists have been touting—that masking, ventilation, distancing and regular testing when possible are effective ways to reduce transmission of Covid-19 in schools. Other once-lauded tactics, such as daily temperature checks and deep cleaning of surfaces, have become lower priorities.

They also have learned that teachers, not their students, are likely the primary transmitters of the virus in grade schools, that children are likely most at risk of infection during lunch time, and that tools such as portable air cleaners and carbon-dioxide monitors can help.

Read more at the WSJ

Daily Briefing – 267

COVID Update – NY Forward Safe Office Initiative 

Governor Cuomo issued a press release yesterday morning providing an overview of New York’s COVID-19 tracking data from Saturday March 20th. Friday the Governor  announced  the New York Forward COVID-Safe Offices partnership with major commercial real estate partners to expand access to COVID-19 testing for employers. As part of the initiative, 21 participating landlords have committed to provide space and facilitate access to testing services for tenants interested in conducting regular diagnostic testing of their employees.

Hospitalization tracking data for the Mid-Hudson region and the rest of the State are below.  

Hospitalizations

• Patients Currently in Hospital statewide: 4,355
• Hospitalizations Mid-Hudson Region: 477

ICU Beds In Use (All Uses)

• Occupied ICU Beds Statewide: 4,136
• Occupied ICU Beds Mid-Hudson Region: 397

Other Data

• Statewide Positivity Rate: 3.30%
• Mid-Hudson Positivity Rate: 4.63%

Useful Websites:

• Read the press release
• See the School Districts Dashboard 
• See the SUNY Dashboard
• State Vaccine Information Site

First Brazilian Variant Discovered in New York State Resident

Governor Cuomo Friday announced the discovery of the first case of a COVID-19 P.1 variant, commonly referred to as the Brazilian variant, in a New York State resident. The case was identified by scientists at Mount Sinai hospital in New York City and verified by the Department of Health’s Wadsworth Center Laboratories. The patient is a Brooklyn resident in their 90’s with no travel history. DOH is working with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to learn more information about the patient and potential contacts.

The P.1 variant was first detected in the United States at the end of January, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is currently reporting 48 cases nationwide. The P.1 variant has been designated a “variant of concern,” which means there is evidence of an increase in transmissibility, more severe disease and the potential for reduced effectiveness of treatments or vaccines. However, while additional research is warranted, researchers at the University of Oxford recently released non-peer reviewed data that indicates the P.1 variant may be less resistant to the current vaccines than originally thought. 

Read the press release

NYS Vaccine Update – 7.5 Million Doses

7.5 million total COVID vaccine doses have been administered across New York State. 139,209 doses have been administered across New York’s vast distribution network in the last 24 hours, and more than 1 million doses have been administered over the past seven days. The week 14 allocation of 1,284,565 first and second doses was expected to finish arriving yesterday. Delivery of the week 15 allocation begins mid-week.  As of 11 am Sunday 5,132,166 (plus 92,393 from a day earlier) New Yorkers have received at least one vaccine dose and 2,654,134 are fully vaccinated (Plus 51,815).  In the Hudson Valley 503,805 (plus 10,612) have at least one dose and 239,894 (plus 3,242) are fully vaccinated. 

• Read the press release
• Visit the vaccine tracker site
• Visit the am I eligible site
• See the list of eligible underlying medical conditions

US Vaccine Rollout – Jabs Leveling Off at 2.2 Million Per Day

The US CDC reported 151.1 million SARS-CoV-2 vaccine doses distributed and 115.7 million doses administered. This includes 75.5 million people (22.7% of the entire US population; 29.2% of the adult population) who have received at least 1 dose of the vaccine, and 41.0 million (12.3%; 15.9%) who are fully vaccinated. Among adults aged 65 years and older, nearly two-thirds (66.3%) have received at least 1 dose and 38.6% are fully vaccinated.

The average doses administered appears to be leveling off at approximately 2.2 million doses per day, including 902,781 individuals fully vaccinated. In terms of full vaccination, 20.5 million individuals have received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, 19.4 million have received the Moderna vaccine, and 2.0 million have received the J&J-Janssen vaccine.

Read more at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security

Crystal Run Healthcare Provides Some Vaccine Facts

For the last several months, we’ve been looking forward with a hopeful gaze as some of the smartest brains in the world worked to develop vaccines to help stem the pandemic. And to our relief, they’ve been approved for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). We signed up to get vaccinated ourselves and have encouraged family, friends, and colleagues to get the vaccine as soon as they are able.

What we weren’t expecting is how much concern about getting a COVID-19 vaccine, also known as vaccine hesitancy, we’d be faced with. The country’s history with past vaccines can’t be overlooked – and we understand why people may be hesitant about getting the COVID-19 vaccine, but it is important for us to overcome vaccine hesitancy, together. The state of immunity of the world is determined by all of us, and while we wait for the widespread availability of vaccine, whether eagerly or reluctantly, We’d like to take this opportunity to talk about some of the recent good news vaccine studies have been showing.

Crstal Run Health – Vaccines are safe and effective

US Loans AstraZeneca Vaccine to North American Neighbors

The US government is finalizing plans to ship millions of doses of its available AstraZeneca-Oxford SARS-CoV-2 vaccine supply to Mexico and Canada. During a March 18 press conference, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the US has 7 million available doses and plans to send 2.5 million doses to Mexico and 1.5 million doses to Canada. She noted that the shipments would amount to a loan, with the US expected to receive doses of the same or a different vaccine in the future, and that the US government’s first priority remains vaccinating the US population. The US has faced increasing pressure to share its supply of vaccines with other countries, particularly the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, which is not yet authorized for use in the US.

Ms. Psaki said the White House continues to engage in conversations regarding requests from other countries, but providing the vaccine to US neighbors to the north and south is in the country’s best interest. The plan could be finalized as soon as today.

Read more at the US News

CDC Eases Physical-Distancing Recommendation for Schoolchildren

In guidelines updated Friday, the nation’s public-health agency said K-12 students should remain at least 3 feet apart in classrooms rather than the 6 feet it had recommended previously, a change it said was made possible by new scientific findings.  The agency also removed a recommendation that schools install physical barriers such as sneeze guards, partitions or tape and urged schools to consider Covid-19 symptom screening for sports and extracurricular activities.

The reduced distance applies to students only, not teachers and staff, the CDC said, because transmission rates of Covid-19 are higher among adults. Also, students should remain 6 feet apart in communities where transmission of Covid-19 is high if they cannot be divided into cohorts, the CDC said.

Read more at the AP

Forecasters Raised Growth Predictions for US Economy As Consumers Gain Confidence

The U.S. economic recovery is picking up steam as Americans increase their spending, particularly on in-person services that were battered by the coronavirus pandemic. The rising number of Covid-19 vaccinations, falling business restrictions, ample household savings and injections of federal stimulus funds into the economy are fueling the surge, economists say.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal this month raised their average forecast for 2021 economic growth to 5.95%, measured from the fourth quarter of last year to the same period this year, from a 4.87% projection in February’s survey. The higher figure would mark the fastest such pace in nearly four decades.

Read more at the WSJ

DiNapoli: Four Out of Five Small Businesses in NY Continue to Report a Negative Overall Impact From COVID-19

One year since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, New York’s small businesses continue to suffer, even as the economy reopens gradually and employment growth resumes. Seventy-eight percent of small businesses (with less than 500 employees) surveyed reported an overall negative impact in their business in the first week of March 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The share has declined from 94 percent in April 2020 when data were first reported, but has plateaued at approximately 80 percent since October 2020.

The share of New York’s small businesses reporting negative impacts has been consistently greater than the national average, which has also declined more quickly. In April 2020 almost 90 percent of small businesses nationally reported a negative impact; by the first week of March that figure declined 18 percent to 72 percent.

Read more at the Comptroller’s website

New COBRA Subsidy Requires Quick Action by Plan Sponsors

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), signed by President Biden on March 11, 2021, includes a number of provisions designed to assist workers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Among them is a new COBRA premium subsidy that pays for 100% of the applicable COBRA premium for eligible individuals with respect to coverage periods beginning April 1, 2021 and ending Sept. 30, 2021.

In order to comply with the law, employers will face a number of challenges and additional administrative responsibilities, including the identification of premium subsidy eligible individuals, contacting previously terminated employees not currently enrolled in COBRA but who are eligible for the premium subsidy, revising or supplementing existing COBRA notices, and satisfying new notice requirements. 

