Updates – Macro Trend

U.S. business activity increased to a 20-month high in October, but the pace of new business growth and new orders eased slightly amid the lingering COVID-19 pandemic and caution ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election. Data firm IHS Markit said on Friday its flash U.S. Composite PMI Output Index, which tracks the manufacturing and […]

The percentage of workers around the world that is permanently working from home is expected to double in 2021 as productivity has increased during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a survey from U.S.-based Enterprise Technology Research (ETR).

Lawyers who prosecuted Microsoft over alleged antitrust violations in the late 1990s saw some familiar tactics in the Justice Department’s complaint against Google filed Tuesday. But it’s far from a carbon copy of the complaint, according to five lawyers involved in the Microsoft case interviewed by CNBC. The DOJ cited its landmark antitrust case against Microsoft on page five of its […]

Investor Mario Gabelli struck a positive note on Tuesday on the U.S. economy even as coronavirus cases in the country are on the rise. More than 8 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the U.S. alone, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. A CNBC analysis also found that cases are growing by 5% […]

U.S. single-family homebuilding raced to a more than 13-year high in September, cementing the housing market’s status as the star of the economic recovery amid record-low mortgage rates and a migration to the suburbs and low-density areas in search of more room for home offices and schooling.

(Bloomberg Economics) — There’s a downside to automation. Worldwide, we estimate that 800 million people work in sectors where advances in technology place a significant share of jobs at risk. At a country level, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Japan are most exposed to disruption from automation. Jobs that can be […]

Consumers spent at a much faster pace than expected in September, with retail sales rising 1.9% in a sign that the U.S. economy’s biggest driver remains healthy. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected sales to increase 0.7%, up from a 0.6% rise in August. Excluding autos, the gain amounted to 1.5%, which also was better […]

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Thursday the U.S. could have enough Covid-19 vaccine doses for every American as early as March, a more optimistic estimate than President Donald Trump has publicly said. The Trump administration’s coronavirus vaccine program Operation Warp Speed expects to have up to 100 million doses by the end of the year, Azar said […]

Shares of Eli Lilly rose Wednesday after the company announced it submitted a request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency authorization of its Covid-19 antibody treatment. Eli Lilly’s shares rose by more than 3% in morning trading.

Companies added jobs at a faster-than-expected pace in September due in good part to a surge in manufacturing hires, according to a report Wednesday from ADP. The firm’s monthly private-sector jobs count showed growth of 749,000, ahead of the 600,000 expected from a Dow Jones economist survey.