Long COVID Is Taking Big Toll on
U.S. Workforce
Millions of Americans -- mostly younger adults -could be unable to work due to the lingering symptoms of Long COVID, a new study says. About 14% of working-age people with Long COVID symptoms hadn’t returned to their jobs within three months of their initial infection, researchers found.
“When we compare the rates observed in this study to the national population, it could mean as many as 2 million people may be out of work because of post-COVID conditions,” said lead researcher Dr. Arjun Venkatesh, chair of emergency medicine at the Yale School of Medicine, in New Haven, Conn.
These findings, published recently in the journal PLOS ONE, suggest that people with Long COVID might need the same sort of economic relief and support that was provided to people during the pandemic, Venkatesh argued.
“Given the millions of people who have had COVID19 in the United States and the millions of people that report prolonged symptoms, this is not a small problem,” said Venkatesh. “So, it does require big interventions.”
Source:
big-toll-on-u-s-workforce
FDA Could OK Fall COVID Shots as Early as This Week
Updated shots you could use this fall to shield against COVID-19 infection may receive approval this week.
Two sources familiar with the issue told CNN that updated mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer that target a variant of the virus called KP.2 could be greenlit as early as this week. The news agency said the sources declined to be named because information around the timing of approval hasn't yet been made public.
It's not clear whether approval for Novavax' nonmRNA shot, targeted to the JN.1 strain, would be approved simultaneously.
The news comes as Americans are suffering through a summer surge of COVID cases -the highest seen since the summer of 2022, based on wastewater levels of virus tracked by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to CDC data, the prevalent COVID variant is now KP.3.1.1, thought to make up 37% of cases over the past two weeks.
Source:
https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2024-08-20/fda-could-ok-fall-covidshots-as-early-as-this-week
Photo: Los Angeles Times
Photo: American Journal
Jackson Hole Awaits Fed’s Rate Cut Signal as Revisions Show Fewer New Jobs Created
The Federal Reserve gathers Thursday and Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for its annual summer research symposium with markets waiting for Chairman Jerome Powell’s closing speech, where he is expected to provide details on the central bank’s plan to lower interest rates.
A cut of 25 basis points or potentially more is widely predicted when the Fed next meets in mid-September. And while Powell is unlikely to provide specifics, it is expected that he will say the risks from inflation have receded and that the labor market is closer to normal. The two should provide the central bank with the confidence to bring interest rates down from the highest levels in two decades.
Two final pieces of the puzzle – minutes of the Fed’s July meeting, where interest rates were left unchanged, and the latest revisions to jobs numbers from March 2023 to March 2024 – fell into place on Wednesday. The minutes released Wednesday say “the vast majority observed that, if the data continued to come in about as expected, it would likely be appropriate to ease policy at the next meeting.” Source:
Wall St ends lower as tech shares weigh, Jackson Hole in focus
All three major U.S. stock indexes lost ground on Thursday, weighed by technology shares, as Treasury yields rose on easing recession fears and global central bank officials convened at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium.
The so-called Magnificent Seven megacap growth stocks weighed heaviest on the tech-laden Nasdaq.
"There doesn't appear to be any kind of clear catalyst as to what's driving this sell-off," Scott Ladner, chief investment officer at Horizon Investments in Charlotte, North Carolina. "People may be trying to square positions a little bit ahead of Nvidia (earnings) next week, or risk-out ahead of (U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome) Powell's Jackson Hole speech tomorrow."
Central bank officials from around the world have gathered in Jackson Hole for the annual Economic Symposium. Investors will be laser focused on Powell's address on Friday for clues on the timing and extent of the Fed's policy easing cycle.
Source:
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/futures-edge-higher-prospect-sept-rate-cutgrows-2024-08-22/
Photo: US News
Photo: Investing.com
Stocks gain after Fed’s Powell hints rate cuts are coming
Stocks rose Friday morning as Wall Street cheered a signal from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that long-awaited interest rate cuts are finally coming. The Dow rose 386 points, or 1%. The S&P 500 gained 1.2% and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.7%. All three major indexes are on pace to end the week higher.
Powell said that “the time has come” to ease rates, currently perched at a 23-year high, at a key economic summit in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He also noted that the labor market has cooled enough not to pressure inflation higher and that the central bank does not want to see more weakening in job market conditions. Minutes from the Fed’s July meeting, released on Wednesday, show that the “vast majority” of the Federal Open Market Committee would want to lower rates in September if inflation continues to slow down. Some officials noted the importance of communicating that the Fed is data dependent and has no preset path.
Some officials also fretted that the softening labor market could weaken considerably if policy stays restrictive for too long. Recent data has shown that US job growth was weaker than previously estimated in the 12 months leading up to March. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ preliminary 2024 review of employment data indicated there were 818,000 fewer jobs during that period.
Source:
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/23/investing/stocks-powell-jackson-hole/index.html
Photo: CNN News