Read more at Bond Schoeneck & King

The Old Have Become Happier and the Young More Miserable

Covid-19 threatens the old far more than the young, with the risk of death after contracting the disease doubling for every eight years of life. Yet the old have cheered up. Globally, between 2017-19 and 2020 happiness was boosted by 0.22 points on the Cantril ladder among people over the age of 60. Meanwhile the young have had a rough year. Many lost their jobs—in America the unemployment rate for people aged 20 to 24 shot up from 6.3% in February 2020 to 25.6% two months later (it fell back to 9.6% last month). In some rich countries young women have had a particularly hard time. They often work in sectors, such as hospitality, which have been shut down. When schools close, many are lumbered with more than their fair share of child care.

Read more at The Economist

Daily Briefing – 266

COVID Update – Travel for Sports and Fans In-Person for Baseball Season

Governor Cuomo held a press briefing yesterday morning providing an overview of New York’s COVID-19 tracking data from Wednesday March 17th. The Governor also announced New York Yankees and New York Mets (Let’s Go Mets) to Start the Season with Fans in the Stands Beginning April 1 at 20% capacity. Also, beginning March 29, statewide travel for sports and recreational activities will be permitted. Currently, travel for sports and recreation is limited to contiguous counties and regions in accordance with New York State Department of Health guidance.  

Hospitalization tracking data for the Mid-Hudson region and the rest of the State are below.  

Hospitalizations

• Patients Currently in Hospital statewide: 4,536
• Hospitalizations Mid-Hudson Region: 499

ICU Beds In Use (All Uses)

• Occupied ICU Beds Statewide: 4,229
• Occupied ICU Beds Mid-Hudson Region: 397

Other Data

• Statewide Positivity Rate: 3.28%
• Mid-Hudson Positivity Rate: 4.66%

Useful Websites:

• Read the press release
• Read the baseball, travel sports  press release
• See the School Districts Dashboard 
• See the SUNY Dashboard
• State Vaccine Information Site

New York State Launching “Excelsior Pass” to Securely Present Proof of Vaccination or Negative Test 

In the coming days, New York State will be launching Excelsior Pass, a tool that allows New Yorkers and visitors to securely present proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test results. This unique app provides venues and patrons with a secure method to easily present, scan and confirm test and vaccine information to ensure convenient event flow-through.

Additionally, to make COVID-19 diagnostic testing even more available for New Yorkers, the State recently launched the New York Forward Rapid Test Program. This is a unique public-private partnership to make low-cost rapid testing available to the public to support enhanced economic activity, including weddings, catered events and arts and entertainment venues.

• Read the press release
• Learn more about the app
• Learn more about rapid testing

NYS Vaccine Update 

As of 11 am Wednesday 4,790,894 (plus 99,637 from yesterday) New Yorkers have received at least one vaccine dose and 2,493,242 are fully vaccinated (Plus 53,165).  In the Hudson Valley 463,752 (plus 13,313) have at least one dose and 229,619 (plus 3,721) are fully vaccinated. 

• Visit the vaccine tracker site
• Visit the am I eligible site
• See the list of eligible underlying medical conditions

US Vaccine Rollout – Vaccines Across America

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday about 73.7 million people have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, including about 40 million people who have been fully vaccinated by Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine or the two-dose series made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

Providers are administering about 2.47 million doses per day on average. Figures show the date shots were reported, rather than the date shots were given.

Read more at the New York Times Vaccine Tracker

Another 770,000 Americans Filed New Unemployment Claims

The Department of Labor released its weekly report on new jobless claims on yesterday. Here were the main metrics from the report, compared to consensus data compiled by Bloomberg:

Initial jobless claims, week ended March 13: 770,000 vs. 700,000 expected and an upwardly revised 725,000 during the prior week
Continuing claims, week ended March 6: 4.124 million vs. 4.034 million expected and 4.144 million during the prior week.

Read more at Yahoo Finance

UK Vaccine Supply Hit by India Delivery Delay

An expected reduction in the UK’s Covid vaccine supply in April is partly due to a delay in a delivery from India of five million Oxford-AstraZeneca doses.
The shipment, produced by the Serum Institute of India, has been held up by four weeks, NHS England warned of a reduction in supply in April in a letter to local health organizations on Wednesday.
 
A spokesperson for the Serum Institute said: “Five million doses had been delivered a few weeks ago to the UK and we will try to supply more later, based on the current situation and the requirement for the government immunization program in India.”

Read more at the BBC

AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 Vaccine Cleared by EU After Blood-Clot Concerns

The European Union’s health agency said that the Covid-19 vaccine produced by AstraZeneca PLC was “safe and effective” and didn’t increase the risk of blood clots, a decision that could clear the way for the resumption of inoculation campaigns that have been halted in much of the region.

The European Medicines Agency said that new expert analysis concluded that the benefits of using a Covid-19 vaccine produced by AstraZeneca outweigh its potential risks and inoculations with it should proceed.

Read more at the WSJ

The Fully Vaccinated Employee: What the New CDC Guidelines Mean for Employers

As employers consider whether to require vaccinations for employees and how to handle employees who refuse to be vaccinated, the CDC has given employers some clarity … and new issues to navigate. On March 9, the CDC issued its first set of recommendations for fully vaccinated people, providing guidance for everyone who has been patiently wondering what types of pre-COVID activities they can safely resume now that vaccines are here.

For employers navigating the constantly changing landscape of COVID-19 policies, the guidelines offer new options and potential new challenges, whether due to easing workplace restrictions or continuing them.

Read more at the National Law Review

CDC Issues Interim Guidance for Testing in Non-Healthcare Workplaces

The purpose of the guidance is to provide employers with considerations for incorporating testing for SARS-CoV-2 into a workplace COVID-19 preparedness, response, and control plan in select non-healthcare workplaces. The guidance includes descriptions of different types of SARS-CoV-2 tests; scenarios where SARS-CoV-2 testing may be used;  considerations for screening testing (testing asymptomatic workers with no known or suspected exposure to SARS-CoV-2)

The guidance says that screening testing could be effective in helping to prevent transmission for select workplace settings and are based on what is currently known about the transmission and severity of COVID-19 

Read the guidance at the CDC website

COVID-19 “Extension” of COBRA Deadlines May End Sooner Than Expected

In recently issued joint guidance, the Department of Labor, the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service confirmed the indirect extension of the COVID-19-related deadlines for electing and paying for COBRA coverage that were first announced in March 2020. In what may have been a surprise to some, the agencies also confirmed that the mandated extensions do not extend beyond 12 months. For former employees who faced one or more COBRA deadlines early in 2020, the mandated extensions may have already expired or may expire sooner than expected. 

Read more at Bond Schoeneck & King

CFOs Express Increased Optimism and Expectations for Economic Growth

Deloitte’s quarterly CFO Signals survey is out this morning, and while financial chiefs are usually a dour lot, their confidence currently is soaring.  Some 67% report rising optimism about their company’s financial prospects—the highest in a decade.

Fewer than one-fifth (18%) of CFOs say they plan to require employees to get a vaccine before returning to on-site work. 41% say they won’t require vaccinations. 35% are still undecided.  More than a third said they expect post-COVID travel expenditures to remain at 60% or lower than pre-COVID spending.

Read the results at Deloitte

Democrats, Republicans Hope Biden Will Take a Harder Line on China as Summit Begins

As the Biden administration holds its highest-level meetings with China since taking office, it enjoys broad bipartisan support for taking a tough stance toward Beijing but also faces skepticism about whether the talks will bring real policy changes.  The Biden administration plans to use that rare consensus as leverage when Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan meet Thursday and Friday in Alaska with China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Senior administration officials said the U.S. plans to outline some specific areas where China must take steps to change course before the relationship can move forward in a substantive way.

Read more at NBC News

SMIC Is Building a New Factory in Shenzhen Costing $2.35 Billion.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), China’s largest and most important chipmaker, is building a new factory in Shenzhen that will cost $2.35 billion.  The company and the government of the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen will jointly put capital into the project. Shenzhen is known as a huge technology hub in China and houses the headquarters of giants such as Tencent and Huawei.

SMIC is key to China’s plans to boost self-sufficiency in the semiconductor industry amid tensions with the U.S., which has exposed the world’s second-largest economy’s reliance on foreign technology in the field.

Read more at CNBC

Honda to Briefly Suspend ‘Most’ North America Auto Production

Japanese automaker Honda will be “suspending production” for one week at most of its plants in the United States and Canada due to factors that include a shortage of parts, the company said Tuesday.

The company is dealing with “a number of supply chain issues related to the impact from COVID-19, congestion at various ports, the microchip shortage and severe winter weather over the past several weeks,” especially in Texas, a Honda spokesperson in Japan told AFP. Since the situation is “fluid,” the timing and length of “production adjustments could change.”

