When did America start losing its war against the coronavirus? How did we find ourselves international pariahs, not even allowed to travel to Europe? I’d suggest that the turning point was way back on April 17, the day that Donald Trump tweeted “LIBERATE MINNESOTA,” followed by “LIBERATE MICHIGAN” and “LIBERATE VIRGINIA.” In so doing, he […]
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BEIRUT, Lebanon — When the nine African women lost their jobs as domestic workers in Saudi Arabia because of the coronavirus lockdown, the agency that had recruited them stuffed them in a bare room with a few thin mattresses and locked the door. Some have been there since March. One is now six months pregnant […]
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WASHINGTON — Initial data released Monday by the Trump administration showed that businesses in big states like California and Texas received the most in loans from the government’s small business relief program, with health care, professional services and construction among the sectors that have tapped the largest amount of funding. Of the $521 billion allocated […]
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WASHINGTON — As coronavirus cases surge around the country and epidemiologists urge caution, the federal government is heading back to work, jeopardizing pandemic progress in one of the few regions where confirmed infections continue to decline: the nation’s capital. At the Energy Department’s headquarters, 20 percent of employees — possibly as many as 600 — […]
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In a pre-coronavirus world, hundreds of editors, clients, stylists and celebrities would have converged on Paris this weekend, clacking over the cobblestones in their kitten heels for the couture shows. Those singular displays of fashion art — handmade clothes custom-ordered by the very few — represent equal parts creative laboratory, artisanal expertise and visual extravaganza. […]
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The value of women’s work, both paid and unpaid, has never been more apparent than during the coronavirus crisis. As Diane Coyle recently noted in The Times, women’s shift into paid employment was one of the great economic transformations in recent history, but it did not free women from their myriad unpaid roles as caregivers, […]
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The value of women’s work, both paid and unpaid, has never been more apparent than during the coronavirus crisis. As Diane Coyle recently noted in The Times, women’s shift into paid employment was one of the great economic transformations in recent history, but it did not free women from their myriad unpaid roles as caregivers, […]
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LONDON — In the southeast corner of Ireland, Brian Byrne’s event-planning business was confronting a calamity. It was the middle of March, and the coronavirus pandemic was nearing peak lethality. As the government barred gatherings like music festivals, his revenue disappeared, forcing him to consider laying off his four full-time workers. But a swiftly arranged […]
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WASHINGTON — Three years of restrictive and sometimes draconian immigration policies have left families separated, applicants for visas stranded and would-be immigrants looking for alternative destinations. Now a new group is facing uncertainty, driven in part by the coronavirus pandemic and President Trump’s immigration policies: thousands of employees of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. […]
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Florida State University appears to be walking back an announcement that suggested it would not allow employees to care for children while working from home during the coronavirus outbreak. “We want to be clear — our policy does allow employees to work from home while caring for children,” the university said in an email to […]
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Employers brought back millions more workers in June as businesses began to reopen across the country. But the recent surge in coronavirus cases is threatening to stall the economic recovery long before it has reached most of the people who lost their jobs. U.S. payrolls grew by 4.8 million in June, the Labor Department said […]
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This weekend we celebrate the creation of the United States, though that project remains substantially incomplete. This year of crises has underscored the distance between the lofty rhetoric of our founding documents and the persistent inequalities of American life. This nation began as a set of promises that it has yet to keep. Millions of […]
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“It’s hard to separate what’s good for the United States and what’s good for Bank of America,” said its former chief executive, Ken Lewis, in 2009. That was hardly true at the time, but the current crisis has revealed that the health of the finance industry and stock market are completely disconnected from the actual […]
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When Alexandria Preston had to leave her job as a medical assistant to care for her two children during the pandemic, she didn’t encounter endless delays like so many others trying to get unemployment benefits. But three weeks later, the payments stopped coming. Then her account was canceled entirely — forcing her to dip into […]
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The nascent restart of America’s economy has begun to stall as a surge in new coronavirus cases dampens consumer and business activity across states like Florida, Texas and Arizona. After weeks of a pandemic-induced contraction, the economy had begun rebounding faster than many economists expected from mid-April into June, as infection rates stabilized or fell […]
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WASHINGTON — President Trump’s promised rewrite of trade terms between the United States, Canada and Mexico officially goes into effect on Wednesday. But while the president claims victory in reworking the North American Free Trade Agreement, putting its provisions into practice is far from done. Company executives, government officials and union leaders around the continent […]
