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US hiring surges in July, but the variant is the wild card
WASHINGTON: Hiring surged in July as American employers added 943,000 jobs. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.4% as the U.S. economy continues to bounce back with surprising vigor from last years coronavirus shutdown. The July numbers exceeded economists forecast for more than 860,000 new jobs. Hotels and restaurants, reopening and doing brisk business, added 327,000 jobs last month. The number of people who reported they had jobs surged by 1 million, pushing the jobless rate down from 5.9% in June. The economy and job market, however, face a growing threat from the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus.
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United Airlines will require US employees to be vaccinated
CHICAGO: United Airlines will require U.S.-based employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by late October, and maybe sooner. United announced the decision Friday. The airline joins a growing number of big corporations that will require vaccinations. This is happening as a mutant variation of COVID-19 drives a surge in new infections. United CEO Scott Kirby says he knows some employees will disagree with the decision. But he says its clear that everyone is safer when everyone is vaccinated. United has 67,000 employees in the U.S. Its the first major U.S. airline to say it will require vaccinations for workers.
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Biden nudges Senate over historic $1T infrastructure bill
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden is praising the Senate for edging the bipartisan infrastructure plan closer to passage. Biden on Friday compared the historic investment to building the transcontinental railroad or the interstate highway system lofty themes he has touched on before as he nudges Congress along. He says the public works projects being unleashed will be powered by good-paying, blue-collar jobs. The presidents nod of encouragement comes as the Senate stalled out overnight, unable to expedite the process toward votes. Some senators wanted more chances to amend the 2,700-page package and and some opponents balked at the price tag. A key vote is now set for Saturday.
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SEC approves Nasdaqs plan to require board diversity
ARLINGTON, Va.: The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved Nasdaqs groundbreaking proposal to boost the number of women, racial minorities and LGBTQ people on U.S. corporate boards. The new policy requires most of the nearly 3,000 companies listed on Nasdaq to have at least one woman on their board of directors, along with one person from a racial minority or who identifies as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or queer. Companies with five or fewer board members, however, will only have to have one diverse member. Companies that dont meet the diversity criteria will not be delisted but must publicly explain why they could not comply. The rules also require companies to publicly disclose diversity statistics of their boards.
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Strong jobs report sends most stocks, bond yields higher
NEW YORK: Treasury yields powered higher Friday and two major stock indexes notched more record highs after a report showed the U.S. job market is making widespread improvements. The S&P 500 added 0.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%, both marking all-time highs. Declines for several Big Tech companies helped pull the Nasdaq composite down 0.4%. The governments monthly jobs report showed that hiring was stronger across the economy in July versus economists expectations. That raised expectations for the Federal Reserve to soon pare back its assistance for the economy. That would be a drag on all stocks, particularly for high-flying technology companies.
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Democratic senator urges Fed to begin trimming bond buys
WASHINGTON: A prominent Democratic senator, saying he is concerned about inflation, is urging the Federal Reserve to start trimming its monthly bond purchases. In a letter to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, Sen. Joe Manchin said that he had become increasingly alarmed that the Fed has continued to buy $120 billion per month in Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities, even with the recession triggered by the COVID pandemic over and our strong recovery well underway. While a number of Republicans have criticized the Fed for not beginning to taper the monthly bond purchases even as signs of inflation pressures mount, Manchin is the first Democrat to raise similar criticism.
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As Americans pay more for rent, landlords get some relief
LOS ANGELES: Americans are paying more to live in apartments, as demand for housing increases and many would-be homebuyers are forced to rent because prices for houses have gotten too steep. A key apartment industry measure of rent growth increased in the second quarter for the first time since the first quarter of 2020. Recent data from Zillow shows rents jumped 7.1% in June, the biggest year-over-year increase going back to 2015. The surge in the cost of renting is a boon for owners of big apartment communities more than a year after the economy fell into a recession that left millions of Americans unemployed and struggling to pay rent.
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Norwegian cruises challenges Florida passenger vaccine law
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.: Norwegian Cruise Line asked a federal judge Friday to block a Florida law prohibiting cruise companies from demanding that passengers show written proof of coronavirus vaccination before they board a ship. Norwegian contends the vaccine passport ban, signed into law in May by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, jeopardizes the health and safety of passengers and crew and is an unconstitutional infringement on the First Amendments free speech guarantee, among other things. Norwegian attorney Derek Shaffer told U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams during a remote hearing the vaccination requirement for its passengers is especially needed as Florida has recently experienced a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
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The S&P 500 rose 7.42 points, or 0.2%, to 4,436.52. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 144.26 points, or 0.4%, to 35,208.51. The Nasdaq fell 59.36 points, or 0.4%, to 14,835.76. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 11.75 points, or 0.5%, to 2,247.76.
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