Economy
WASHINGTON - Amid ongoing COVID-19 economic aid negotiations and the approaching election, the Senate shot down on Tuesday a standalone measure authorizing a second round of forgivable loans to small businesses. Republicans were unified in their attempt to push forward the bill while nearly... Read More
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday told fellow Republicans that he has warned the White House not to divide Republicans by sealing a lopsided pre-election COVID-19 relief deal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — even as... Read More
A new survey released from Alignable, the country’s largest online referral network for small businesses, shows 45% of consumers shifted from shopping at local businesses to purchasing goods from national, online retailers when they were most concerned about COVID. The... Read More
WASHINGTON -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to decide by Tuesday evening whether a bipartisan deal on COVID-19 relief can pass before the Nov. 3 elections, her spokesman said Monday. The announcement, made in a tweet, came after a nearly hourlong phone call between the Democratic... Read More
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump reignited his feud with the nation's top infectious disease expert Monday as U.S. deaths from COVID-19 topped 220,000 and coronavirus hospitalizations rose across the country, raising fears of a deadly third wave of infections as winter approaches. In a call... Read More
WASHINGTON -- In the homestretch of the presidential campaign, with the U.S. coronavirus caseload trending ominously upward, the rival campaigns of President Donald Trump and Joe Biden more than ever are providing a clash of contrasts on how to contain COVID-19 and tend to the virus-battered economy.... Read More
Some parts of the U.S. economy are coming back strongly while others are still struggling because of the coronavirus pandemic, said Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic. "In some segments the economy is recovering and rebounding in a very robust way," Bostic said... Read More
SINGAPORE - The crown prince of Thailand's third marriage unraveled in lurid headlines: The princess was stripped of her titles, her parents and brothers jailed over vague corruption allegations, her uncle purged from his senior police post. Then the heir to the throne... Read More
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump continues to move away from his own political party on COVID-19 aid, saying Thursday that he's authorized his top negotiator to offer Democrats more than $1.8 trillion. "Absolutely I would. I would pay more," Trump said in an interview with Fox... Read More
Applications for U.S. state unemployment benefits unexpectedly jumped last week to the highest since August and Americans increasingly moved to longer-term jobless aid. Both are troubling signs for a labor market whose recovery from the pandemic was already slowing. Initial jobless claims... Read More
WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin expressed doubts Wednesday about a COVID-19 aid package becoming law before the Nov. 3 elections. After a morning phone call with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Mnuchin said the myriad disputes over funding and policy questions... Read More
WASHINGTON — The Senate will vote next week on a roughly $500 billion COVID-19 relief package that mirrors an earlier Republican proposal, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Tuesday. The decision to push another “skinny” relief bill marked a new attempt... Read More
MEXICO CITY — The Mexican economy is cratering, homicides are rising at a record rate, and the COVID-19 death toll has surged past 80,000. For any other leader, the torrent of bad news might herald a political reckoning. Not for... Read More
A fiscal stimulus deal isn’t essential to the U.S. recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, though the Trump administration and Congressional Democrats will keep talking, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said. “Well no, I don’t think it’s dead at all,”... Read More
DENVER — The pandemic hit Colorado’s ski towns first. As spring breakers headed to the slopes, they brought the coronavirus with them. Democratic Gov. Jared Polis shut down the state’s ski resorts in March, triggering a wave of furloughs and... Read More
WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi quashed talk of a separate bill to mitigate airline industry layoffs without also aiding other industries and households and funding for schools, nationwide COVID-19 testing and more. “There is no stand-alone bill without a bigger... Read More
WASHINGTON — Anger on Capitol Hill boiled over Tuesday after President Donald Trump called an abrupt end to negotiations with House Democrats over additional coronavirus relief, delaying action until after the election. Trump announced he was walking away from the... Read More
The attorneys general from 18 states are pushing back against the Small Business Administration for what they describe as an overly zealous crackdown on fraud in the coronavirus relief loans. They are bothered by the SBA's proposed appeal process for... Read More
Sixty-one percent of Americans are worried that the U.S. could be on the verge of another Civil War, while 52% say they've already started stockpiling food and other essential in anticipation of social unrest, according to a new national poll.... Read More
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released guidelines for fall holiday celebrations. As part of the recommendations, the CDC ranked traditional celebratory activities for Halloween and other fall holidays to help Americans celebrate the autumn season safely amid... Read More
WASHINGTON -- A Small Business Administration inspector general defended his agency Thursday during questioning from members of Congress about reports of widespread fraud in government loans to employers. The loans are supposed to help small businesses stay afloat during the... Read More
WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin offered a $1.62 trillion COVID-19 relief proposal in talks with Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday, offering more state and local assistance than GOP negotiators have to-date in a sign of potential progress toward a... Read More
WASHINGTON – The Democratic Blue Dog Coalition announced its support for an emergency funding bill to help municipalities withstand the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The legislation, introduced in the House by Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., provides $500 billion... Read More
WASHINGTON — House Democrats unveiled a $2.2 trillion pandemic relief package Monday night as part of a last-ditch attempt to secure new aid before the Nov. 3 elections. Even as talks resumed between Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven... Read More
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer jointly released a statement urging Congress to open an oversight investigation concerning “the Trump administration’s politicization of government functions,” that undermined the nation’s pandemic response. In their statement, the governors... Read More
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there’s a chance she and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin can still reach a deal on a coronavirus stimulus package, and that Democrats will unveil a new “proffer” shortly. “I trust Secretary Mnuchin to represent something that... Read More
BEIJING — The herder couldn’t speak for long. His phone was being monitored, he said, as are those of many other Mongols around him. “We have no way out. There’s nothing we can do,” said Gangbater, a herder in Xilingol... Read More
Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits were little changed last week, contrasting with estimates for a decline and highlighting an economic recovery that’s coming in fits and starts. Initial jobless claims in regular state programs increased by 4,000 to 870,000 in... Read More
WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi has directed House committee leaders to put together a more slender coronavirus relief package than the one that previously passed the chamber, in their latest offer in talks with the White House. The House could... Read More
WASHINGTON -- Economists warned Congress Tuesday of long-term damage to the U.S. economy if the coronavirus pandemic is not brought under control soon. They cautioned during two separate congressional hearings that the slow improvement to the economy since the pandemic... Read More
