Weekly Indicators for January 3 – 7 at Seeking Alpha
by New Deal democrat
Weekly Indicators for January 3 – 7 at Seeking Alpha
My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha.
Surprisingly, Omicron has not had any wide impact on the coincident data – at least not yet.
On the other hand, the long leading forecast has become weaker, as interest rates have moved in the wrong direction.
As usual, clicking over and reading will bring you up to the virtual moment on where the economy is and where it is going, and will reward me a little bit for organizing that information for you.
Omicron whips through the workforce, pushing overstretched staffs to the brink
Boston Globe – Jan 8
As Omicron whips through the workforce, caregiving agencies are turning away new patients. Restaurants are shutting down. Construction jobs are being delayed. Retailers, including Macy’s, are limiting hours.
And some small business owners are at the breaking point.
The colossally contagious COVID-19 variant emerged at the worst possible time for employers, as workers — many of them vaccinated and eager to socialize — were gathering with family members over the holidays. Infections flattened entire families at once in some cases. And for organizations that don’t have the luxury of allowing people to work remotely, the surge in positive cases is exacerbating a long-simmering staffing crisis that has grown even more urgent in recent months as record numbers of people quit their jobs. …