Read more at IndustryWeek

Daily Briefing – 244

COVID Update – Positivity Rate Continues to Decline

Governor Cuomo issued a press release yesterday morning providing an overview of New York’s COVID-19 tracking data from Monday February 15th.  As part of that update, the Governor announced that New York State’s 7-day average COVID-19 positivity rate dropped to 3.71 percent, the lowest since November 28.

Hospitalization tracking data for the Mid-Hudson region and the rest of the State are below.  

Hospitalizations

• Patients Currently in Hospital statewide: 6,620
• Hospitalizations Mid-Hudson Region: 697

ICU Beds In Use (All Uses)

• Occupied ICU Beds Statewide: 4,216
• Occupied ICU Beds Mid-Hudson Region: 408

Other Data

• Statewide Transmission Rate (R0):  .88
• Statewide Positivity Rate: 3.71%
• Mid-Hudson Positivity Rate: 4.47

Useful Websites:

• Read the press release
• See the School Districts Dashboard 
• See the SUNY Dashboard
• State Vaccine Information Site
• Johns Hopkins Vaccine Tracker
• State Transmission Rates (R0)

NYS Vaccine Update – 1 Million New Yorkers Fully Vaccinated With Second Dose

As of 11AM Monday, New York’s health care distribution sites have received 2,192,675 first doses and already administered 91  percent or 1,992,575 first dose vaccinations. In total the state has administered  and 85 percent of first and second doses (2,862,984) of the 3,371,025 received. 

In the Mid-Hudson Region a cumulative total of 316,155 FIRST and SECOND doses have been distributed, 250,716 have been administered (80%).

• Visit the vaccine tracker site
• Visit the am I eligible site
• See the list of eligible underlying medical conditions

US Vaccination Rollout – Biden Says US Will Surpass Goal of 100 Million Shots in 100 Days

President Joe Biden expressed optimism Tuesday that the U.S. vaccine rollout will surpass forecasts, although a massive winter storm was stalling efforts to deliver shots this week. “Before I took office, I set a big goal of administering 100 million shots in the first 100 days,” Biden tweeted Tuesday. “With the progress we’re making I believe we’ll not only reach that, we’ll break it.”

Biden’s goal had been considered conservative by experts. Dr. Anthony Fauci said last week that it would be “open season” for all Americans who want the vaccine by April. 

Read more at USA Today

Rapid Covid-19 Tests Are Going Unused

The U.S. government distributed millions of fast-acting tests for diagnosing coronavirus infections at the end of last year to help tamp down outbreaks in nursing homes and prisons and allow schools to reopen. But some states haven’t used many of the tests, due to logistical hurdles and accuracy concerns, squandering a valuable tool for managing the pandemic. The first batches, shipped to states in September, are approaching their six-month expiration dates.

At least 32 million of the 142 million BinaxNOW rapid Covid-19 tests distributed by the U.S. government to states starting last year weren’t used as of early February, according to a Wall Street Journal review of their inventories.

Read more at the WSJ

NIH Experts Discuss SARS-CoV-2 Viral Variants

The rise of several significant variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has attracted the attention of health and science experts worldwide. In an editorial published last week in JAMA, experts from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, outline how these variants have arisen, concerns about whether vaccines currently authorized for use will continue to protect against new variants, and the need for a global approach to fighting SARS-CoV-2 as it spreads and acquires additional mutations.

The article was written by NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.; John R. Mascola, M.D., director of NIAID’s Vaccine Research Center (VRC); and Barney S. Graham, M.D., Ph.D., deputy director of NIAID’s VRC. 

Read the NIH press release

World Likely to Pay More for Meat as Food Inflation Deepens

There are signs that the food inflation that’s gripped the world over the past year, raising prices of everything from shredded cheese to peanut butter, is about to get worse. The COVID-19 pandemic upended food supply chains, paralyzing shipping, sickening workers that keep the world fed and ultimately raising consumer grocery costs around the globe last year. Now farmers — especially ones raising cattle, hogs and poultry — are getting squeezed by the highest corn and soybean prices in seven years. It’s lifted the costs of feeding their herds by 30% or more.

To stay profitable, producers including Tyson Foods, Inc. are increasing prices, which will ripple through supply chains and show up in the coming months as higher price tags for beef, pork and chicken around the world.

Read more at Business World

Senate Bill Introduced to Address Shortages in PPE, Testing Supplies

US Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) introduced legislation to address shortages of personal protective equipment and testing supplies. The Protecting Providers Everywhere (PPE) in America Act would boost domestic PPE and testing supply production. It would also promote a more sustainable supply chain by ensuring dedicated funding from the Strategic National Stockpile to American manufacturers of applicable medical supplies.

Read more at Homeland Preparedness News

GAO Report: Operation Warp Speed Accelerated COVID-19 Vaccine Development

The General Accounting Office (GAO) analyzed the the Operation Warp Speed program’s vaccine candidates and found that their development followed traditional practices, with some adaptations. For example, some clinical trial phases overlapped with each other and with animal studies to accelerate development.

Two vaccines were authorized for emergency use— the GAO  tracker shows all the candidates. GAO also found that agencies are working to help mitigate vaccine manufacturing challenges. 

Read the press release (Includes a link a GAO Podcast on Vaccine Manufacturing Challenges)

Empire State Manufacturing Survey: Growth Accelerates, Prices Increase, Employment Steady

Manufacturing activity grew at its fastest pace in months in New York State in February according to the New York Fed’s monthly survey. The general business conditions index rose nine points to 12.1, its highest level since July of last year. Thirty-two percent of respondents reported that conditions had improved over the month, while 20 percent reported that conditions had worsened. The new orders index rose four points to 10.8, indicating that orders increased, and the shipments index fell to 4.0, pointing to a small increase in shipments. Delivery times rose at the fastest pace in a year, and inventories were higher.

The same survey indicates that employment at manufacturers in the region grew slightly and that both prices paid and prices received increased at the fastest pace in a decade. 

Read more at the NY Fed

Bottom Story: IRS Says There Are No Plans to Extend Tax-Filing Deadline Beyond April 15

Last year, in the midst of Covid-related shutdowns, the agency ended up pushing the deadline for 2019 returns to July 15, giving individuals and businesses an extra 90 days to file and pay any amount owed. The IRS also had delayed the 2020 due dates for first- and second-quarter estimated payments.

Read more at CNBC

Daily Briefing – 216

British Airways and Delta Airlines Agree to Test All Passengers Before Entering New York State

Governor Cuomo yesterday announced that in the wake of a new, highly contagious variant of the COVID-19 virus found in the United Kingdom, British Airways and Delta Airlines have voluntarily agreed to require a COVID-19 test before allowing passengers to board planes traveling from the United Kingdom to New York. With this move, New York joins the list of 120 countries with a similar requirement on flights from the U.K. The Governor has asked Virgin Atlantic, the other airline that runs flights from the U.K. to New York, to do the same.

Read the press release

COVID and “Winter Plan” Update

Governor Cuomo held a press conference yesterday morning providing an overview of New York’s COVID-19 tracking data from Sunday, December 20th.  Hospitalization tracking data for the Mid-Hudson region and the rest of the State are below.  

• Hospitalizations Statewide
  • Patients Currently in Hospital in Region   =  6331
  • COVID Hospitalizations as Percent of Region Population =  .003%
  • Percent of Hospital Beds Available in State  = 30%
• Hospitalizations Mid-Hudson Region: 
  • Patients Currently in Hospital in Region   =  745
  • COVID Hospitalizations as Percent of Region Population =  .003%
  • Percent of Hospital Beds Available in Region  = 33%
• ICU Beds Statewide
  • Total ICU Beds   =  5664
  • Occupied ICU Beds =  3945
  • Percent of ICU Beds Available  = 32%
• ICU Beds Mid-Hudson Region: 
  • Total ICU Beds   =  712
  • Occupied ICU Beds =  425
  • Percent of ICU Beds Available  = 42%
• Transmission Rate (R0): 1.09
• Statewide Positivity Rate: 5.75%

Here are some useful websites:

• Read the press release
• See the cluster maps
• Check your site address (State will ask to track your location)
• See the school districts dashboard 
• See the SUNY Dashboard
• State transmission rates (R0)

What Is in the $900 Billion Covid-19 Aid Bill

The Wall Street Journal has a nice breakdown of what is in the AID Bill Congress passed yesterday.  It includes help for some sectors that weren’t prioritized the first time around. New York Senator Chuck Schumer announced some additional details to look out for, including $25 billion in rental assistance, $15 billion for theaters and other live venues, $82 billion for local schools, colleges, and universities, and $10 billion for child care. 

Also included are more help for individuals, the unemployed, small businesses and others.

