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Daily Briefing – 183

Post: Nov. 2, 2020

Vote

More than 90 million Americans have already voted.  If you are not one of them today is election day and the last chance to have to exercise that right.  We encourage you to do so. 


COVID and Cluster Update 

Governor Cuomo held a briefing by phone call Sunday detailing New York’s COVID-19 tracking data from Saturday October 31st.  Tracking data for the hotspots and the rest of the State are below.

The Governor also stated that administering a vaccine to the public will be the greatest operational task untaken by government during the pandemic. Testing, management of the hospital system, and contact tracing were all large operational tasks for government, but the administration of a vaccine will be far more difficult.  

  • 20 hotspot zip codes: 3.5%
  • Orange Orange Zone: 3.75%
  • Rockland Hot Zone: 4.20%
  • Statewide: 1.7%
  • Statewide excluding hotspots: 1.4%
  • Statewide hospitalizations: 1,151 (276 in ICU) 

Here are some useful websites:


BSK: Domestic Travel Advisory Substantially Revised — More Testing, Fewer Quarantine Days

On October 31, Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued Executive Order 205.2, which substantially revises the New York State Travel Advisory for domestic travel. The revisions take effect Wednesday, November 4 and do not apply to international travelers. For rules applicable to international travelers, click here. These revisions also do not apply to essential workers.


Empire Center: Cuomo Issues Mid-Year Budget Update

The main mid-year takeaways promoted by the accompanying press release from Cuomo’s Division of the Budget (DOB) were “a $14.9 billion General Fund revenue decline and a 15.3 percent All Funds tax receipts decline from the Budget forecast released in February, creating a total loss of nearly $63 billion through FY 2024 as a direct consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

These numbers—while accurate—are nothing new. They also are misleading: the current budget hole is, at most, $8 billion, and since the state budgets only one year at a time, multi-year differences in future revenues as projected back in February are not meaningful.


ISM’s Manufacturing Index for October Reaches Highest Level Since September 2018

The ISM’s Pricing Manager’s Index for manufacturing rose to 59.3%, up 3.4 points from September, marking the highest point for the PMI since September 2018.  

The ISM’s indexes for new orders, production, backlog of orders, employment, supplier deliveries, inventories, prices, export and imports all rose compared to their September levels. The new orders index rose 7.7 points to 67.9%, the production index grew 2 points to 63%, inventories grew 4.8 points to 51.9%, and prices increased by 2.7 points to 65.5%. Customer inventories fell 1.2 points to 37.9%, its lowest point since June 2010, a level considered a positive for future production.  The index for manufacturing employment grew by 3.6 points, landing at 53.2%. The October results breaks a 14-month streak of contraction in manufacturing employment.

Read more at IndustryWeek


Monday Economic Report: GDP, Jobless Claims, Durable Goods, Trade Deficit, Household Spending…. All Good News

The U.S. economy bounced back strongly, jumping 33.1% at the annual rate in the third quarter, the largest increase in the history of the series.  Despite soaring in the third quarter, real GDP remained down 3.5% year to date.  Moving forward, real GDP is expected to rise an annualized 3.0% in the fourth quarter, but uncertainties continue to exist in the marketplace, which could challenge that outlook. Overall, the U.S. economy is predicted to shrink 3.3% in 2020, with 4.0% growth forecasted for 2021.

  • Personal consumption expenditures rose 1.4% in September.
  • Initial unemployment claims totaled 751,000 for the week ending Oct. 24.
  • At the same time, continuing claims declined from 8,465,000 for the week ending Oct. 10 to 7,756,000 for the week ending Oct. 17.
  • New orders for durable goods rose 1.9% in September.

Monday Economic Report 2020-1102


Citron Cooperman Survey: The Current Pulse of Manufacturing & Distribution Firms

Citron Cooperman’s Manufacturing and Distribution Practice team conducted this research to take the pulse of company leaders in the moment—amid COVID-19—and with an eye to the future.

Here are our three big takeaways from the Summer 2020 survey:

  • Revenues and earnings are surprisingly steady. The best performers have more traction with
    e-commerce.  There is a strong correlation between those who do at least half their business online and significant growth in revenue and earnings.
  • Technology and e-commerce rank highest for the biggest keys for future growth. Although investments in these areas has occurred over the years, improvements in the automation of processes and use of financial data is imperative.
  • COVID-19 has changed distribution in a variety of ways, most prominently changing the demand of product. This comes as no surprise. The big news is that nearly half of respondents see changing their business models their top priority challenge.

Citron Cooperman Manufacturing and Distribution Report 2020


WebMD Report: Employees Need More from Employers to Navigate the Pandemic

Employees have not been getting the kind of support they need from their employers to better manage their emotional and physical health during the pandemic, according to the results of a new report from WebMD Health Services. 

The survey, The Pandemic Disconnect: Employee Well-being, Employer Response, and Opportunities for Change released today, found that 77% of employees say the pandemic has had a negative impact on their well-being, with more than half (51%) citing increased stress, anxiety and feelings of isolation (49%). More than one-third say they are feeling depressed, frustrated or angry more often, are exercising less and not eating well.

Read more at BioSpace


Altor Safety LLC Receives $800,000 New York State Grant For Upstart Company

In April, Russell Fawkes and Jonathan Scott – long-time friends and Rockland entrepreneurs – fused the strengths of their companies to form a new one, Altor Safety, LLC, a mask manufacturer.

Fawkes heads up the Congers-based company PowerPak Civil & Safety, a national distributor of safety and PPE equipment. Scott is CEO of Metro-Wall, a Valley Cottage-based manufacturer and installer of interior glass partitions.

Together, they’re part of a new army of manufacturing warriors that are fighting down the coronavirus.

Read more in the Rockland Business Journal