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BRUSSELS — After the devastating financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, the United States recovered much more quickly than Europe, which suffered a double-dip recession. This time, many economists say that Europe may have the edge. The main reason America did well was the rapid response of the government and the flexible nature of the […]
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PARIS — The coronavirus pandemic continued to wreak havoc on global aviation as the aerospace giant Airbus announced Tuesday that it would cut nearly 15,000 jobs across its global work force, the largest downsizing in the company’s history. Citing a 40 percent slump in commercial aircraft business activity and an “unprecedented crisis” facing the airline […]
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After a stumbling start three months ago, the government’s centerpiece relief program for small businesses is ending with money left over. The Paycheck Protection Program is scheduled to wrap up on Tuesday after handing out $520 billion in loans meant to preserve workers’ jobs during the coronavirus pandemic. But as new outbreaks spike across the […]
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In late February, Jennifer, a nanny in her mid-40s, began dreading her commute. She has Type 2 diabetes and hypertension, and the trip from Crown Heights, Brooklyn, to the East 50s in Manhattan, where she worked 10-hour days, involved cramming into trains packed with coughing and sniffling people, she said. Her employers were usually wary […]
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As our country grapples with both a global pandemic and the devastating impacts of long-term systemic racism, political leaders are rightfully looking to enact policies that meaningfully benefit low-income and minority communities. Many solutions will take time, but there is one action that mayors across the country — including in New York City — can […]
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In the early months of 2020, Americans were engaged in the perennial election-year debate over how best to reform the nation’s health care system. As usual, the electorate was torn and confused. Polling indicated that a small majority of likely voters favored a new universal system that would cover everyone. But that support evaporated when […]
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The underpinning of countless Silicon Valley success stories is a method of commerce that treats millions of workers as disposable and deprives them of protections regular employees enjoy, like employer-paid health care. Keeping Uber drivers and DoorDash food couriers classified as contractors saves the companies billions in costs and has helped fuel billions more in […]
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In 2013, after years of working as an art director, Miriam Weiskind gave into her love of pizza, first giving pizza tours and then making them at Paulie Gee’s in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Earlier this year, she lost both jobs because of the pandemic. “I was trying to file for unemployment and I was one of […]
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REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. — Kelsey McGarry went back to her job at Thompson Island Brewing Company in Rehoboth Beach, Del., in April even though doing so meant that she was earning less than she would have simply by accepting unemployment insurance, which included an extra $600 per week. “I’m a go, go, go personality,” Ms. […]
Read More REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. — Kelsey McGarry went back to her job at Thompson Island Brewing Company in Rehoboth Beach, Del., in April even though doing so meant that she was earning less than she would have simply by accepting unemployment insurance, which included an extra $600 per week. “I’m a go, go, go personality,” Ms. […]
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Women’s shift into paid employment in the 20th century was one of the great economic transformations in recent history. Families began buying goods such as convenience foods, vacuum cleaners and microwaves to substitute for women’s unpaid labor at home. That shift in what households buy was a primary reason for the post-World War II boom […]
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HOUSTON — Things were looking up for Texas in recent weeks. Oil prices had managed an impressive rebound, more than doubling to just above $40 a barrel. Restaurants and small businesses were opening up in Houston, Dallas and elsewhere. And tens of thousands of people were getting back to work. But a recent surge in […]
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As American businesses reopen in fits and starts — and anxiety over new coronavirus hot spots increases — state unemployment offices still have their hands full. Nearly 1.5 million workers filed new claims for state unemployment insurance last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday, the 14th week in a row that the figure has topped […]
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Ever since the coronavirus pandemic began keeping most of us sheltered at home, work has rapidly shifted from the cubicle to the kitchen table. A number of surveys indicate that about half of the American work force is now doing their work at home. Companies that may have once been resistant to letting employees off […]
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After the bruising crises we’re now going through, it would be wonderful if we could somehow emerge a fairer nation. One possibility is to revive an old idea: sharing the profits. The original idea for businesses to share profits with workers emerged from the tumultuous period when America shifted from farm to factory. In December […]
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