See the breakdown in the WSJ

Cuomo Announces New York Has Administered 38,000 Doses of COVID-19 Vaccine

Governor Cuomo announced yesterday that more than 38,000 vaccine doses have been administered in New York State as of Monday morning – the highest reported total in the nation thus far. Bolstering this effort, the first 346,200 doses of the Moderna vaccine are expected to begin arriving in New York Monday, with an additional 120,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine expected later this week.

The Governor also announced the launch of New York’s Vaccine Equity Task Force chaired by Secretary of State Rossana Rosado, Attorney General Letitia James, National Urban League President & CEO Marc Morial, and Healthfirst President & CEO Pat Wang.

Read the press release

Monday Economic Report – Manufacturing Production Rose for the 7th Straight Month

Manufacturing production increased 0.8% in November, rising for the seventh straight month, led by strength in durable goods. The largest increases in output in November were in motor vehicles and parts, primary metals, paper, miscellaneous durable goods and aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment. Overall, manufacturing production remained 3.7% below the pre-pandemic pace in February.

There is also reports on Manufacturing Production, IHS Manufacturing PMI, Regional Fed Reports, Residential Construction, Consumer Spending, Unemployment Claims, Fed Plans and more.

Monday Economic Report 2020-1221

New York State Manufacturers PPE Survey 

If you are manufacturing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and/or looking to access PPE, you are asked to please take this brief surveybelow. As part of the COVID Recovery Initiative, the NYMEP will use your responses to get a better sense of the demand for PPE categories and types, and will then validate competitive suppliers and recommend PPE buying channels to manufacturers statewide.

• Learn more at New York MEP
• Take the Survey

Survey: 57% of Employees Back Mandated Vaccine

Fifty-seven percent of employees support mandated COVID-19 vaccinations from employers, and that percentage significantly increases among older, white-collar and Democrat-voting workers, according to a survey by CNBC and SurveyMonkey. “For CEOs and human resources professionals, the return to work is already a fraught endeavor, and factoring in political considerations adds yet another challenge,” write Laura Wronski and Jon Cohen.

Read the full story at CNBC 

New Regulations and Fact Sheets on NY Paid Sick Leave Law

Council Associate Member and friend Harris Beach Attorneys write that on December 9th, the DOL published proposed regulations that further implement the Paid Sick Leave Law. Although the regulations answer some questions, employers should note that the regulations are still in “proposed” form and not yet final. Employers and other members of the public have until February 7, 2021, to submit comments and feedback to the DOL regarding the proposed regulations.

The DOL has also issued several topic-specific and industry-specific “Fact Sheets” on the new law, including Fact Sheets specific to restaurants, farm workers, seasonal workers, and unionized employers.

The Fact Sheets and the Proposed Regulations can be found at the bottom of this page

Cutting Tool Orders Rising as Manufacturing Recovers

U.S. machine shops and other domestic manufacturing operations consumption $167.9 million worth of cutting tools during October, according to Cutting Tool Market Report issued jointly by the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and AMT – the Association for Manufacturing Technology. The total represents a 7.6% increase over September’s result and a -22.4% shortfall of the October 2019 total.

The CTMR presents cutting-tool consumption as an indicator of overall manufacturing activity, as cutting tools are used in production of components used by virtually every industrial sector. 

Read more at American Machinist

The Newest Supplier KPI? Employee Vaccination Rate

The percentage of employees vaccinated against COVID-19 will be the most important supplier key performance indicator of 2021, surpassing the standard KPIs of on-time delivery, quality, and cost management. This according to a column in Supply Chain Dive

Vaccine compliance needs to be a top-line component of a supplier risk assessment. Procurement professionals today should immediately reach out to critical suppliers to learn about their vaccination plans and subsequent efforts to secure a healthy workplace, and workforce, during the pandemic recovery. If there is no established plan, request one. Be an early leader in the supply chain recovery. 

Read more at Supply Chain Dive

Daily Briefing – 192

COVID and Cluster Update 

Governor Cuomo issued a press release yesterday afternoon providing an overview of New York’s COVID-19 tracking data from Saturday, November 14^th.  A total 133,202 COVID-19 tests were reported to the State Saturday.

Tracking data for the Clusters and the rest of the State are below.  

• Clusters: 4.05%
• Rockland Red zone: 3.21%
• Westchester yellow-zone: 4.05
• Orange Orange zone: 2.34%
• Statewide: 2.74%
• Statewide excluding clusters: 2.45%
• Statewide hospitalizations: 1,845 (378 in ICU) 

Here are some useful websites:

• Read the press release (includes hot spot zip codes and links to cluster maps)
• See the cluster maps
• Check your site address (State will ask to track your location)
• See the school districts dashboard 
• See the SUNY Dashboard

New York State Transmission Rate Bumps Up – Now 3rd Highest in the Nation 

The average number of people who become infected by an infectious person with COVID-19 is 1.32 in New York State making it 3rd highest in the U.S. as of November 11th.  New York’s rate is only slower than those of Maine (1.48) and Vermont (1.36.) A number below 1 indicates the spread of the virus is slowing, above 1 means it is accelerating.

See the transmission rates by State at Statista

Consumer Prices Stay Flat

U.S. consumer prices were unchanged in October, the lowest reading in five months, suggesting that a price spike over the summer is beginning to fade as coronavirus cases spread. The flat reading for last month followed a gain of 0.2% in September. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, also showed no changed in October, another indication that inflation remains well-behaved, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Over the past 12 months, overall inflation is up a moderate 1.2% while core inflation is up 1.6%. Both readings are well below the Federal Reserve’s 2% target for annual price gains.

Read more at the AP

DiNapoli: After Five Months, Jobs Recovery Varies Across New York

Total employment in New York State fell in March, and again—much more sharply—in April, with a combined loss of more than 1.9 million jobs. After five months of partial employment recovery since then, figures for September show significant if not severe lingering damage to job counts in every one of the State’s fifteen metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs).

New York City, an early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, continues to feel the sharpest loss, with a net decline of 648,000 jobs, nearly 14 percent of its February total. Figures for the Orange-Rockland-Westchester MSA also show a large decline of 10.7 percent. 

Read more and see the numbers at the Controller website

Moderna Says its Vaccine is 94.5% Effective 

Smaller, Faster, Cheaper – Fast Tests for COVID-19 are Coming

To try to slow the pandemic many countries are starting to deploy tests which, at some cost in accuracy, deliver their results much more rapidly than the polymerase-chain-reaction (pcr) tests that were commonplace at the pandemic’s beginning. These rapid tests will allow greater numbers of infected people than previously possible to be detected and quarantined before they can spread the contagion. They are therefore being used in increasing numbers to screen people for the presence of sars-cov-2, the virus that causes covid-19, in settings ranging from airports to nursing homes. In Europe, indeed, they are sometimes used to blitz entire neighborhoods, cities and even small countries, like Slovakia. But will they change the course of the pandemic?

PCR tests look for the genetic sequence of the virus in nose and throat swabs. These swabs have to be processed in laboratories and require machines that take hours to come up with a result. They are extremely accurate. But the delay involved can hobble test-and-trace systems.

Read more at The Economist

Coronavirus Surge Tests the Smallest Employers

Small-business owners are grappling with how to manage their workers as the numbers of new coronavirus cases in the U.S. surge. The questions include everything from reopening the office lunchroom to policing employees’ personal lives.

Delta Systems Inc., a maker of components for outdoor power equipment, thought it had all the proper safety measures in place. The Streetsboro, Ohio, company gives workers the option of cloth masks or plastic face shields. It checks employees’ temperatures daily and asks a handful of questions—about out-of-state travel, exposure to someone diagnosed with the virus and changes in their own health. But after cases jumped again in Ohio and two of Delta’s roughly 200 employees tested positive for the virus in recent weeks, executives have begun looking at next steps. As a manufacturer, the company doesn’t have the luxury of shutting down or sending production workers to do their jobs from home.

Read more at the WSJ

Pfizer Readies ‘Herculean Effort’ to Distribute Coronavirus Vaccine, Corning Ramps Up Vial Production

Pfizer is marshaling a massive new cold-storage supply chain to handle the delicate dance of transporting limited doses of its coronavirus vaccine from manufacturer to any point of use within two days. Experts say it will be a “Herculean effort” requiring several new technologies to work in flawless concert to safely deliver every dose of the drug.

The vaccine will be formulated, finished and placed in cold storage in the pharmaceutical giant’s Kalamazoo, Michigan, facility, its largest such plant in the country. During the shipment and storage, the vaccines must be kept at 94 degrees below zero Fahrenheit in order to maintain optimal efficacy. Each package can contain 1,000 to 5,000 doses. Corning, Inc. has ramped up production of a specialized glass that can withstand such a temperature. Hundreds of millions are in production at the moment. Corning says the $2.4 million deal also added 100 jobs.

