Although the number of employment claims at the end of July was over 1 million for the 20th straight week, it was also the lowest number of new claims since the US was struck by COVID-19 in March, the Washington Examiner reports. The end of July saw 1.2 million claims when economists had forecast there would be 1.42 million.
Britain’s government pledged Friday to strengthen border security, as a daily record number of people crossed the English Channel to the U.K. in small boats. The measures that reportedly could involve the Royal Navy, come amid broader concerns in Europe about a rising number of migrants re-emerging following lengthy coronavirus lockdowns.
Election officials in Belarus say the county’s longtime President Alexander Lukashenko has won his sixth consecutive term, taking over 80 percent of the vote. Monday’s announcement followed a night of riots in which dozens of people were injured, and possibly one person was killed amid mounting anger over his perceived autocratic style.
The economy gained 1.8 million jobs in July, lowering the unemployment rate to 10.2%, the Labor Department reported on Friday, as robust jobs growth has apparently slowed.
Following overwhelming bipartisan Congressional support for the measure, on Tuesday President Donald Trump signed the Great American Outdoors Act that will assign $3 billion a year to conservation, outdoor recreation, and maintenance of national parks and other public lands, USA News reports.
The European Union’s statistics agency has reported the most significant economic falls within the 27-nation bloc since it began recording the figures 25 years ago.
The Eurozone suffered its greatest contraction on record, exceeding the U.S. economy’s record plunge.
U.S. Gross Domestic Product dropped an estimated 32.9 percent in the second quarter of 2020, according to a report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis released Thursday, a result of stay-at-home orders that shuttered businesses in response to COVID-19.
Having endured what was surely a record-shattering slump last quarter, the U.S. economy faces a dim outlook as a resurgent coronavirus intensifies doubts about any sustained recovery the rest of the year.
Thousands of Iranian Muslims have left Islam and have put their faith in Jesus Christ since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Iran in March, CBN News reports.
The U.S. ordered the Chinese Consulate in Houston, Texas, shut down because of the persistent problem of Bejing’s theft of U.S. intellectual property, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday.
Israeli officials are anticipating the likelihood of renewing a nationwide lockdown as the country had 1,575 new cases of COVID-19 Monday, the Times of Israel reports. With a population of fewer than nine million residents, Israel has now had over 43,000 cases, including over 23,000 currently active cases and 375 coronavirus related deaths.
The Federal Reserve announced on June 11th that COVID-19 had caused a disruption in the normal flow and distribution of circulation of US coinage. The following week, Jerome Powell, the head of the Federal Reserve, spoke before the US House Committee of Financial Services. He informed the members that the partial shutdown had created a stoppage of the flow of coins in our economy. Consequently, some retailers are asking customers to use exact change. Mr. Powell also shared that he believes the condition will be only temporary because the economy is opening back up.
The U.S. economy added 4.8 million jobs in June as it struggles to recover from the business closures forced by the coronavirus pandemic, the government reported Thursday, even as it said another 1.4 million laid-off workers filed for unemployment benefits last week.
France was to name a new prime minister later Friday after Edouard Philippe and his cabinet resigned amid mounting concerns about the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the nation.
The Democrat-controlled House approved a $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan Wednesday that would not only rebuild failing roads, railways, ports and transit systems but also fund schools, health care, public utilities, and housing, PBS reported.
Mexico celebrated the implementation of a new free trade agreement with Canada and the United States that it hopes will lead to more investment in its struggling economy.
The House passed a $1.5 trillion “green” infrastructure package on a partisan basis Wednesday by a 233-188 vote, as Democrats signaled their commitment to combating climate change through multiple avenues, a key issue for their voting base.
Almost half the US population was jobless last month, CNBC reported Monday. According to the Bureau of Labor data for May 2020, the number of employed people as a percentage of the US adult population was 52.8% last month, meaning 47.2% of Americans had no job. The figures for June will be published on Thursday this week.
The U.S. economy shrank at a 5.0% rate in the first quarter with a much worse decline expected in the current three-month economic period because of the coronavirus pandemic.