Economy

WASHINGTON - In an overwhelmingly bipartisan fashion, the House on Thursday passed legislation providing struggling small businesses with greater flexibility in using coronavirus relief loans. The bill, which amends the Paycheck Protection Program enacted in March, passed by a vote... Read More

WASHINGTON - Medical and social welfare witnesses told a congressional committee Wednesday that ethnic minorities need an increased effort to protect them from the devastation of coronavirus. They are dying or losing their jobs in some locations at almost twice... Read More

WASHINGTON - The economy is in crisis, but not everyone is feeling it the same way. One of the hardest-hit sectors is America’s small businesses. Over 99% of the nation’s 28.7 million firms are small and medium-sized businesses which contribute... Read More

WASHINGTON - District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser said Wednesday the city will lift its stay-at-home order on Friday and begin phase one of its reopening process. The details of Bowser's announcement are available here. The mayor said though new... Read More

As Donald Trump presses states to reopen, government workers and their unions say they’re increasingly concerned that their bosses will force them back to the office without sufficient protection. Agencies’ approaches to returning to offices have been uneven, they say.... Read More

WASHINGTON - Both the New Democrat Coalition and the Problem Solvers Caucus endorsed legislation on Tuesday intended to make the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program work better for more businesses across the country. Since its creation in the very first... Read More

Dr. Deborah Birx says it’s too early to tell whether we’ll have a second coronavirus shutdown. The White House coronavirus task force expert said Sunday that the nation will have to wait and see what the conditions are like when... Read More

BISHOP, Calif. — This is a time of year that many rural towns in the Owens Valley usually celebrate — rodeo and fishing season. Normally, tourists from Southern California would be swarming into the eastern Sierra Nevada range, streaming into... Read More

WASHINGTON - A bipartisan bill introduced in both the House and Senate this week would create a flexible, $4,000 skills training credit for workers who have lost their job due to the coronavirus outbreak. The Skills Renewal Act affords these... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Senate has left town for its annual Memorial Day recess with no agreement in sight on a fourth coronavirus economic relief bill and a schedule that suggests a new stimulus won't be done until July. Last week,... Read More

WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Congress will very likely need to pass more stimulus legislation for the U.S. economy, as the nation struggles to recover from the coronavirus outbreak. “I think there is a strong likelihood we will... Read More

WASHINGTON - The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits in the nine weeks since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic reached 38.6 million last week, just as states across the nation began to take decisive steps to reopen their... Read More