Read more at NBC

Cuomo Threatens Trump With Legal Action Over Vaccine Distribution Plan

Governor Cuomo repeated his threat to sue the Trump administration as he invoked Martin Luther King, Jr. during Sunday remarks about the COVID outbreak at historic Riverside Church in Manhattan.

The governor went on to repeat his criticism of the Trump administration’s plans for distributing the coronavirus vaccine once it becomes available, saying that relying on hospitals and the private sector will perpetuate inequalities during the outbreak, which has affected communities of color at disproportionately high rates.

Read more at Yahoo News

Dozens of COVID-19 Vaccines Are in Development – Here Are the Ones to Follow

More than 150 coronavirus vaccines are in development across the world—and hopes are high to bring one to market in record time to ease the global crisis. Several efforts are underway to help make that possible, including the U.S. government’s Operation Warp Speed initiative, which has pledged $10 billion and aims to develop and deliver 300 million doses of a safe, effective coronavirus vaccine by January 2021. The World Health Organization is also coordinating global efforts to develop a vaccine, with an eye toward delivering two billion doses by the end of 2021.

Though it’s too soon to say which candidates will ultimately be successful, here’s a look at the prospects that have reached phase three and beyond—including a quick primer on how they work and where they stand.

Read more at NatGeo

Daily Briefing – 190

New York State Rate of  Transmission is One of Highest in the Nation – Deaths Pass 26,000

The average number of people who become infected by an infectious person with COVID-19 is 1.24 in New York State tying it for 5th highest in the U.S. (as of November 9, 2020).  a number below 1 indicates the spread of the virus is slowing, above 1 means it is accelerating.

Meanwhile the 32 COVID deaths Tuesday pushed the state past the grim milestone of 26,000 to 26,005. 

See the transmission rates by State at Statista

COVID and Cluster Update 

Governor Cuomo held a phone call press briefing detailing New York’s COVID-19 tracking data from Tuesday November 10th. Tracking data for the Clusters and the rest of the State are below.  

• Clusters: 4.96%
• Rockland Red zone: 1.81%
• Westchester yellow-zone: 4.09
• Orange Orange zone: 1.74%
• Statewide: 2.93%
• Statewide excluding clusters: 2.58%
• Statewide hospitalizations: 1,628 (304 in ICU) 

Here are some useful websites:

• Read the press release (includes hot spot zip codes and links to cluster maps)
• See the cluster maps
• Check your site address (State will ask to track your location)
• See the school districts dashboard 
• See the SUNY Dashboard

Governor Cuomo Announces New Business Restrictions

In response to the rapidly increasing rate of COVID-19 cases across the country, the region, and New York State, Governor Cuomo announced new restrictions on public activity. Contact tracing efforts have shown that three types of establishments are contributing to community spread. The State is taking new action to limit activities in these establishments which will go into effect on Friday, November 13th at 10:00 p.m.

• Any establishment with a State Liquor Authority license, including bars, restaurants, and bowling alleys, can remain open, but will be required to close nightly at 10:00 p.m. Restaurants will be allowed to continue curbside pickup after 10:00 p.m., but only for food.
• Gyms and fitness centers can remain open, but will be required to close nightly at 10:00 p.m.
• Gatherings in private residences will be limited to ten people maximum. Border states have taken this measure and New York is following suit.

In response to a question from a reporter, Governor Cuomo said that if the positivity rate continues to increase the State will consider additional restrictions on economic activities including limiting indoor dining.  Governor Cuomo stated that he understands restrictions are tough on the affected industries, be that as it may we are closer than ever to a vaccine and restrictions are needed to get through the end of this pandemic

Read the press release

Johns Hopkins Center For Health Security Update

The daily incidence in the US is nearly 110,000 new cases per day and still increasing exponentially. The US is also reporting 976 deaths per day, an increase of nearly 40 percent since October 18. We expect that the average daily mortality will once again exceed 1,000 deaths per day in the coming days. If the US continues on this trajectory, it could surpass 250,000 cumulative deaths in the next 2 weeks.

As we have covered previously, COVID-19 incidence does not tell the full story. In addition to incidence, testing, hospitalizations, and mortality provide important insight into the current state of the US epidemic.  the US test positivity has doubled, from 4.2% to 8.3%, since early-to-mid October, once again putting the US above the WHO’s recommended 5% threshold. COVID-19 hospitalizations are increasing nationwide, with the Midwest exhibiting the most substantial surge over the past several weeks. Looking at mortality, it is clear that COVID-19 deaths continue to follow trends in incidence, with a lag of approximately 3-4 weeks. The national surge in incidence began in mid-September, followed by a corresponding increase in mortality starting in mid-October. Since that time, daily COVID-19 mortality has increased by more than one-third.

Read more at Johns Hopkins

Wearables Can Help Detect COVID-19

Researchers calculated a baseline for each participant’s heart rate, sleep and activity levels. Using that data and self-reported symptoms, they developed a model that was able to predict with 80% accuracy whether a participant who experienced symptoms was likely to have COVID-19. They noted a significant difference in sleep and activity levels for people who tested positive compared to those participants who reported symptoms but tested negative.  The results were published in the journal Nature.

The findings highlight the fact that about 40-50% of those who test positive for SARS-CoV-2 report no symptoms or are pre-symptomatic. These people are still infectious but because they don’t feel sick, they may not seek testing and likely aren’t self-isolating, making it difficult to stop the spread.

Read more at EHS Today

Stimulus Negotiations in a ‘Lame Duck’ Session Likely to Face More Deadlock

With just a few weeks left in Congress’ session the path appears more murky than ever for a deal to be brokered during the “lame-duck session,” the period in November and December before a new Congress and president take power in January.

Congress’ top priority during the short session will be a spending bill to avert a government shutdown in December. Though a coronavirus stimulus deal remains a priority, Congress will have little time to resolve all its policy differences, reach an agreement and then pass it through both chambers before the House and Senate leave in December. The House is done with its year Dec. 10, and the Senate leaves Dec. 18.

Read more at USA Today

Transatlantic Trade Update

Less than 48 hours after Joe Biden pledged to “make America respected around the world again,” the EU reminded him that trans-Atlantic trade relations might be a good place to start, slapping tariffs on $4 billion worth of U.S. imports over illegal subsidies to Boeing. Besides the dogfight over airplane manufacturers. After more than 15 years of litigation, a bitter dispute is winding down. The EU and America have accused each other of unfairly subsidizing their aircraft industries, and both have won their claims at the World Trade Organization. 

But there are signs of a ceasefire. The EU’s tariffs were carefully calibrated to match the American ones. And despite previous American threats to escalate the dispute, a statement from Washington on November 9th suggested that the two sides were negotiating. Both sides realize that, with the strain put on aircraft-makers by covid-19, peace makes more sense than war.
 
Here is a rundown of the main U.S.-EU trade-related disagreements from Bloomberg

FAA Set to Lift 737 MAX Grounding Order

The Federal Aviation Administration is set to “unground” the Boeing 737 MAX passenger aircraft within days, according to published reports. Reuters cited sources saying the FAA would lift its grounding order by November 18, bringing to a close more than 19 months of investigation, testing, and recertification for the twin-engine aircraft series following two accidents that killed a total 346 passengers and crew members, in October 2018 and March 2019.

The FAA decision comes as other global regulators are also moving closer to decisions on allowing the plane to again resume flights and could approve the MAX around the time U.S. regulators act, the sources said.

Read more at Reuters

Honoring Veterans by Providing Job Opportunities

The Manufacturing Institute has graduated more than 400 military veterans from its Heroes MAKE America program, which has supplied hires at more than 100 companies. This year, the institute added the Heroes Connect service in response to the pandemic, allowing for virtual face-to-face connections between veterans and prospective employers.

The Council of Industry is a proud partner of the Manufacturing Institute

Read more at IndustryWeek

Daily Briefing – 186

COVID and Cluster Update 

Governor Cuomo issued a press release today detailing New York’s COVID-19 tracking data from Wednesday November 4th. Tracking data for the hotspots and the rest of the State are below.

• Hotspot Zones: 3.04e: 0.88%
• Rockland Hot Zone: 3.81%
• Orange Orange Zone: 0.75%
• Statewide: 1.86%
• Statewide excluding hotspots: 1.70%
• Statewide hospitalizations: 1,277 (268 in ICU) 

Here are some useful websites:

• Read the press release (includes hot spot zip codes)
• See the cluster maps
• Check your site address (State will ask to track your location)
• See the school districts dashboard 
• See the SUNY Dashboard

U.S. Daily Coronavirus Cases Top 100,000 for the First Time

The number of new daily coronavirus cases recorded in the U.S. surpassed 100,000 for the time, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The data showed 102,831 new Covid-19 infections were recorded on Wednesday, up from 91,530 cases on Election Day. 

