Daily Update 87
Cuomo: Gatherings of Up to 25 Permitted in Phase Three Regions
The Governor held his press briefing on the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge in our Mid-Hudson Region to tout the opening of the 3.6 mile bicycle and pedestrian path. He announced the, since the public health metrics being tracked are trending in a positive direction while reopening, the State is accelerating certain activities. The State will increase the limit on public gatherings from ten to twenty-five people in phase three eligible regions.
The Western New York region is cleared to enter phase three today (6/16). The Capital region is expected to enter phase three tomorrow (6/17), but has not yet officially been cleared to do so.
Phase three industries and guidelines
Monday Economic Report
There were 311,000 manufacturing job openings in April, edging up slightly from the 310,000 postings in March, which was the slowest pace since October 2016. The COVID-19 outbreak has altered the manufacturing labor market dramatically. After experiencing more job openings than the number of people looking for work for 24 straight months, the abrupt stoppage of economic activity amid the COVID-19 outbreak sharply reversed that trend, starting in March. There were 23,078,000 unemployed Americans in April–the figure declined to 20,985,000 in May but remained historically elevated, according to the latest jobs data.
Monday Economic Report 2020-0615
Empire State Manufacturing Survey
Business activity steadied in New York State, according to firms responding to the June 2020 Empire State Manufacturing Survey. After breaching record lows in April and May, the headline general business conditions index climbed forty-eight points to -0.2. New orders were unchanged from last month and shipments inched higher. Delivery times and inventories were little changed. Employment levels edged slightly lower and the average workweek continued to decline. Input price increases picked up, and selling prices stabilized. Firms were notably more optimistic that conditions would be better in six months, with the index for future business conditions rising to its highest level in more than a decade.
Report: Pandemic Multiplies Cybervulnerabilities
Attackers are taking advantage of the COVID-19 crisis to exploit pre-existing and newly introduced vulnerabilities across a wide range of attack points.
Security firm RiskIQ, which specializes in digital asset discovery and protection, has used data collected recently by its technology through internet scans to assess the current global attack surface. Over two weeks, the company saw the addition of 2,959,498 new domain names and 772,786,941 new unique hosts to the web.
China is a Bright Spot for U.S. in Gloomy Global Trade Picture
China has retaken its mantle as America’s largest trading partner, emerging as a rare bright spot for U.S. farmers and other exporters as the coronavirus pandemic constrains global commerce.
Trade between the two nations rose to $39.7 billion in April, up nearly 43% from the month before, and enough to once again surpass Mexico and Canada. The jump followed the signing of a trade pact in January in which China agreed to sharply step up purchases of U.S. farm products and other goods. U.S.-China trade remains well below the record $61.4 billion set in October 2018, and economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic has cast doubt on China’s ability to meet ambitious purchase targets set in the trade accord. China is nonetheless the only major world economy likely to post positive growth this year, according to a recent World Bank forecast.
Beijing Imposes Curbs as Coronavirus Returns to Chinese capital
After nearly two months with no new infections, Beijing officials have reported 79 cases over the past four days, the city’s biggest cluster of infections since February. The return of the coronavirus has shrouded Beijing, home to the headquarters of many big corporations, in uncertainty at a time when China is trying to shake off the economic torpor caused by the disease.
“The containment efforts have rapidly entered into a war-time mode,” senior city government official Xu Ying told a news conference. Xu said 7,200 neighborhoods and nearly 100,000 epidemic-control workers had entered the “battlefield”. The outbreak has been traced to the sprawling Xinfadi market where thousands of tonnes of vegetables, fruits and meat change hands each day.
FAST Forward: Advancing Small Business in these Unprecedented Times
GSA’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization and the Federal Acquisition Service are partnering to host a FAST Forward virtual event on June 22 to assist and answer questions on how small businesses can sell products and services to the federal government.
The training sessions will give you an overview of what you need to know to pursue a federal or GSA contract; from market research, registering your business in SAM.gov (System for Award Management), supply chain resilience and contract compliance, to adapting to some of the emerging needs we are experiencing in response to the global pandemic. Links to additional small business resources will also be provided after the event.
Metro-North Expands Schedule
The schedule change will further increase overall service to 61 percent of the railroad’s normal weekday schedule.
The previous schedule of 54 trains during morning peak hours will be increased to 116 trains and additional 11 trains operating during reverse peak time. This reflects 49 trains arriving at Grand Central Terminal during the morning peak and 67 during the afternoon peak.
With ridership down more than 90 percent and more customers expected to slowly make their return to the system, the new schedule provides approximately 41 percent of the normal Metro-North peak capacity, railroad officials said.