Business - Page 8

Biden predicts restaurants and businesses will be ‘in a bind’ for some time due to labor shortages

By Maegan Vazquez and Kevin Liptak President Joe Biden conceded during a CNN town hall on Wednesday that certain businesses will remain “in a bind for a little while” with labor shortages, part of a major set of problems that’s unfurling as his six-month-old presidency reaches a critical juncture. Covid cases are rising, a testament to a vaccination effort that has stalled amid waves of disinformation and skepticism. Pent-up demand has caused an uptick in prices, leading to concerns over inflation. And Biden’s much-touted bipartisan infrastructure deal remains in a state of limbo as Republicans and Democrats rush to finalize

Inflation is here. The Delta variant could make it worse

By Matt Egan The biggest question facing the US economy is when skyrocketing consumer prices will come back to earth. The emergence of the Delta variant only deepens that inflation mystery. The hope is that inflation will cool off as the economy fully reopens, allowing supply to catch up with increasing demand. But the summer surge in Covid-19 cases is complicating that thinking. That’s because the Delta variant threatens to both ease pricing pressures in the short term — and worsen them in the long run. Covid alarm bells sounded on Wall Street on Monday, with the Dow sinking 726

Boosted by the federal stimulus, these virtual learning companies are fighting to keep their new place in US education

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By Katie Lobosco If parents weren’t familiar with Canvas or Schoology before the pandemic, they likely are now. The two biggest remote learning providers — or, more officially, “learning management systems” — became household names as schools scrambled to help students learn online at home, but they’re now fighting to keep their foothold as most districts plan to fully reopen for in-person learning in the fall. School districts nationwide licensed the platforms so that their students could log in to virtual classes, communicate with their teachers and submit schoolwork from home. Usage surged immediately. Interactions with Schoology’s platform jumped 400%

Former Sony employee sues company over alleged racist abuse

By Chauncey Alcorn A former Sony Electronics employee is suing the company and several individuals, accusing her former boss of sabotaging her career and making racist, verbally abusive comments. The woman filing the lawsuit, Duwanikia “Monica” Hill, who is Black, says she was fired from her role as an account manager after she filed an abuse complaint against her boss earlier this year. The lawsuit says that Hill’s former manager, who is White, made offensive racial slurs, including that the Black Lives Matter movement “made Blacks feel more powerful than they are” and that Blacks should feel “grateful for whatever

Surging prices: Key measure of inflation posts biggest 12-month jump on record

By Chris Isidore US wholesale prices posted the biggest 12-month increase on record. That’s the bad news. But the US economy offered some rare good news on inflation Wednesday, too: Costs didn’t rise as much in June as they did in May, raising hopes that prices could be leveling off or even retreating in some cases. The producer price index measures prices paid by businesses, rather than consumers. Any increases typically are passed onto consumers at the retail level. Wholesale price increases have fed growing concerns about inflation as the economy tries to return to normal. The Labor Department reported

Wells Fargo shuts down all personal lines of credit, sparking outrage

By Allison Morrow and Matt Egan Wells Fargo is shutting down all of its existing personal lines of credit, sparking outrage from consumers and advocates. A spokesperson for the bank said Wells Fargo made the decision last year as part of an effort to simplify its product offerings. The bank feels it can better meet borrowing needs through credit cards and personal loans, the spokesperson said. The popular consumer lending product that the bank is shuttering typically lets users borrow up to $100,000, according to CNBC, which reported the news earlier Thursday. The product was advertised to consumers as a

Olympics 2021: NBC faces ‘hell of a challenge’ producing Tokyo Games after spectators are barred from competitions

By Oliver Darcy NBC was presented with a new challenge producing the 2021 Olympic Games on Thursday after organizers said that spectators will be prohibited from the Tokyo venues, a move that eliminates a key component of live sports broadcasts and could give the competitions an eerie feel. The setback, which was announced after Japan declared a coronavirus state of emergency, is the latest in a string of complications that have arisen ahead of a Summer Olympics which are set to take place as the pandemic rages across the globe. The absence of fans effectively makes this year’s Olympic Games a

Ursula Burns hired to lead embattled consulting firm Teneo

By Jordan Valinsky Former Xerox CEO Ursula Burns has been named chairwoman of Teneo, the embattled consulting firm that is still dealing with the fallout from the resignation of its CEO, reportedly over drunken behavior at a party. Burns’ appointment is effective immediately, according to a company statement. She’s not a stranger to Teneo, having served as a senior adviser to the company since 2017. She has also been a client of the firm. “As chairwoman, I intend to focus on advising and growing Teneo’s clients, as well as continuing to build a world-class firm culture,” Burns said in the statement.

How long can supply shortages continue?

By Charles Riley As the global economy kicks into high gear following the pandemic, demand for certain consumer goods and tech components has outstripped supply, leading to shortages of everything from cars to household appliances. Shortages are not something consumers in developed economies are used to dealing with. They are annoying. But they can also feed inflation, because consumers are competing over fewer products, driving up prices. The big question is how long shortages will persist. For clues, investors can look to Asia, where supplier delivery times across manufacturing sectors increased in June. Industrial production in South Korea and Japan fell in May.

Facial recognition tech has been widely used across the US government for years, a new report shows

By Rachel Metz As George Floyd’s death sparked protests in cities across the country, six federal agencies turned to facial-recognition software in an effort to identify people in images of the civil unrest, according to a new report from a government agency. The agencies used facial recognition software from May to August of last year “to support criminal investigations related to civil unrest, riots, or protests,” according to a report released on Tuesday by the US Government Accountability Office, based on a survey of 42 federal agencies. The US Postal Inspection Service, for instance, told the GAO that it used software from Clearview AI, a controversial facial-recognition

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