The data also showed that 1,097 deaths were recorded Wednesday, lower than the 1,134 deaths reported the previous day.  The grim daily record comes after data showed a soaring number of hospitalizations due to the virus in many states, with the surge most pronounced in the Midwest and Southwest.

Read more at CNBC

Election Update – Continued Counting and Lawsuits

Votes continue to be counted  – and counting is a bit slower than past presidential elections due to the high number of absentee ballots. Depending on which news outlet you follow former Vice President Joe Biden is either 6 or 16 electoral votes shy of the 270 needed to win the presidency. President Trump’s campaign is unhappy with what they consider a slow count of ballots and claim they are being excluded from the process making them suspicious of the results. They have filed lawsuits in several states asking to halt counting until they are allowed to monitor counting.

State Senate Races In The Hudson Valley Too Close to Call – Veto Proof Majority May Hang In The Balance

McConnell Calls for Coronavirus Package Before End of the Year

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that Congress should approve a coronavirus relief package before the end of the year, a shift from his recent suggestion that a measure was more likely early next year.

During a press conference in Kentucky a day after he won reelection, McConnell expressed optimism that negotiators could reach a deal post-election. The outcome of the presidential contest and control of the Senate remains unknown, though final results are expected within the coming days if not sooner.

Read more at Politico

Jobless claims: Another 751,000 Americans Filed New Claims

The Labor Department’s latest report reflected the tenth straight week that new jobless claims came in below the psychologically important 1 million mark. And the past several months’ worth of weekly new claims have come down significantly from the nearly 7 million new claims filed at the beginning of April. However, improvements have slowed to a trickle compared to the initial legs lower in new weekly claims that ensued after April’s peak, and the latest initial jobless claims tally came in worse-than-expected.

“Overall, the economy appears to be losing a bit of momentum,” Wells Fargo Securities economists including Jay Bryson said in a recent note. “Jobless claims have improved recently but remain elevated.”

Read more at Yahoo Finance

GM Rebounds From Coronavirus-Related Losses

General Motors Co. GM +1.23% ’s efforts to crank up production of pickups and other lucrative models drove a $4 billion profit in the third quarter, the latest automotive company to rebound from earlier Covid-19-related losses, even as the pandemic worsens. The car business has mounted a striking recovery since U.S. auto plants were idled for several weeks last spring. Auto makers have managed to keep their factories bustling without major pandemic-related disruptions, while demand for new vehicles has come back stronger than analysts predicted when the crisis hit.

GM said Thursday net income rose 74% over the same quarter in 2019, when a bruising 40-day strike led by the United Auto Workers union halted work at the company’s U.S. factories, denting earnings.

Read more at Reuters

Most Americans Chose Not to Raid Their 401(k)… Yet

Faced with the prospect of surging unemployment and a declining economy, Congress in March passed a law that temporarily allows Americans to use their retirement money today. But so far, there hasn’t been a rush of funds out of accounts.

Fidelity Investments, the largest 401(k) provider in the country, has seen 4.6% of eligible people take some money out through Sept. 30 due to the virus. An additional 1% have taken a so-called hardship distribution that allows withdrawals for reasons including buying a home, preventing foreclosure or paying medical bills. That is compared with about 2% a year that typically take a hardship distribution.

Read more at the WSJ

Uber, Gig Economy Companies See California Win as National Model

Voters in California on Tuesday approved a ballot proposal by Uber Technologies Inc, Lyft Inc and its allies that cements app-based food delivery and ride-hailing drivers’ status as independent contractors, rather than employees. Uber’s shares rose 12%, while Lyft jumped 9%.

The companies, along with DoorDash, Instacart and Postmates, poured more than $205 million into the campaign. Gig economy companies want to turn California voters’ decision to make ride-service drivers contractors into a model for the nation, as several states consider requiring drivers from Uber, Lyft and rival services be treated as employees with higher compensation.

Read more at Reuters

Daily Briefing – 185

COVID and Cluster Update 

Governor Cuomo issued a press release today.  The release detailed New York’s COVID-19 tracking data from Tuesday November 3rd. Meanwhile the New York Times reported Monday that concerns have arisen that communities may be manipulating coronavirus positivity rates by discouraging sick people from being tested.

Tracking data for the hotspots and the rest of the State are below.

• Hotspot Zones: 2.69%
• Orange Orange Zone: 0.88%
• Rockland Hot Zone: 3.43%
• Statewide: 1.59%
• Statewide excluding hotspots: 1.42%
• Statewide hospitalizations: 1,253 (284 in ICU) 

Here are some useful websites:

• Read the press release (includes hot spot zip codes)
• Read the New York Times Story (Subscription)
• See the cluster maps
• Check your site address (State will ask to track your location)
• See the school districts dashboard 
• See the SUNY Dashboard

The Count Continues

With more people voting absentee and by mail, counting is a bit slower than usual and the truth is that most presidential elections are not decided on election night.  Former Vice President Joe Biden did not get the early decisive win some Democrats had hoped for, as President Trump took Florida, Texas and Ohio. Meanwhile, Vice President Biden did appear to flip Arizona, Michigan and Wisconson as well as the second congressional district of Nebraska, and votes are still being counted in battlegrounds like Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.

Read more live updates in the WSJ

Preliminary Results:  NYS Dems Fail to Gain Super Majority 

While absentee ballots are still being counted and will likely tilt some races toward the Democrats it appears that the party has fallen well short of achieving a veto-proof majority in the State Senate.  Such a supermajority will continue to exist in the Assembly. 

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D) issued the following statement this morning:

“Despite a difficult night for many Democratic candidates throughout the state and nation, the Senate Democratic Conference comfortably retained our majority and will be welcoming a historic group of new upstate Democrats to the Senate. With the record high number of outstanding absentee ballots that are overwhelmingly Democratic, we will add even more victories to our majority as the vote counts continue. The Senate Democratic Majority will continue to lead New York State forward as we recover from this pandemic and economic crisis.”

See all NYS election results at the NY Times

Empire Center: With Hopes Dashed for “Blue Wave” Bailout, Cuomo Needs to Deal With Budget Shortfall

E.J. McMahon writes that Cuomo was banking on Joe Biden to win the White House and Democrats to take over the U.S. Senate – an outcome which was likely to produce another stimulus bill offering New York enough new federal aid to close its current budget gap of at least $8 billion and next year’s projected budget gap of nearly $17 billion.

But in the wake of yesterday’s election, it appears the Senate majority could remain under Republican control. The outcome of a few Senate races, including one or two Georgia runoffs in January, ultimately will be even more important to Cuomo’s budget bailout hopes than the presidential race. Even if Biden ekes out a win, prospects for a big state and local bailout bill are slim if Democrats don’t control a majority in the upper house.

Read more at the Empire Center

U.S. Trade Deficit Narrowed in September as Exports Rose

The U.S. posted a deficit of $63.86 billion in September, compared with $67.04 billion in August and $47.84 billion a year earlier, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. The figures were adjusted for seasonal variation.

Exports rose 2.6% to $176.35 billion, while imports rose 0.5% to $240.22 billion, their slowest pace of growth since trade bottomed out in May.

Read more at the WSJ

XStream Trucking CEO: Why We’re Reshoring Our Manufacturing

The idea of reshoring is picking up momentum in light of the pandemic as a way to simplify supply chains and make companies less vulnerable to future disruptions. I’m not going to predict the future, but I’m going to talk about why my company, XStream Trucking, decided to reshore some of its manufacturing and the impact those decisions have had, which could serve as an example to others.

We started taking a close look at our supply chain long before the pandemic hit. The first big inflection point came in 2018, when a trade war broke out between the U.S. and China. The imposition of U.S. tariffs on some of our parts came as a surprise. As a start-up still building our business and reputation, we couldn’t afford to pass along additional costs to our customers.

Read more at IndustryWeek

China’s Economic Recovery is Accelerating

In a sign that China’s economic recovery is accelerating, even as much of the world is being hit by another wave of lockdowns the Caixin/Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index for Chinese manufacturing came in at 53.6 for October, better than the 53.0 forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll. The latest reading was the highest since January 2011, the survey results showed.

The country’s Caixin/Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index for services in October rose to its highest level since June. Last month’s reading hit 56.8, up from September’s 54.8, where any figure over 50 indicates expansion.

Read more at Reuters

ICE  I-9 Compliance Flexibility Scheduled to End November 19th

Our friends at Ethan Allan Workforce Solutions remind us that on March 19, 2020, due to precautions implemented by employers and employees associated with COVID-19, DHS announced that it would exercise prosecutorial discretion to defer the physical presence requirements associated with the Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9) under section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This policy only applies to employers and workplaces that are operating remotely. If there are employees physically present at a work location, no exceptions are being implemented at this time for in-person verification of identity and employment eligibility documentation for Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.

