services
Washington (AFP) - The dominant US services sector contracted for the first time in more than two years in December, survey data showed on Friday, as business activity slumped. The Institute for Supply Management's services index dipped below a key 50-percent threshold, indicating a contraction and surprising economists. The sector accounts for two-thirds of the world's largest economy and has held up in spite of a forceful campaign by the Federal Reserve to cool demand and rein in surging inflation -- but the higher interest rates now appear to be biting. The ISM services index "ended a 30-mo...
AFP
New York (AFP) - Republican-led US states such as Texas and West Virginia are piling pressure on firms including giant asset manager BlackRock for supposedly boycotting oil and gas companies as part of "responsible" investment strategies. But the companies say the fossil fuel boycott claims are false and rules barring states from dealing with major financial firms could potentially backfire on taxpayers. Basing investments partly on a company's environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices is a sign of an unacceptable "ideological agenda," says Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is seen...
AFP
New York (AFP) - Marking the end of an era, New York City on Monday removed the last of its storied payphone booths, which have fallen victim to the ubiquity of free Wi-fi and cell phones in recent years. But Superman fans can take comfort in the fact that Manhattan will keep four of the defunct booths, made famous as the impromptu changing rooms for journalist Clark Kent as he transformed into the Man of Steel. Over the decades, the phone booths have featured widely in pop culture, from comic books to Hollywood blockbusters and TV shows. That ended Monday morning, when, in front of assemble...
AFP
New York (AFP) - The Starbucks employees who led a landmark fight to form a union are overwhelmingly in their 20s and show a zeal to improve working conditions at the coffee chain. They won their bid to create the first union in one of the Starbucks' company-owned US cafes, despite heavy pressure from management to defeat the effort. "This generation, this Gen Z, has the highest favorability of unions in my lifetime," said Richard Bensinger, a seasoned trade union organizer who helped the young baristas in their fight. "They are people that have no hope of owning a home. They have two jobs. T...
AFP
New York (AFP) - Harvard University's endowment shot up 27 percent in a year, according to its annual financial report published Thursday, making it more than ever the world's richest university. Such endowments, very common in US higher education, are funded largely by private donations. Most of these are subject to restrictions on what the money can be used for, such as specific projects or areas of study. Only 5 to 5.5 percent of the endowment at Harvard is used to fund the actual running of the university. That was $2 billion dollars in the 2020-21 school year. Already the largest in the w...
AFP
New York (AFP) - T-Mobile said Wednesday that hackers may have obtained sensitive personal information on more than 40 million current and past customers of the US wireless carrier. The stolen data included social security and driver's license numbers, which could be used for identity theft, T-Mobile acknowledged while indicating that no passwords or financial information was accessed. "Our preliminary analysis is that approximately 7.8 million current T-Mobile postpaid customer accounts' information appears to be contained in the stolen files, as well as just over 40 million records of former...
AFP
Washington (AFP) - The US service sector last month continued its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to an industry survey released Wednesday, but the pace slowed slightly as companies faced supply chain complications. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its service sector index dipped to 62.7 percent in April, below expectations and one percentage point lower than March. But the index remained well above the 50-percent level indicating expansion. The survey was good news for the sector, which was the hardest-hit by business restrictions that began in March 2020 to stop ...
AFP
New York (AFP) - Activity in the US services sector hit an all-time high in March, but the sudden surge in business stretched supply chains and lifted prices, a report said Monday. The Institute for Supply Management's purchasing managers index hit 63.7, up from 55.3 the prior month, according to a statement. That reading tops the prior record in October 2018. Both the business activity and new orders benchmarks hit records in March, while employment activity rose for the third straight month. The report comes on the heels of last week's blowout US jobs report for March, as well as an ISM surv...
AFP
Washington (AFP) - The struggling US service sector saw its recovery from the pandemic-induced business shutdowns accelerate in January, according to a survey released on Wednesday. The Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) services index rose to 58.7 percent, more than expected and its highest level since February 2019, reaching eight straight months of growth after contracting when the pandemic began last year. "Respondents' comments are more optimistic about business conditions and the economy," the survey's chair Anthony Nieves said, but "various local- and state-level Covid-19 restricti...
AFP
Los Angeles (AFP) - A corpse in the break room. Embalmed bodies in the garage. Boyd Funeral Home, a small family business in Los Angeles, is so overflowing with Covid-19 victims it has begun turning away customers for the first time in its history. "The weekend before I turned down 16 families that I couldn't do services for," said owner Candy Boyd. "It's sad. But that's pretty much how it is now." In the past two weeks, as coronavirus has slammed Los Angeles, some 80 percent of the deceased passing through her doors died from Covid. One-in-10 residents of the nation's second largest city ha...
AFP
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