Category: business weekly

business weekly

Some COVID-19 traveling nurses are making $8,000 a week

3 months ago
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DENVER — In March, Claire Tripeny was watching her dream job fall apart. She’d been working as an intensive care nurse at St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, Colo., and loved it, despite the mediocre pay typical for the region.

But when COVID-19 hit, that calculation changed.

She remembers her employers telling her and her colleagues to “suck it up” as they struggled to care for six patients each and patched their protective gear with tape until it fully fell apart. The $800 or so a week she took home no longer felt worth it.

“I was not sleeping and having the most anxiety in my life,” Tripeny said. “I’m like, ‘I’m gonna go where my skills are needed and I can be guaranteed that I have the protection I need.’ ”

In April, she packed her bags for a two-month contract in then-COVID-19 hot spot New Jersey, as part of

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business weekly

Between 9,500 and 19,500 Americans could die of COVID-19 during Christmas week, CDC warns

3 months ago
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♦ Field hospitals have opened in Rhode Island as cases surge there.

Jobs report will show how much pandemic is squeezing hiring — 1:08 a.m.

By Christopher Rugaber, The Associated Press

Friday’s monthly US jobs report will help answer a key question overhanging the economy: Just how much damage is being caused by the resurgent coronavirus, the resulting curbs on businesses and the reluctance of consumers to shop, travel and dine out?

The Labor Department will issue the November jobs report at 8:30 a.m.

Data shows Americans couldn’t resist Thanksgiving travel — 12:06 a.m.

By Stephen Groves, The Associated Press

Americans couldn’t resist the urge to gather for Thanksgiving, driving only slightly less than a year ago and largely ignoring the pleas of public health experts, who begged them to forgo holiday travel to help contain the coronavirus pandemic, data from roadways and airports shows.

Vehicle travel in early November

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business weekly

China stocks fall on U.S. trade tensions; set for weekly gain on recovery hopes

3 months ago
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SSEC -0.4%, CSI300 -0.4%, HSI -0.2%

HK->Shanghai Connect daily quota used 0.6%, Shanghai->HK daily quota used 3.6%

FTSE China A50 -0.3%

SHANGHAI, Dec 4 (Reuters) – China stocks fell on Friday, weighed down by escalating Sino-U.S. trade tensions, but were set for weekly gains on the back of data that pointed to a recovery in the world’s second-largest economy.

** The CSI300 index .CSI300 fell 0.4% to 5,038.18 points at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC lost 0.4% to 3,430.03 points.

** Leading the decline, the CSI300 financials index .CSI300FS dropped 1.8% by midday.

** The United States on Thursday added China’s top chipmaker, SMIC 0981.HK, and oil giant CNOOC to a blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies, a move likely to escalate tensions with Beijing before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

** Chinese state media warned that some damage to Sino-U.S. ties

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business weekly

Jobless claims fall 75,000 to 712,000 in Thanksgiving week, but layoffs still high

3 months ago
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Unemployment in the U.S. is in danger of rising again because of the record coronavirus outbreak.


olivier douliery/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

The numbers: New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits fell in late November for the first time in three weeks — probably due in part to the Thanksgiving holiday — but new jobless claims remain stubbornly high.

The latest decline, though welcome, is unlikely to dispel fresh worries about rising layoffs and a slowdown in hiring after a record wave of coronavirus cases. A variety of indicators point to a softening labor market.

Initial jobless claims dropped by a seasonally adjusted 75,000 to 712,000 in the seven days ended Nov. 28. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast initial jobless claims to total 780,000.

Another 288,701 people applied for benefits through a temporary federal-relief program that expires at the end of the year, the government said Thursday.

The combined number of new

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business weekly

Google Set to Win EU Approval for Fitbit Takeover Next Week

3 months ago
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(Bloomberg) — Google is set to win conditional European Union approval for its $2.1 billion takeover of health tracker Fitbit Inc. this month, people familiar with the discussions said.



a hand holding a remote control: An attendant shows a Fitbit Inc. Ionic smartwatch for a photograph at the Wearable Expo in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. The trade show featuring wearable devices and technologies runs through to Jan. 19.

© Bloomberg
An attendant shows a Fitbit Inc. Ionic smartwatch for a photograph at the Wearable Expo in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. The trade show featuring wearable devices and technologies runs through to Jan. 19.

The deal could be approved as soon as next week after national competition authorities give their opinion, said the people who asked not to be named because the procedure isn’t public. The EU usually consults the so-called advisory committee on mergers days before it issues approval.

