Business Highlights: Holiday Staffing Woes, Growth Downgrade
Business Highlights: Holiday Staffing Woes, Growth Downgrade
Companies that typically hire thousands of seasonal workers are heading into the holidays during one of the tightest job markets in decades, making it unlikely theyll find all the workers they need. For shoppers, it might mean a less than jolly holiday shopping experience, with bare store shelves and online orders that take longer than usual to fill. Employers are so desperate to find holiday workers theyre raising pay above $15 an hour, offering fourfigure signon bonuses and promising to pay their schooling. If they cant find the workers they need, employers will likely rely on existing staff to work more overtime, which can become costly for businesses and lead to burnout for workers.

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Companies scraping for staff ahead of the holidays

NEW YORK: Companies that typically hire thousands of seasonal workers are heading into the holidays during one of the tightest job markets in decades, making it unlikely theyll find all the workers they need. For shoppers, it might mean a less than jolly holiday shopping experience, with bare store shelves and online orders that take longer than usual to fill. Employers are so desperate to find holiday workers theyre raising pay above $15 an hour, offering four-figure sign-on bonuses and promising to pay their schooling. If they cant find the workers they need, employers will likely rely on existing staff to work more overtime, which can become costly for businesses and lead to burnout for workers.

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IMF foresees a slight drop in global growth from pandemic

WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund is slightly downgrading its outlook for the global recovery from the pandemic recession, reflecting the persistence of supply chain disruptions in industrialized countries and deadly disparities in vaccination rates between rich and poor nations. In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF foresees global growth this year of 5.9%, compared with its projection in July of 6%. For the United Sates, the IMF predicts growth of 6% for 2021, below its July forecast of 7%. The downward revision reflects a slowdown in economic activity resulting from a rise in COVID-19 cases and delayed production caused by supply shortages and a resulting acceleration of inflation.

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IMF board confident about leader despite data-rigging claims

WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund has expressed full confidence in its managing director. The statement came in response to allegations that while Kristalina Georgieva was a World Bank official, she and others pressured staffers to change business rankings in an effort to placate China. The IMFs 24-member executive board says its review did not conclusively demonstrate that Georgieva played an improper role. But it says a probe into possible misconduct by World Bank staff is continuing. Georgieva has denied any wrongdoing in response to an investigative report by the WilmerHale law firm.

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Americans quit their jobs at a record pace in August

WASHINGTON: One reason Americas employers are having trouble filling jobs was starkly illustrated in a report Tuesday: Americans are quitting in droves. The Labor Department said that quits jumped to 4.3 million in August, the highest on records dating back to December 2000, and up from 4 million in July. Hiring also slowed in August. The report showed the number of jobs available fell to 10.4 million, from a record high of 11.1 million the previous month. The data strongly suggests that the delta variant wreaked havoc on the job market in August. As COVID-19 cases surged, quits jumped in restaurants and hotels and rose in other public-facing jobs, such as retail and education.

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House returns to stave off default with debt limit vote

WASHINGTON: Members of the House are scrambling to Washington to pass a short-term lift of the nations debt limit. The vote Tuesday evening will ensure the federal government can continue fully paying its bills into December. House Democrats expect to have enough votes on their own to ensure that President Joe Biden can sign the bill into law this week. A default would have had immense fallout on global financial markets, and routine government payments to Social Security beneficiaries, disabled veterans and others would have been called into question. But the relief provided by the bills passage will only be temporary, forcing Congress to revisit the issue in December.

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Stocks edge lower ahead of company earnings, inflation data

NEW YORK: Stocks ended an up-and-down day mostly lower on Wall Street as traders wait for more data on inflation and corporate earnings this week. The S&P 500 fell 0.2% Tuesday and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%. The Nasdaq slipped 0.1%, but small-company stocks ended higher. A mix of retailers and other companies that rely on direct consumer spending gained ground, but those gains were offset by falling technology and communications stocks. U.S. crude oil prices held steady at just above $80 a barrel. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.57%.

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Hasbro CEO, Chairman Brian Goldner dies at 58

NEW YORK: Toy and entertainment company Hasbro has announced that its CEO and chairman Brian D. Goldner has died. He was 58. The announcement Tuesday comes two days after the Pawtucket, Rhode Island, company said Goldner was taking a medical leave of absence from his CEO role, effective immediately. It was also announce at that time that Rich Stoddart, most recently the lead independent director of Hasbros board, has been appointed as interim CEO. The company did not give a cause of death, but Goldner disclosed in August 2020 that he had been undergoing treatment for cancer since 2014. Goldner served as the CEO of Hasbro Inc. since 2008, and served as the chairman since May 2015.

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Slain reporters father takes on Facebook over violent video

WASHINGTON: The family of a slain journalist is asking the Federal Trade Commission to take action against Facebook for failing to remove online footage of her shooting death. Andy Parker says the company is violating its own terms of service in hosting videos on Facebook and its sibling service Instagram that glorify violence. His daughter, TV news reporter Alison Parker, and cameraman Adam Ward, were killed by a former co-worker while reporting for Roanoke, Virginias WDBJ-TV in August 2015. A complaint filed Tuesday with the FTC says Facebook is engaging in deceptive trade practices by violating its own terms of service and misrepresenting the safety of the platform.

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The S&P 500 slipped 10.54 points, or 0.2%, to 4,350.65. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 117.72 points, or 0.3%, to 34,378.34. The Nasdaq fell 20.28 points, or 0.1%, to 14,465.92. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 13.63 points, or 0.6%, to 2,234.27.

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