About 7 years ago

04/19/2017 - Midnight Reads – Confidence Is High but Economic Gains Are Elusive

Confidence Is High but Economic Gains Are Elusive

– The Wall Street Journal 

Households, businesses and investors started the year riding a wave of rising expectations for growth with a new, business-friendly president in the White House, but the euphoria hasn’t translated quickly into broad economic gains. Bank loan growth has slowed, economists have marked down projections for output growth, the stock market has lost some momentum and consumer spending is taking an anemic turn.

 

The Retail Apocalypse Is Creating A ‘Slow-Rolling Crisis’ That Is Rippling Through the US Economy

– Business Insider 

Retailers are closing thousands of stores and going bankrupt at a rate not seen since the recession, and tens of thousands of people are losing their jobs as a result. The retail industry employs about one out of every 10 American workers and like coal miners, retail workers don’t typically have a set of skills that’s easily transferable to another industry. Business Insider looks at the secondary effects of these job losses.

 

Can Rhode Island’s Paid Family Leave Be a National Model?

– PBS

In 1993, former President Bill Clinton signed into law the Family and Medical Leave Act, granting unpaid family leave to millions in the U.S. Decades later, the country has yet to implement a paid family leave policy — but some states have created their own policies. The NewsHour went to one of those states, Rhode Island, to see how it works.

 

So Much for Bad Press: United Is Worth More Than It Was Before the Infamous Video

– The Washington Post

United Continental’s financial health showed strength on Monday even as the giant airline’s brand suffered from a week-long battering following the release of a now-infamous video showing a passenger being dragged off a full flight in Chicago. Even as customers called for a boycott of United, experts said the airline probably would recover from any damage to its reputation. With Monday’s climb, the shares are above where they were during the heart of the fallout from the ugly video.