Unless It is Extended by ICE the flexibility is scheduled to end November 19th. 

See the March Guidance

The Johns Hopkins CSSE Dashboard Reported 9.39 Million US Cases and 232,742 Deaths as of November 4

In addition to COVID-19 incidence, the US is reporting increasing impact on hospitals and increasing COVID-19 mortality. Nationally, emergency department (ED) visits for COVID-19 have increased steadily over the past several weeks. The percentage of Emergency Department visits for COVID-19 coronavirus-like illness increased from approximately 2% in early September to nearly 3.5% in early November, a 65% increase. Over the past week, 9 states have reported per capita COVID-19 mortality greater than 0.5 deaths per 100,000 population, including 3 states with 1 or greater. 

More than half of all US states have reported more than 400,000 cumulative cases, including 14 with more than 200,000 cases:

• 900,000: California, Texas
• 800,000: Florida
• 500,000: New York
• 400,000: Illinois

Read more at Johns Hopkins

Daily Briefing – 180

Orange to Orange – NYS COVID and Micro Cluster Update

Governor Cuomo held a phone call briefing detailing New York’s COVID-19 tracking data from Monday, October 26th.  The “red zone” in Orange County will be changed to an “orange zone” as a result of the progress made reducing the COVID-19 infection rate from 12 to 2 percent. The “yellow zone” in Orange County will continue. While other “micro-clusters” have experienced decreased positivity rates, no changes will be made to those ‘micro-clusters’ at this time. The State will reevaluate the data next week.

Tracking data for the hotspots and the rest of the State are below.  

• 20 hotspot zip codes: 3.8%
• Orange Hot Zone: 2.38%
• Rockland Hot Zone: 4.34%
• Statewide: 1.5%
• Statewide excluding hotspots: 1.3%
• Statewide hospitalizations: 1,085 (236 in ICU) 

Here are some useful websites:

• Read the press release (includes hot spot zip codes)
• See the cluster maps
• Check your site address (State will ask to track your location)
• See the school districts dashboard 
• See the SUNY Dashboard

Other News From the Governor’s Briefing

• TRAVEL ADVISORY: In response to increasing positivity rates across the nation, New York will adjust the metric for states to be included in the travel advisory requiring quarantine protocols upon entering New York. The Governor stated there is currently no travel ban, just quarantine protocols from states with high positivity rates.
• THANKSGIVING: The State will not place additional restrictions on Thanksgiving gatherings, but Governor Cuomo offered his personal opinion that people should not congregate with extended families for Thanksgiving. There have been outbreaks stemming from small gatherings, including weddings, churches, and birthday parties. The Governor believes a small Thanksgiving gathering could result in dozens of new cases.
• MASKS IN SCHOOLS: In response to an inquiry from Westchester County Executive George Latimer, the State will allow local governments to impose mask mandates on students in schools

Read the press release

Here’s Why Coronavirus Infection Rates Are Rising as ‘Positivity’ Stays Stable

The Empire Center’s Bill Hammond writes that a growing disconnect between two coronavirus benchmarks – the positivity rate and the infection rate – is stirring confusion about New York’s pandemic outlook.

The first rate is staying relatively low and stable, and that’s the one primarily featured by Governor Cuomo in his daily status reports.  The second rate has doubled over the past month to its highest level since May – a clear sign that New York’s pandemic is far from fully controlled.

Read more from the Empire Center

Germany to Shut Restaurants, Bars to Combat Coronavirus Spread – France’s Macron Announces New National Lockdown Starting Friday

The premiers of Germany’s 16 states, which are in charge of pandemic management, agreed to shut restaurants, bars, fitness studios, concert halls and theaters from Nov. 2 as part of a plan to stop infections from climbing. Hotels will only be allowed to host business travelers until the end of the month. The premiers also decided to limit gatherings in public to 10 people from two households.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced a partial lockdown of France’s economy in a sign of how Europe’s strategy for containing the coronavirus has buckled under the pressure of mounting cases and deaths. Mr. Macron said he was ordering the closure of bars and restaurants, starting Friday, as part of an effort to apply a “brutal break” to the spread of the virus. “The new wave will be stronger and deadlier,” Mr. Macron said, adding that the virus was spreading faster “than even the most pessimistic forecasts.”

• Read more about Germany at the WSJ
• Read more about France at the WSJ

S&P 500, Dow Sink to Late-Sept Lows on Virus Woes

The S&P 500 and the Dow hit their lowest levels since late-September on Wednesday as coronavirus cases surged globally and fears of a contested U.S. presidential election next week added to worries. Shares of hotels, airlines and other companies sensitive to COVID-19-related curbs fell with Wynn Resorts down 3.6% and the S&P 1500 airlines index declining 3.4%. The energy index fell as oil prices tumbled on fears of lower fuel demand.

New cases and hospitalizations set records in the U.S. Midwest, while concerns rose over a national lockdown in France and tighter restrictions in Germany. A spiraling pandemic and a failure to reach a deal on a fresh round of U.S. fiscal stimulus before the Nov. 3 election have put the blue-chip Dow and the benchmark S&P 500 on track to erase their gains for October.

Read more at Reuters

Companies Plan to Continue Shifting Supply Chains Out of China

Companies plan to continue shifting supply chains out of China, regardless of who wins the Nov. 3 presidential election, according to Tim Ryan, the chair of PwC U.S.  The issue came into focus in response to President Donald Trump’s trade war with China, but it only gained importance across corporate America due to the coronavirus pandemic, Ryan said in a “Closing Bell” interview, drawing on findings from a recent survey conducted by the powerhouse accounting firm.

The beneficiaries of exits from China, home to the world’s second-largest economy, are likely to be countries in Southeast Asia, Mexico and the United States, according to Ryan.

Read more at CNBC

Boeing Sees Q3 Earnings Improvement But Warns on Layoffs 

Boeing (BA) on Wednesday reported narrower-than-expected losses and higher revenue during the third quarter, yet the dual crises stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and its idled 737 MAX flagship are likely to lead to deep layoffs, the company warned.

Here are key metrics from the report, versus what Wall Street was expecting, according to a consensus forecast compiled by Bloomberg:

• Revenue: $14.1 billion vs $13.84 billion expected
• Adjusted loss per share: $1.39 cents vs $2.384 expected
• GAAP share loss: 79 cents vs. $1.588 expected
• Operating cash flow: -$4.82 billion

In its earnings report, the company said it continued to make “steady progress” on getting the flagship plane back in the air. Still, Boeing warned that efforts to reshape the company would lead to lower headcount, as the coronavirus and grounded plane “significantly impacted” the bottom line.

Read more a Yahoo Finance

Report: Job Seekers Change Careers, Relocate

Many job seekers are changing fields to obtain work, according to Challenger. This may stem from certain industries being economically impacted more than others, such as tourism. But adequate skill sets remain a hurdle. A May 28 survey by LiveCareer found that more than half (57%) of those recently unemployed could not identify transferable skills and 58% were unsure how to communicate transferable skills on a resume. About 58% of those surveyed said they lacked confidence in finding new jobs with their current skill sets. 

Read more at HR Dive

Daily Briefing – 170

Cuomo Announces State Will Withhold Funds for Localities and Schools That Fail to Enforce Public Health Law

Governor Cuomo  announced yesterday that the State will withhold funds for localities and schools in COVID-19 cluster zones that fail to enforce public health laws. The New York State Department of Health will send a letter warning local governments in cluster zones that they will lose state funding if they fail to enforce state limits on gatherings and the closure of schools. The letter will be sent to New York City, Orange County, Rockland County, the Town of Ramapo and the Village of Spring Valley.

Governor Cuomo also announced that DOH will send an additional letter warning public and private schools in cluster zones that they will lose state funding if they do not comply with state requirements on closure and testing.

Read the press release

NYS COVID-19 Numbers and Cluster Initiative Update

• 20 hotspot zip codes: 3.70%
• Orange 10950: 3.51%
• Statewide: 1.12%
• Statewide excluding hotspots: 1.05%

• Read the press release (includes hot spot zip codes)
• See Cluster Action Initiative website
• See the cluster maps
• Check your site address (State will ask to track your location)
• See the school districts dashboard 
• See the SUNY Dashboard

Consumer Prices Rise

The consumer price index rose 0.2% last month, after gaining 0.4% in August, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. Prices for used cars and trucks rose 6.7% in September after a 5.4% gain in August and are now up 10.3% in the past 12 months. The September increase is the largest monthly increase since February 1969.

Overall inflation for the last 12 months is up 1.4% while core inflation, which excludes energy and food, is up 1.7%.

