February, 2022

• 8 February

  ‘Bleisure’ trips boom as travelers mix work and play

  

    Bloomberg It’s an age-old question: “Business or pleasure?” For airline passengers these days, the answer increasingly is both. The growth in so-called “bleisure” trips blending personal getaways with remote work has helped fill seats on planes during the coronavirus pandemic and marks a shift in travel patterns for an industry used to clear divisions between briefcase-toting road warriors and ...

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• 7 February

  Retail’s challenge lies in ‘number of returns’

    Bloomberg US retailers are bracing for more returns than usual, adding stress to an industry already grappling with increasing labor costs and supply-chain issues. Shoppers are expected to return more than $761 billion in merchandise sold last year, representing about 16.6% of total US retail sales, according to a survey of retailers. That’s up from 10.6% during 2020. Fraudulent ...

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• 7 February

  Boris Johnson seeks reset over ‘partygate’ with time running out

  

    Bloomberg Boris Johnson promised his Conservative Party an overhaul of his top team as he strives to keep his job after a series of gaffes and scandals. Two rapid appointments over the weekend may already be too late. Reeling from the resignation of five aides in 24 hours last week, the UK prime minister moved quickly to fill key ...

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• 7 February

  US ‘acquiesced’ to China in Asia seas, Australia minister says

    Bloomberg The US and its allies need to push back harder against China after they “acquiesced and allowed” Beijing to expand its footprint in the South China Sea over the past decade, Australia’s Defense Minister Peter Dutton said. “If we continue on that trajectory, then I think we’ll lose the next decade,” Dutton said in an interview with the ...

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• 7 February

  Joe Manchin predicts passage for US electoral reform act

    Bloomberg Senator Joe Manchin predicted passage for a bill to address US election procedures including Congress’s role in certifying an election. “I think absolutely it’ll pass,” Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, said during a joint appearance with Senator Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “Will it be a step ahead? Will it be important ...

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• 7 February

  Ottawa declares emergency after protests spin ‘out of control’

  

    Bloomberg Canada’s capital city declared a state of emergency as police struggled to rein in protests against vaccine mandates and Covid-19 restrictions. Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, who declared the emergency, said that increasingly rowdy demonstrations posed a “serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents.” Hundreds of trucks continue to occupy the downtown area near Canada’s ...

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• 7 February

  S Africa’s Ramaphosa may restrict foreigners from some jobs: Report

    Bloomberg South African President Cyril Ramaphosa may impose limits on the types of jobs that foreigners can apply for, Business Day reported, without saying where it got the information. The South African cabinet is considering the proposal that was discussed at recent talks between the ruling African National Congress and its alliance partners, the South African Communist Party and ...

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• 7 February

  Canada lost 200,000 jobs in January as Omicron hit hard

  

    Bloomberg Canada’s labour market suffered a larger-than-expected setback last month after the nation was hit with fresh lockdowns meant to contain the Omicron variant of Covid-19. The country shed 200,100 jobs in January, Statistics Canada reported from Ottawa, ending a seven-month streak of gains. Economists in a Bloomberg survey were expecting a drop of 110,000. The unemployment rate rise ...

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• 7 February

  UK house prices rise at slowest pace since June, says Halifax

  

    Bloomberg UK house prices rise at the slowest pace in more than six months in January after a bumper end to 2021 left the average value of a home at a record high. Prices rise just 0.3% following four months of gains above 1%, mortgage lender Halifax said on Monday. In a sign of a more normal market, the ...

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• 7 February

  US soybeans in high demand as Brazil’s crop falls short

  

    Bloomberg Soybean buyers stung by a smaller and slower harvest than expected in Brazil are turning to the US for supply, driving up prices and threatening to worsen food inflation. What was expected to be a record crop in Brazil is now looking far smaller, with lower yields and harvest delays due to adverse weather catching traders and end-users ...

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