July 27, 2020 | Free Auto Insurance Quotes 2022

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Wrong Way

Filings for weekly unemployment benefits rose for the first time in nearly four months, a sign the jobs recovery could be faltering. Initial unemployment claims rose by a seasonally adjusted 109,000 to 1.4 million for the week ended July 18, halting what had been a steady descent from a peak of 6.9 million in late March. The data also show that the number of people receiving benefits has shrunk in recent weeks. Taken together, claims and benefits totals suggest new layoffs are being offset by hiring and employers recalling workers, though at a slower pace than a few weeks ago, Eric Morath reports.

Last week’s increase in applications came after several states imposed new restrictions on businesses such as bars and restaurants when coronavirus cases rose.

WHAT TO WATCH TODAY

IHS Markit’s U.S. manufacturing index for the opening weeks of July is expected to rise to 52.0 from 49.8 at the end of June. Services are expected to rise to 51.0 from 47.9. (9:45 a.m. ET)

U.S. new-home sales for June are expected to rise to an annual pace of 702,000 from 676,000 a month earlier. (10 a.m. ET)

The Baker Hughes rig count is out at 1 p.m. ET.

TOP STORIES

Ugly, Bad and Good

Jobless claims aren’t the only data suggesting trouble for the labor-market recovery. U.S. employers added 4.8 million jobs in June, helping recoup some of the massive losses from earlier in the year. But the Census Bureau’s weekly household pulse surveys, which tracked the big rise that month, now indicate that a resurgent pandemic has reclaimed most of those gains. Of course, other indicators point to continued job gains, the weekly survey is a new product and it isn’t meant to stand in for the official monthly report. Even so, the dropoff is a worrisome sign for a struggling labor market.

Time is running short for millions of unemployed Americans. Senate Republicans scrapped their plans to release a proposal for the next coronavirus relief bill after continued differences with the White House on unemployment insurance and direct cash payments. With the delay, Republicans won’t roll out their roughly $1 trillion legislation until next week, further compressing an already tight timeline to reach an agreement with Democrats and pass a fifth coronavirus relief bill. A $600 weekly supplement to state unemployment benefits is set to expire July 31, though it will effectively end in many states this weekend, Andrew Restuccia and Andrew Duehren report.

Once Congress does approve an economic relief package, a second round of stimulus payments could reach many Americans faster than last time. The Internal Revenue Service now has procedures, online tools, bank-account information and coordination with other agencies that it didn’t have set up in advance when the first round of payments was approved in the spring, Richard Rubin reports.

Another bit of good news: Some of the businesses hit hardest by the pandemic are driving the jobs recovery. Health-care providers and restaurants—which closed during lockdowns—have recalled millions of laid off workers. Job growth has also been boosted by increased demand in a handful of industries, including logistics firms, financial services and retailers such as furniture stores, Eric Morath and Kim Mackrael report.

Corporate America Doesn’t Expect This to Be Over Soon

Hershey said subdued Halloween celebrations this year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic could hurt candy demand during a holiday that typically generates a tenth of its sales. The owner of Reese’s and Jolly Rancher said it is planning to make less Halloween-themed candy to avoid having loads of leftovers that it would have to pull back or try to sell at a discount, Annie Gasparro reports.

AMC Entertainment is pushing back the reopening of its U.S. theaters to mid-to-late August, after a number of summer blockbusters delayed their release dates. The nation’s largest theater chain previously said it would reopen at the end of July. U.S. theaters closed and Hollywood studios halted the release of major motion pictures in March as the pandemic took hold, and they remain in a holding pattern as several states are experiencing a resurgence in Covid-19 cases, Dave Sebastian reports.

Walt Disney canceled the planned August release of “Mulan” and said it would also delay the release of future installments in the “Avatar” and “Star Wars” series by a year, R.T. Watson and Erich Schwartzel report.

American Airlines and Southwest Airlines said they were tempering expectations for an air-travel recovery, as mounting coronavirus cases have driven down bookings by as much as 80% in some parts of the U.S. Southwest said cancellations are picking up and demand looks weaker heading into fall. Executives at American said bookings have started to slide and business travel, which usually picks up after Labor Day, shows no signs of resuming, Alison Sider and Doug Cameron report.

“In short, the crisis continues,” American Chief Executive Doug Parker said.

Europe’s Comeback

Encouraging news from Europe: Purchasing managers indexes for the U.K. and eurozone returned to growth this month, with output advancing at the fastest rate in years. The data suggest some economic rebound in the third quarter after a disastrous spring. “The concern is that the recovery could falter after this initial revival. Firms continue to reduce headcounts to a worrying degree, with many worried that underlying demand is insufficient to sustain the recent improvement in output,” IHS Markit economist Chris Williamson said. Manufacturing and service-sector activity are still contracting in Japan, though not as severely as prior months. U.S. data are out at 9:45 a.m. ET.

There’s Gold in Them Thar Hills

The price of gold neared an all-time high that has stood for almost nine years on Thursday, punctuating a furious rally driven by anxious investors seeking refuge from the coronavirus-induced economic slowdown. Prices have risen nearly 25% this year, extending an advance that began early in 2019. The coronavirus has sparked a global gold rush, with physical traders in London and New York trying to get their hands on more metal and individuals around the world ordering bars and coins, Amrith Ramkumar reports.

TWEET OF THE DAY

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Real Time Economics has launched a downloadable calendar with concise previews forecasts and analysis of major U.S. data releases. To add to your calendar please click here.

Original Source: blogs.wsj.com

Will I get allergies when visiting India?

hospital-in-india Today I want to introduce to you Andrea (pictured). Andrea has kindly shared her experience of getting allergies in India and what it was like to go to an emergency room at a hospital in Hyderabad on her recent business trip.