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Google announced its plans to buy Fitbit in November 2019, noting that it would use the smartwatch maker to improve its lagging hardware business. Clearing regulatory obstacles for the deal come in a tough climate

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business weekly

Unemployment Claims Drop, but Holiday Week May Be a Factor

3 months ago
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New claims for unemployment benefits dropped for the first time in three weeks, the government reported Thursday, but the economy remains under pressure as Covid-19 cases surge and fresh restrictions on businesses loom in some states.

The Thanksgiving holiday is likely to have delayed the filing of claims, and economists warn there will be more job losses ahead if the pandemic worsens.

“It’s still bad,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at the accounting firm Grant Thornton in Chicago, noting that recent job losses were broad and concentrated in industries that were hit hard early in the pandemic: food services, health care, retail establishments and hotels.

Nearly 714,000 people filed initial claims for state unemployment insurance last week, compared with 836,000 the week before, the Labor Department reported. With seasonal swings factored in, last week’s total was 712,000.

“People don’t apply as much when there are holidays,” Ms. Swonk added. “There

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business weekly

US weekly jobless claims fall more than expected to 712,000, offering an encouraging sign of labor-market recovery

3 months ago
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a person sitting at a table using a laptop: Nick Oxford/The Washington Post/Getty Images

© Nick Oxford/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Nick Oxford/The Washington Post/Getty Images
  • New US jobless claims for the week that ended Saturday totaled 712,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. The reading came in below the consensus economist estimate of 775,000 and also showed a decline from the previous week’s revised figure.
  • Continuing claims, which track Americans receiving unemployment benefits, declined to 5.5 million for the week that ended November 21. The reading also came in below economist forecasts.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

The number of Americans filing for unemployment insurance fell by more than expected last week as the US labor market’s recovery showed signs of strength.

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New US weekly jobless claims totaled an unadjusted 712,000 for the week that ended Saturday, the Labor Department announced Thursday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected a reading of 775,000. The decline snapped a two-week streak of increases for initial

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business weekly

712,000 workers filed jobless claims last week as pandemic rages

3 months ago
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The latest data shows the ongoing pain of the pandemic on the labor market.

Catherine Thorbecke

December 3, 2020, 2:00 PM

4 min read

Another 712,000 workers filed jobless claims last week, the Department of Labor said Thursday, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to take a toll on the labor market.

The weekly jobless claims tally fell slightly after rising for the past two consecutive weeks. It still remains well above pre-pandemic records.

The DOL also said the total number of people still claiming some form of unemployment insurance through all programs topped 20.1 million for the week ending Nov. 14.

1.5 million workers claimed benefits for the comparable week in 2019.

Many of the unemployment benefits are currently set to expire at the end of the month unless lawmakers approve a new stimulus bill.

The states that saw the largest increases

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business weekly

U.S. weekly jobless claims fall; services sector activity slows

3 months ago
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits fell last week, but remained extraordinarily high amid widespread business restrictions to slow a rising tide of new COVID-19 infections and lack of additional fiscal stimulus.

FILE PHOTO: People line up outside a Kentucky Career Center hoping to find assistance with their unemployment claim in Frankfort, Kentucky, U.S. June 18, 2020. REUTERS/Bryan Woolston/File Photo

The bigger-than-expected decline in weekly unemployment claims reported by the Labor Department on Thursday was likely influenced by the Thanksgiving Day holiday, which economists said could have impacted the model the government uses to strip seasonal fluctuations from the data.

The pandemic and almost depleted coronavirus relief package are hampering the economic recovery, with services industry activity slowing to a six-month low in November, other data showed. Republicans and Democrats in Congress remained unable to reach agreement on another package on Wednesday, with

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business weekly

U.S. weekly jobless claims fall; labor market momentum ebbing

3 months ago
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By Lucia Mutikani



a group of people that are talking to each other: FILE PHOTO: People line up outside a Kentucky Career Center hoping to find assistance with their unemployment claim in Frankfort

© Reuters/Bryan Woolston
FILE PHOTO: People line up outside a Kentucky Career Center hoping to find assistance with their unemployment claim in Frankfort

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits fell last week, but remained extraordinarily high amid widespread business restrictions to slow a rising tide of new COVID-19 infections and lack of additional fiscal stimulus.

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The weekly unemployment claims report from the Labor Department on Thursday included the Thanksgiving holiday, which could have impacted the model the government uses to strip seasonal fluctuations from the data.

“Jobless claims continue to signal a struggling labor market recovery, and as we approach the end of the year, risks are mounting that millions of unemployed workers will lose access to their unemployment benefits,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Initial claims for state unemployment

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