The U.S economy grew at an annual rate of around 33% in the third quarter , the U.S. Department of Commerce reported Thursday.
That data from the federal government sounds great, but remember that gain follows a huge plunge in economic growth during the second quarter.
Thursday’s number, no matter how great it looks, doesn't get economic output back to where it was before the pandemic. In fact, we've got a big output gap.
Quite a lot has been going on:
Exxon Mobil is cutting 1,900 jobs in the U.S. - Marketplace
ExxonMobil has announced it will cut roughly 1,900 jobs in the U.S., in what the company calls an ongoing reorganization. The cuts are part of what may wind up being a 15% workforce reduction Exxon said it anticipates.
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Many big oil companies are finding it hard to do business, with crude prices hovering at around $40 a barrel. Just to get oil prices up to where they are now, oil producers had to cut back, said Sarah Ladislaw at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
How COVID-19 is changing Halloween plans this year - Marketplace
Armed with pipes, foam and paint, Michigan resident Breanne Cremean spent several hours constructing a device that will still allow her to give out candy to trick or treaters this year: a "Beetlejuice" candy chute.
She was inspired to make it after seeing someone online make their own version, and thought it would be a cute way of passing out candy while keeping everybody 6 feet apart.
"The hardest part was figuring out the right angle to put it at so that the candy doesn't get stuck," Cremean said, laughing. "My husband and I did a lot of testing."
Etsy Became the Go-To Marketplace for Independent Makers During the Pandemic
One thing's clear about the pandemic's DIY boom: No one's buying their intro to knitting syllabus on Amazon Handmade.
They're going to Etsy. Revenue at the home of the bridesmaid font more than doubled to $451.5 million YoY in Q3, outpacing Wall Street's estimates. Similar gains were the common thread across its earnings quilt.
Short-term advantages: Heading into the holiday season , Etsy customers know a hand embroidered fanny pack isn't stitched and delivered overnight—meaning delivery delays plaguing other retailers won't faze them.
Other things to check out:
US consumer spending rose a moderate 1.4% in September - Marketplace
U.S. consumers increased their spending by 1.4% in September, a modest gain but far less than the big increases of late spring, adding to concerns that Americans remain cautious with the viral pandemic resurging across the country and impeding the economy.
The September gain marked the fifth straight monthly increase in consumer spending, the primary driver of the U.S. economy, since the virus erupted in early spring and flattened the economy. But the recent slight increases reflect an economy weakened by the virus and by the failure of Congress to provide another stimulus package to struggling individuals and businesses.
The complicated history of voting technology - Marketplace
The relationship between technology and voting goes way back to the late 1800s, when automated, hand-lever voting booths were introduced to help make vote counts go quicker and make voting more secure.
“I think a good argument can be made [that they] actually helped to achieve a certain degree of increased honesty in elections,” said Charles Stewart III, political science professor at MIT, in an interview with “Marketplace Morning Report” host David Brancaccio.
Women leaving the workforce is everyone's problem - Marketplace
Today's Numbers: The COVID Economy - Marketplace
"The leading economic indicator is … the virus." More than one analyst has put it to us this way. As we try to understand and quantify this unprecedented global economic collapse — and now the attempted restart — we're following key metrics for COVID-19 and the broader economy.
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Johns Hopkins University reports the seven-day average of new cases hit 68,767 on Sunday — a record — eclipsing the previous record hit in late July during the second, summer wave of infection. A funny thing is happening with consumers though: Even as COVID-19 cases rise, Americans don't appear to be shying away from stepping indoors to shop or eat or exercise. Morning Consult asked consumers how comfortable they feel going out to eat, to the shopping mall or on a vacation.
Happening on Twitter
Real GDP jumped 33.1 PERCENT at an annual rate in the third quarter—the largest single quarter of economic growth O… https://t.co/FXiX7c58Rs WhiteHouse (from Washington, D.C.) Thu Oct 29 13:51:59 +0000 2020
After the GDP jumped 33.1% in the latest quarter, Jack Lew, former Treasury Secretary under President Obama, joins… https://t.co/mgauTYfBtX RuhleOnMSNBC (from New York City) Thu Oct 29 13:15:39 +0000 2020
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