ECONOMY

News Brief: Pandemic Relief, COVID-19 Cases Rise, Portland Protests

5:50am July 20, 2020

Congress struggles with another pandemic relief package. Forty states report coronavirus cases are rising. And, Oregon officials lash out at President Trump for sending federal officers to Portland.

Queue Listen Now

Unemployment Remains High, But Spending Is Improving Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

8:01am July 18, 2020

by Scott Horsley

Consumer spending is rebounding, yet Americans continue to file for unemployment week after week, something Congress has to consider as it moves to shore up the pandemic U.S. economy.

Hundreds of people line up outside a Kentucky Career Center hoping to find assistance with their unemployment claim in Frankfort, Ky., in June.

Economist: U.S. Workers, Economy Will Suffer With End Of Federal Pandemic Benefits

6:27pm July 17, 2020

by Sam Gringlas

The $600 unemployment benefit set to expire this month helped keep families afloat, says Georgetown University's Indivar Dutta-Gupta. Without it, they face serious hardship, and the economy will slow.

Queue Listen Now

Washington, D.C.Pink Sunset, Washington, D.C.

Economy

Your Life Is Worth $10 Million, According To The Government

12:23pm July 17, 2020

by Bronson Arcuri

Federal agencies say a life is worth $10 million. This is the story of how they got that number.

France's President Emmanuel Macron arrives Friday for a European Union meeting in Brussels, where leaders of the 27-member bloc will hold their first face-to-face summit since the pandemic to discuss a COVID-19 economic rescue plan.

EU Leaders Meet In Hopes Of Closing Divisions Over COVID-19 Relief Package

10:37am July 17, 2020

by Scott Neuman

In their first face-to-face meeting since the pandemic began, European Union leaders hope to hammer out a 1.85 trillion euro ($2.1 trillion) EU budget and COVID-19 recovery plan.

Queue Listen Now

Coins have been in short supply around the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic.

Exact Change Please: Walmart, Kroger, CVS Are Feeling The Coin Shortage

7:38pm July 16, 2020

by Alina Selyukh

Stores, supermarkets and gas stations are grappling with low supplies of pocket change. The national shortage is due in part to people going out less to spend money during the pandemic.

Federal Unemployment Benefits To Expire Soon. What's Next?

4:58pm July 16, 2020

NPR's Sarah McCammon speaks with three workers from different parts of the country about the federal CARES Act unemployment benefits expiring at the end of July.

Queue Listen Now

Customers wait in line to enter a Zara store inside the newly reopened Garden State Plaza mall in Paramus, N.J., on June 29.

America Went Shopping For Clothes Again In June

9:34am July 16, 2020

by Alina Selyukh

U.S. stores and restaurants got a boost in June as retail sales jumped 7.5%. Spending on clothes doubled. But this was before a new surge in the coronavirus prompted renewed shutdowns in some states.

Economy

How Racial Inequality Manifests In The U.S. Banking System.

6:19am July 16, 2020

Black-owned financial institutions are a shrinking part of the U.S. financial system. NPR's podcast The Indicator from Planet Money looks at what that means for America's racial disparities.

Queue Listen Now

Raphael Bostic, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, says his organization has a big role to play in reducing racial economic inequities, which he says, is crucial to a stable economy.

Economy

Racism Has An Economic Cost, Atlanta Fed President Warns

9:15pm July 15, 2020

by Emma Bowman

Raphael Bostic, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta says his organization is committed to reducing racial economic inequities, which he says, is crucial to a stable economy.

Queue Listen Now