Daily Briefing – 126
Cuomo Adds, Removes States on Quarantine List
The Governor issued a press release this morning announcing Hawaii, South Dakota, and the Virgin Islands have met the metrics to qualify for quarantine requirements for travelers entering New York.
At this time Alaska, New Mexico, Ohio, and Rhode Island have been removed from the list. The quarantine applies to any person arriving from an area with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a 7-day rolling average or an area with a 10 percent or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average.
RBT CPAs Provides a Breakdown of President Trump’s Four Executive Orders
With no progress in sight from lawmakers, President Trump signed an executive order and issued three memoranda on August 8, said to provide economic relief amidst the pandemic-induced recession our country finds itself in. So what are the details you need to know specifically about tax implications, and why are critics questioning the legality of the president’s actions? Here is a breakdown of Trump’s four executive powers:
Making sense of the new executive orders from President Trump
From Cocoa to Coffee and Sugar, Soft Commodities Stage Simultaneous Rally
The raw ingredients for goods including chocolate and clothes have rebounded after their pandemic-fueled declines, lifted by supply constraints and investors’ bets that a recovering economy will boost consumer demand.
Cocoa, coffee and other soft commodities trading on the Intercontinental Exchange have bounced back from their lows earlier this year and now number among the world’s best-performing major assets. In the past month alone, cocoa futures have risen 15% to $2,448 a metric ton and coffee futures have climbed 14% to $1.11 a pound. Cotton and sugar futures have also surged in recent months and are up 11% and 20%, respectively, since May 1.
Job Openings Rose in June
The U.S. experienced a surprisingly robust uptick in job openings and hiring in June, even as COVID-19 has since caused some state reopenings to stall or reverse. The Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, showed the number of available positions rising to 5.89 million in June, up from 5.37 million in May.
The manufacturing numbers: Job openings included 336,000 in the manufacturing industry in June, up from 306,000 in May. According to NAM Chief Economist Chad Moutray: “Manufacturers hired 441,000 workers in June, down from an all-time high of 523,000 in May and up from 299,000 and 326,000 in March and April, respectively. At the same time, total separations bounced back somewhat from 285,000 in May, the lowest since November 2016, to 386,000 in June.”
UK Officially in Recession for First Time in 11 Years
Britain’s second-quarter GDP figures were hard reading. The economy contracted by 20.4% against the previous quarter and confirmed that Britain had entered its deepest recession since at least the 1920s. Since the end of 2019 Britain has suffered nearly the worst performance of major European economies (only Spain has done worse). But some data suggest a modest improvement began in June.
Supply Chains Encounter 2nd Wave of Pandemic Disruption
Global supply chains already unsettled by the pandemic are now grappling with “secondary disruptions” tied to issues such as cargo theft, child labor and greater migration, according to the latest BSI Group quarterly threat review. Jim Yarbrough, BSI’s global intelligence program manager, said these new threats highlight the necessity of planning for business continuity.
Read the full story at CSCMP’s Supply Chain Quarterly
Improve Employee Health Beyond Benefits
Workplace well-being benefit packages are not sufficient, according to a joint study conducted by The Wellbeing Lab and George Mason University’s Center for the Advancement of Well-Being. Compassionate leadership, which can be achieved through normalizing mental health struggles and empowering employees with resources for positive change, can effectively supplement well-being programs, the study found.
Federal Judge Rules Wedding Receptions in New York State Can be Held at 50 percent Capacity Rather Than Capped at 50 People
A federal judge has issued a temporary injunction allowing wedding receptions to be held at 50 percent of the venue’s capacity and not be capped at 50 people.
Judge Glenn Suddaby of the Northern District of New York ruled in favor of two couples with weddings booked at the Arrowhead Golf Club in Akron, who– along with the co-owner of the club– sued Governor Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General Letitia James, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, the Erie County Department of Health, and the Empire State Development Corporation.
