May 15, 2020

Why the 'great' jobs market was always an illusion

(MarketWatch) As recently as early February 2020 B.C. (Before Coronavirus), President Donald Trump told us “our economy is the best it has ever been.” That line came in his Feb. 4 State of the Union address, in which he mentioned “jobs” 10 times and how great everything was.

“Jobs are booming,” he said.

“We have created seven million new jobs.”

“Last year, women filled 72% of all new jobs added.”

And so on.

Lots of lousy jobs

But the underlying reality was never as lustrous as we were led to believe. In sheer numbers, job growth had indeed been solid for a decade — here is the month-by-month data going back 10 years— yet this obscured the fact that tens of millions of these jobs weren’t very good to begin with. .........(more)

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-the-great-jobs-market-was-always-an-illusion-2020-05-14

May 15, 2020

Retail sales crater a record 16.4% in April amid coronavirus lockdowns and spending slump

(MarketWatch) The numbers: Sales at U.S. retailers sank a record 16.4% in April after coronavirus lockdowns shuttered much of the economy, cost millions of jobs and spawned an unprecedented slump in consumer spending.

Retail sales tumbled in every category except online shopping, the government said Friday. Sales also sank by a revised 8.3% in March, easily marking the worst back-to-back declines in modern American history.

Economists polled by MarketWatch expected a 12.5% plunge. ...........(more)

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/retail-sales-crater-record-16-in-april-amid-coronavirus-lockdowns-and-spending-slump-2020-05-15?mod=home-page

May 14, 2020

1/4 of American Restaurants Won't Reopen, Open Table says

(AdAge) One in every four U.S. restaurants will go out of business due to the coronavirus quarantines that have battered the food service industry, according to a forecast by OpenTable.

The bleak projection underscores the widespread pain for American restaurants as lockdowns have forced people to cook at home or order takeout rather than eat out. Total reservations and walk-in customers from OpenTable’s network were down 95 percent on May 13 from the same day a year ago, according to data from the service, which is owned by Booking Holdings Inc.

This has been calamitous for the industry. Restaurants lost more than $30 billion in sales during March and $50 billion in April, according to National Restaurant Association estimates. In 2019, U.S. Bureau of Labor data showed 9.6 million Americans working in food service.

OpenTable tracks more than 54,000 restaurants on its reservation site for online and phone reservations as well as walk-in customers. Take-out and deliveries are excluded. ..............(more)

https://adage.com/article/news/one-quarter-american-restaurants-wont-reopen-opentable-says/2257136

May 14, 2020

Why 'the next big shoe to drop' in the U.S. economy could hit by July

(MarketWatch) The last time a housing bubble popped in the United States, it took four years to play out. But things are moving fast during this pandemic — just look at the record-breaking action in the stock market — and if Wolf Richter has it right, pent-up supply could soon ravage home prices.

He used this chart to show how the typically red-hot Bay Area housing market, including Marin, Sonoma, Napa and Solano counties, has been grinding to a halt.



“This is supposed to be the spring selling season, and new listings are supposed to surge,” Richter explained in a post. “But sellers aren’t interested in having potentially infected people traipsing through their home; and they know that buyers are woefully absent, and it doesn’t make that much sense to list the home because previously listed homes are still languishing on the market.”

Here’s a chart of what the trend typically looks like vs. the current reality:



According to Thomas Stone, a Sonoma Country realtor quoted on the Wolf Street blog, there’s a very rough road ahead in the housing sector due to falling appraisals, a trickier loan market and a glut of vacation rentals that owners need to shed.

“The next big shoe to drop will be when appraisers call a declining market, probably in August but perhaps as early as July,” he said. “And this bleeds into the difficulties of getting a mortgage.” ..........(more)

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-the-next-big-shoe-to-drop-in-the-us-economy-could-hit-by-july-2020-05-13?mod=home-page

May 14, 2020

Essential Workering While Black

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A viral video shows a delivery driver being held against his will in an Oklahoma City area neighborhood Monday, blocked in by a man who identified himself as the homeowners association president.

Travis Miller, a home appliance and furniture delivery driver, captured the encounter on Facebook Live while driving through the neighborhood of Ashford Hills.

“I want to know where you’re going,” says the resident whose car is blocking Miller’s way.

"It’s none of your business. I’m going out, that’s where I’m going,” Miller replies.