Below is Andrea’s firsthand account in her own words:

I’m a fairly seasoned international traveler; so when I headed to India for 9 weeks armed with travel tips generously provided by Asher, I felt confident I was prepared. You know when you think that, you’re in for something special!

Read on to learn from my experience as you contemplate or travel to the wonderful country of India.

Three weeks into the trip and I’d had no issues. On a Tuesday, around midnight, I woke up to feel my hands, forearms, and legs burning with an internal heat that just kept growing. What causes internal heat? I was horrified by the mirror’s reflection – big red welts appearing, spreading and getting bigger as I looked. I assumed this was some type of reaction, but it wasn’t responding to Claritin and getting worse. It was time for outside intervention.

allergies-in-india-on-leg-and-forearm

Getting to the ER of Maxcure Hospital was a perfect reflection of how you need to navigate India. As a starting point, read the address: Behind Cyber Towers, Lane Next To McDonalds, Hitech City, Madhapur, Hyderabad, Telangana 500081, India

But this story isn’t about how to navigate the roads of India.

Back to the ER:

A very professional environment greeted me. It was clean, well lit, had A/C (bonus!) and a very professional staff. Very quickly, the diagnosis was made – allergic reaction with potential anaphylaxis. I was sure this wasn’t correct since I’d never had an allergic reaction in my life.

iv-inserted-in-hand-at-indian-hospital Because of the severity, I received IV injections (not pills) of corticosteroids (to bring down systemic inflammation) and anti-histamines (to combat the histamines causing the allergic reaction). This would fix the symptoms, but not the cause. For anyone who’s had an IV inserted, I was very impressed with the nurse’s skill causing me the least amount of discomfort while still pushing a very long needle into my hand.

With IV inserted, first steroid injection goes in, followed by 2nd antihistamine injection. Sure enough within 30 minutes, all symptoms had cleared and I looked perfectly normal again; sure, slightly dopey from the drugs, but no welts!

With no cause determined, the ER strongly advised admittance to the hospital for continued observation, which I promptly declined, feeling certain this was an adventure I was finished with. I came, I saw, I conquered and was happy with the care I received. So they discharged me.

The following night (Wed), at midnight, the welts came to visit AGAIN! Now, no one said anything about this. Repeat visit to the ER, repeat injections of steroids and anti-histamine. This time, the staff insisted on admittance to the hospital. I was whisked into a pink gown, assigned a room, and rolled into the hospital at 1:30am on Thursday in a wheelchair at the insistence of the staff.

Although I had a shared room (3750 rs/night), I was the only occupant, leaving us some privacy and room for my husband to sleep on the “bed” next to me. The staff was kind enough to bring a pillow and blanket for him!

man-sleeping-on-hospital-bed-in-india

The entire experience of being in an Indian hospital alternated from ridiculous to hilarious to impressive. Every hour, on the hour, the lights came on and 3 cleaners entered to sweep, wash, and clean the room. “Cleaning” in India means: throw a bucket of water on the floor and slosh it about in your bare feet. Then leave. For the patient this means: the floor is wet, the toilet is wet, and the toilet paper is wet (we did learn to put it away). EVERY HOUR. Trying to ask them not to clean was completely fruitless; they were going to do their job.

4am saw another worker come to change my bedding. I was poked and pulled out of bed with no idea what was wanted until she ripped my gown off, threw a new one at me, then started stripping the bed. While I certainly did appreciate the change of bedding (after 2 hours of being there), why did it need to be 4am? Ah, the paradoxes of India. At the next 4am call, we successfully managed to convince her to leave the bedding/gown to change later.

allergies-in-india-on-womans-upper-back It was a surprisingly efficient system though – the admin arranged meals for me as well as my husband (hospital food is hospital food, barely edible). Hot milk and chai was regularly delivered, as well as the newspaper (if you can read Hindi). Seeing the doctor and allergy specialist assigned to me was a waiting game. Most of your day is spent waiting. But they did come. They tested my blood and urine and saw nothing to indicate the cause.

By now Wed night symptoms have passed and Thursday has been uneventful. The entire night staff was alert for the next anticipated midnight outbreak. I was pretty sure this wouldn’t happen since I was in the hospital and what kind of allergic reaction ONLY happens at midnight? Those were my thoughts as I drifted off to sleep. At 12:30am, the nurse begins to look me over. I didn’t disappoint and the welts were there in force. Her concerned clucking and “show and tell” to the rest of the staff wasn’t entirely comfortable, but it was clear they were concerned.

A 3rd round of injections followed. The next morning saw a lot of discussion from the doctors. Finally, after much waiting, I was released a day later with another dosage of injections and a boatload of strong steroid and antihistamines pills to take 3x/day to try and hold the reaction at bay.

selfie-in-indian-hospital-of-girl And you know what? It worked.

I took 3 weeks of the medication and that was the last I ever saw of the welts or symptoms. To this day, I have no idea what caused the allergic reaction, nor do the doctors.

While not entirely pleasant, I still view the whole experience with a positive attitude – the care I received, the knowledge of the doctors, and their course of action was very impressive. Even more impressive was the total cost, which came to just under $300 – for 2 ER visits, 2 days/1 night in the hospital, injections, prescriptions and 2 doctors.

So what’s the moral of the story?

If you’re traveling to India, consider taking some strong antihistamines, just in case you wake up in the middle of the night with huge welts. Recognize that it may just be India giving you a little nudge to remind you to respect the beautiful country you are visiting.

This experience also highlights why travel insurance is a good idea.

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