Americans show they’re eager to shop even as pandemic stretches on, retail economist says
Americans have shown they are eager to shop, even during a recession and global health crisis, the National Retail Federation’s chief economist, Jack Kleinhenz, said Monday. That could be a promising sign for retailers banking on holiday sales, he said. “Strong growth in retail sales during the last few months points to the resiliency of […]
U.S. manufacturing near two-year high in October
U.S. manufacturing activity accelerated in October, with new orders jumping to their highest level in nearly 17 years amid a shift in spending toward goods like motor vehicles as the COVID-19 pandemic drags on. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said on Monday its index of national factory activity increased to a reading of 59.3 […]
The Future of Jobs 2018
As technological breakthroughs rapidly shift the frontier between the work tasks performed by humans and those performed by machines and algorithms, global labour markets are likely to undergo major transformations. These transformations, if managed wisely, could lead to a new age of good work, good jobs and improved quality of life for all, but if […]
Moderna says it’s preparing global launch of Covid vaccine as it takes in $1.1 billion in deposits
Moderna is prepping for the global launch of its potential coronavirus vaccine, already taking in $1.1 billion in deposits from governments awaiting the potentially lifesaving drug, the biotech firm said Thursday in its third-quarter earnings report. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company said it was in ongoing talks with the World Health Organization-backed COVAX initiative on a tiered pricing proposal […]
U.S. GDP booms at 33.1% rate in Q3, better than expected
Coming off the worst quarter in history, the U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace ever in the third quarter as a nation battered by an unprecedented pandemic started to put itself back together, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Third-quarter gross domestic product, a measure of the total goods and services produced in the July-to-September […]
Record U.S. third-quarter growth assured as goods trade deficit falls, inventories rise
The United States’ trade deficit in goods narrowed sharply in September and inventories at retailers surged, sealing expectations for record economic growth in the third quarter after the worst performance in at least 73 years. The data from the Commerce Department on Wednesday added to reports ranging from retail sales, durable goods orders and housing […]
Lower air quality in some Chinese cities points to iPhone 12 production surge, Morgan Stanley says
Morgan Stanley analysts on Wednesday said they are tracking air quality reports in Chinese cities that suggests an increase in industrial activity tied to iPhone 12 production. Two new iPhone 12 models went on sale last week and two more will go on sale next month. This is a few weeks later than Apple’s traditional cadence, which […]
U.S. agrees to pay Eli Lilly $375 million for 300,000 doses of coronavirus antibody drug
The U.S. government will pay Eli Lilly $375 million to supply 300,00 doses of its experimental antibody drug to treat the coronavirus, the company announced Wednesday. The agreement is for delivery over the two months following an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. The deal also provides the option for the U.S. government to […]
Surge in online holiday shopping will pack 2 years of growth into one season, Adobe says
Two years’ worth of e-commerce growth is about to be packed into one holiday season, according to a new forecast, as Americans turn in droves to online shopping to avoid crowded stores and malls during the coronavirus pandemic. Online sales this November and December are forecast to surge 33% year over year to a record […]
Microsoft cloud business gathers steam as pandemic boosts growth
Microsoft Corp’s MSFT.O cloud computing business slightly re-accelerated and its Teams messaging and collaboration software won new users, as a pandemic-driven shift to working from home and online learning drove quarterly results ahead of investor targets. COVID-19 has speeded up a move toward cloud-based computing, helping companies such as Microsoft, Amazon.com Inc’s AMZN.O cloud unit and Alphabet Inc’s GOOGL.O Google Cloud. […]