Read more from the Associate Press

IMF Revises its 2020 Global GDP Forecast Higher, 2021 Lower

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday turned slightly more positive on the global economy for this year, but warned of a “long, uneven and uncertain” recovery.  The global economy is now projected to contract by 4.4% in 2020 — an upward revision from an estimate of -4.9% made in June (which has now also been revised to -5.2% due to a new methodology used by the IMF). The IMF’s forecast assumes that social distancing due to the coronavirus pandemic will continue into 2021, and that local transmission will fall everywhere by the end of 2022.

The IMF projected “only limited progress” going forward and cut its gross domestic product growth expectations for next year to 5.2%, from an estimate of 5.4% made in June.

Read more at CNBC

Global Study Shows What Workers Want, Expect and Value in Their Employers

According to a new survey, , “Hindsight 2020: COVID-19 Concerns into 2021, 35% of employees and business leaders wish their offices had closed faster and safety measures for essential workers had been implemented sooner. Still, 20% of surveyed workers felt their organization met their needs.

The Workforce Institute commissioned the survey, which Savanta, Inc. conducted in June 2020. A total of 3,903 employees and business leaders between the ages of 18 and 55 responded to general questions about leadership, employee attitudes around trust and crisis response/management from 11 countries: Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States.

Read the story and key findings from the survey at EHS Today

Gender Employment Gap Widens with Start of Virtual School Year

Women dropped out of the labor force in staggeringly high numbers last month, underscoring how female workers have disproportionately borne the economic brunt of the pandemic, in large part because of changes to child care and schooling.

The disparity threatens to set back decades of progress in closing workplace gender gaps and hinder the overall recovery from the coronavirus recession.

Read more at The Hill

The “K Shaped” Recovery 

Economists analyzing the U.S. path to recovery are worried that inside national measures of economic growth lie deepening divisions between industries and people as some sectors recover fast, while employment in the leisure and hospitality industry, for example, remains 20% below where it was in February.

Within the roughly 5,000 worst-off zip codes nearly a quarter of working adults were employed in service occupations as of 2018. By contrast, in prosperous zip codes only 13% of employed adults were in service jobs, while half were in management or professional occupations, a group of jobs considered more adaptable to work-from-home arrangements.

Read more and see plenty of graphics at Reuters

World Economic Forum Survey: 5 Workforce Priorities During the Pandemic and Beyond

In a recent survey of manufacturing companies, respondents were asked to assess their own organizations with input from the shop floor, executives and peers. The dominant theme: “Empowering the factory workforce with knowledge and digital tools”, will be essential to surviving the current pandemic and ensuring that operations can adapt to change anytime, anywhere – crisis or not. Along with that, having strong operational standards and lean practices are critical for navigating this crisis and the future of manufacturing.

Read more at the World Economic Forum

Eli Lilly Pauses Trial of Antibody drug Over Safety Concern

Eli Lilly put a temporary halt to tests of a treatment for covid-19, just a day after Johnson & Johnson suspended trials of its vaccine. Lilly cited a “potential safety concern” with its antibody therapy, which President Donald Trump has flattered as a “cure”. Reuters reported that federal drug inspectors have “uncovered serious quality-control problems” at one of Lilly’s manufacturing plants.

Read more at Reuters

Daily Briefing – 164

“Cluster Action Initiative” – Cuomo Imposes Tight Virus Rules on Areas Hit by Spikes Across State

Gov. Cuomo on Tuesday imposed tough new restrictions and guidelines aimed at curbing a surge of coronavirus clusters in parts of New York City and its northern suburbs. The State is declaring COVID-19 clusters in portions of Brooklyn, Queens, Orange and Rockland, as well as a “precautionary zone” in a portion of Binghamton. The “Cluster Action Initiative” will take dramatic actions within the cluster and precautionary measures in surrounding areas. The initiative will follow caseloads, not zip codes or census tract. 

Clusters will be labeled with colors based on their positivity rates. The cluster zones will be three different levels based on proximity to the cluster: red, orange, and yellow. Within each color code there will be capacity limits and gathering rules. Red zones will have the strictest restrictions. Within the red and orange zones, schools will be closed to in-person learning. Schools in a yellow zone must increase testing efforts.

The State is consulting with local governments on the maps of affected areas. The new rules will go into effect as soon as tomorrow, but no later than Friday, October 9th. Testing efforts for schools in a yellow zone will start no later than next Friday. The rules will be in effect for 14 days, at which time they will be reevaluated.

• Read the press release
• See the cluster map (low resolution)

One State Added to Restricted List

Governor Cuomo announced that travelers from New Mexico are now required to complete a 14-day quarantine upon entering New York. No states or areas were removed from the travel advisory.

• See the press release
• See the list of Restricted States

Pelosi Says Stimulus Talks Are Moving ‘Very Slowly’

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are continuing to hash out the terms of the next federal coronavirus aid bill this week, but progress is slow.

4.9 million people will cross the government’s long-term joblessness threshold (defined as looking for work for 27 weeks or more) over the next two months, according to Labor Department data released last week. While job losses have slowed since the peak of the pandemic and the U.S. last month added more jobs than it lost, layoffs still remain stubbornly high. The two top negotiators, who suddenly resumed urgent conversations last week after negotiations fell apart in August, plan to speak again Tuesday. 

Read more at Forbes

Powell Says U.S. Faces ‘Tragic’ Risks From Doing Too Little to Support Economy

“The expansion is still far from complete,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in remarks delivered at a virtual economics conference Tuesday. “At this early stage, I would argue that the risks of policy intervention are still asymmetric. Too little support would lead to a weak recovery, creating unnecessary hardship.”

By contrast, the risks of providing too generous relief are smaller, he said. “Even if policy actions ultimately prove to be greater than needed, they will not go to waste,” he said.

Read more in the WSJ

ISM Survey: U.S. Service Sector Activity Rises Above Pre-Pandemic Level in September

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said on Monday its non-manufacturing activity index rose to a reading of 57.8 last month from 56.9 in August. That put the index just above its 57.3 level in February. A reading above 50 indicates growth in the services sector, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index slipping to 56.0 in September.

The improvement in services industry activity fits in with expectations for a record rebound in economic growth in the third quarter after a historic plunge in gross domestic product in the April-June period. The economy got a boost over the summer from fiscal stimulus.

Read more at Reuters

U.S. Trade Deficit Widened in August to Largest Since 2006

The U.S. trade deficit widened in August to the largest since 2006 as the nation imported a record amount of consumer goods amid a pickup in demand ahead of the holiday-shopping season.

Total imports increased 3.2% to $239 billion, while exports rose 2.2% from the prior month to $171.9 billion. The nation’s surplus in services shrank to the lowest since 2012. Meanwhile, the merchandise trade deficit expanded to a record high. The coronavirus pandemic undid some of the Trump administration’s deficit-reduction efforts which were starting to bear fruit before Covid-19 upended demand and supply chains. American businesses, which drew down inventories at the start of the lockdown, have recently increased imports to replenish stocks ahead of the holidays.

Read more at Bloomberg

COVID-19 Response Sparks Efforts to Strengthen Supply Chain

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the fragility of the Defense Department’s supply chain. As a result, the department is taking a variety of steps to strengthen that supply chain, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment said. “One of our first actions was to ensure that the defense industrial base was essential and designated as critical infrastructure,” Ellen M. Lord said in an online discussion during the ComDef 2020 conference, a virtual conference providing insights and perspectives on issues facing the international defense communities.

Read the DOD press release

Nearly 20,000 Amazon Employees Could Have COVID-19

Amazon reported on its blog Oct. 1 that 19,816 employees have tested or been presumed positive for COVID-19. The company analyzed data on its 1,372,000 Amazon and Whole Foods Market frontline employees who were employed in the United States at any time between March 1 and Sept. 19, 2020. Amazon found 1.4% of workers were confirmed or presumed to have COVID-19.

The company has introduced or changed more than 150 safety measures since the pandemic began, including mandatory temperature checks, enhanced cleaning procedures and social distancing measures. Amazon has eliminated stand-up meetings during shifts, staggered break times and spread out chairs in breakrooms.

Read more in EHS Today

EU Reviewing Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine in Real Time

The European health regulator is reviewing a COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Pfizer PFE.N and BioNTech 22UAy.F in real time, days after launching a similar assessment process for AstraZeneca’s AZN.L vaccine.  The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Tuesday its human medicines committee was evaluating the first batch of data on the vaccine, and would continue to do so until enough data is available for a final decision. (bit.ly/34mAHiI)

Pfizer and BioNTech said in a joint statement the start of the review is based on data from laboratory and animal testing, as well as early testing on humans, while continuing talks to submit data as it emerged.

Read more at Reuters