“Got me blocked in so I can’t leave,” Miller says to the camera, showing the man’s white Subaru blocking the road out of the gated community. .......(more)

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wavy.com/news/health/coronavirus/black-delivery-driver-blocked-into-oklahoma-neighborhood-by-hoa-president/amp/

May 14, 2020

Connecticut Governor Says Days of Commuting to NYC May End

(Bloomberg) Those Monday through Friday commutes from Greenwich, Connecticut, to Wall Street may become a thing of the past.

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont said the chief executives of some large companies have told him that telecommuting could help them save money by cutting office space by as much as 30%, signaling what may be a national shift by businesses. And with employees already stuck at home for weeks, they realize they can run just as well when they work at home. ......(more)

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2020-05-13/connecticut-governor-says-days-of-commuting-to-nyc-may-be-over

May 14, 2020

Show Florida Man some respect......OR ELSE!

Florida man attacks victim who didn’t thank him for holding open door to liquor store, deputies say


LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) – The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is trying to identify a man who was caught on surveillance video attacking another customer at a liquor store in Lakeland, Florida.

The alleged attack happened at the Publix Liquor store around 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

According to deputies, the attack stemmed from the suspect getting upset that the victim didn’t thank him for holding the door open. The victim, who is seen in video released by the sheriff’s office wearing a tan-colored hat, told deputies he walked into the liquor store while the suspect held the door open. ....... (more)

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wane.com/news/florida-man-attacks-victim-who-didnt-thank-him-for-holding-open-door-to-liquor-store-deputies-say/amp/

May 13, 2020

New Normal 2.0 for U.S. Economy Looks Awful, Long, Perilous

(Bloomberg) Get ready for the New Normal 2.0 -- or, more appropriately, 2-point awful.

The U.S. economy post-Covid-19 will look a lot like the one that struggled to recover from the 2008-09 financial crisis –- only in some ways worse.

Growth will be disappointingly tepid after an initial rebound and, for a time at least, inflation dangerously lower and unemployment heartbreakingly higher than they were back then. Government debt -– and the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet -– will be much bigger, while interest rates stay low.

“Our economy will have lost something of value,” said Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz. “We will be scarred, and the recovery will be slow.” .........(more)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-13/new-normal-2-0-for-u-s-economy-looks-awful-long-and-perilous

May 13, 2020

Fears over Donald Trump, Jr's health after 'sweaty and glassy eyed' appearance on Fox

(Raw Story) The president’s eldest so appeared on Fox Business on Tuesday to defend his father against the latest charges of racism.

That is a fairly common situation. But what shocked people on Twitter was how the president’s son looked — and what could’ve been responsible for his state.

Viewers expressed concern — and contempt — for junior’s health after his appearance. ......(more)

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/05/fears-over-donald-trump-jrs-health-after-sweaty-and-glassy-eyed-appearance-on-fox/

May 13, 2020

Airbnb Gets Disrupted. Hosts, "Super-Hosts" Try to Survive. Apts in prime locations suddenly.......

Airbnb Gets Disrupted. Hosts, “Super-Hosts” Try to Survive. Apartments in Prime Locations Suddenly Flood Rental Market

by Nick Corbishley • May 12, 2020 •
Big driver behind soaring rents — the “Airbnb effect” that removed countless properties from global cities’ long-term rental markets — reverses.

By Nick Corbishley, for WOLF STREET:


With many of the world’s most popular tourist destinations locked down, and many flights canceled, making international tourism all but impossible, the world’s biggest disruptor of global tourism, Airbnb, faces a starkly different market reality. As of mid-April, new bookings on the company’s portal had plunged 85% year over year while cancellation rates were around 90%, according to AirDNA, an online rental analytics firm.

Airbnb has warned that its 2020 revenue could come in 50% lower than its 2019 total. This is a company that wasn’t even able to turn a profit when the Good Times were raging.

To try to keep investors on board, management has unleashed a brutal restructuring of the group’s global operations. Last week, it laid off 1,900 workers, around 25% of its global workforce. The San Francisco-based company also rescinded a contract it has with a call center in Barcelona, resulting in the immediate loss of a further 1,000 subcontracted jobs. .......(more)

https://wolfstreet.com/2020/05/12/airbnb-gets-disrupted-hosts-super-hosts-scramble-to-survive-apartments-in-prime-locations-suddenly-flood-long-term-rental-market/