Economy Added 638,000 Jobs

11/10/2020

7,000

The number of Americans filing new claims for state unemployment benefits fell by 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 751,000 in the week ending Oct. 31, according to The Wall Street Journal. Initial claims were at their lowest level since mid-march, but still extraordinarily high by historical standards and it indicates the covid-19 pandemic is still forcing many employers to cut jobs. The total number of workers claiming these jobless benefits across a variety of programs was 21.5 million as of October. The Labor Department reported that there are 7.3 million continuing claims, which lag initial claims by a week. Furthermore, for the week ending October 31, 52 states reported 362,883 workers applied for PUA (Pandemic Unemployment Assistance), a program for the self-employed and gig workers, the report shows.

638,000

America’s jobs recovery continued in October. The economy added 638,000 jobs last month, a sign that job market is recovering slowly from the coronavirus recession. The number is more than economists had predictable, even though it was a slowdown from the prior months. Meanwhile, unemployment fell sharply last month to 6.9% from 7.9% in September, the Labor Department reported. All of the major worker groups saw unemployment declines during October, including 6.5 percent for adult women, 6.7 percent for adult men and 13.9 percent for teenagers. In October, notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, which added 271,000 jobs, professional and business services (208,000), while retail and construction added jobs 104,000 and 84,000 respectively, the report shows.

$449M

Boeing Co. said it going to lay off thousands of employees by the end of 2021. About 19,000 employees are leaving Boeing this year as the company continues to hemorrhage money and revenue fades during a covid-19 pandemic that has crushed demand for air travel. Boeing’s CEO David Calhoun said it anticipates a workforce of 130,000 by the end of 2021, down from 160,000 before the pandemic. Earlier this year, Boeing targeted a 10 percent cut to its staff, which stood at 160,000 people at the start of the year. The company reported a $449 million loss for the third quarter, a sharp decrease from its $1.2 billion profit the same period last year. Total revenue fell 29.2% to $14.1 billion. There’s no doubt that this moment is among the most difficult in our more than 100-year history, said Boeing CEO, David Calhoun.

75%

General Motors Co. reported strong third-quarter earnings after a net loss in the second quarter of $800 million. The automaker said its net income rose 75% in the third quarter, boosted by growing consumer demand for its newly designed full-size SUVs and pickups –which lifted the company from its pandemic-induced rut, John Stapleton, GM’s interim CFO, said in a statement. For the third-quarter, GM said it had made $4 billion income out of $35.5 billion in net revenue compared to $2.35 billion a year earlier. Net revenue was flat with the year-ago period at $35.5 billion. While revenues met forecasts, profit nearly doubled Wall Street’s projections. The company’s performance for this year and the quarter was a testament to GM’s resilience, said CEO Mary Barra.

74M

A new survey found that nearly 74 million essential workers and their families are at high risk of severe COVID-19 in the U.S. Of that number, up to 61% of these workers had underlying health issues that put them at increased risk for severe COVID-19, based on disease risk guidelines developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many parts of the United States face rising infection rates, said lead researcher Thomas Selden, from the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. He said of the more than 157 million workers across the country, 72% of workers were in jobs deemed essential, and over three-quarters of all essential workers were unable to work at home. The risks to essential workers in all disciplines who could not work remotely were clear from the beginning of the pandemic, said Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency medicine physician in NY.

$7.2B

A recent study conducted by the Fed shows that nearly 1.34 million renter households –which equates to roughly 4.2% of all renter households, are going to owe approximately $7.2 billion in rent by December of this year. Averaged out across each household, the Fed estimates those who are behind on rent payments could each owe around $5,400 to their landlords, Forbes reported. This scenario assumes that 90% of all households received Economic Impact Payments and around 50% of workers who have lost a job since March 2020 received CARES UI, and 50% of unemployed workers didn’t get UI, the study finds.

18

Meanwhile, we have a new Guinness World Record. A man in the US named David Rush said that he set the world record for the most eggs caught in his mouth within a minute. The previous record was 17. His neighbor Jonathan Hannon tossed the eggs from a distance of 6.5 feet away and Rush then set out to catch them with his mouth in 1 minute with help from Jonathan. Rush’s attempt consisted of 36 eggs thrown, 24 captured and 18 unbroken, according to UPI. He has broken more than 150 Guinness records for juggling, balancing, and many more with a mission to promote STEM.