US economy soars 6.4% in first quarter as stimulus and vaccinations help recovery

Vaccinations, round of stimulus and a steady recovery in the jobs market helped reverse some of the impact of the pandemic

The US economy took off in the first quarter soaring 6.4% as rising vaccinations, a massive round of government stimulus and a steady recovery in the jobs market helped reverse some of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The annualized rate, released by the Commerce Department on Thursday, suggests the US economy is firmly on the road to recovery. In normal times the US economy grows at about 2-2.5% a year but the pandemic triggered wild swings as the country went into lockdown and businesses shuttered.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus | The Guardian

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Omicron could overwhelm NHS if it is as virulent as Delta, Neil Ferguson says

Exclusive: UK already experiencing ‘very explosive wave of infection’ from new variant, top scientist says Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage The Omicron variant has the potential to “very substantially overwhelm the NHS” and cause up to 10,000 hospitalisations a day if it is as virulent as Delta, according to a leading scientist who helped shape Britain’s coronavirus lockdown strategy. Prof Neil Ferguson, a mathematical epidemiologist from Imperial College London, said the UK was already experiencing a “very explosive wave of infection” from the new variant. This could lead to “quite an explosive wave of hospitalisations,” depending on the severity of disease caused by Omicron. Continue reading... Coronavirus | The Guardian
Read more

Omicron Covid variant ‘present in Europe at least 10 days ago’

Two cases of the new Covid variant found in the Netherlands predate last week’s alert from South Africa The Omicron variant of Covid-19 was present in Europe at least 10 days ago, even before South African health experts alerted the world to their concerns around the transmissibility of the newly identified variant. The Dutch health authority said it had found the Omicron variant in two local cases going back 11 days, showing it was already in western Europe’s heartland before the reports came out of South Africa on 24 November. Continue reading... Coronavirus | The Guardian
Read more

VAT: from Covid tests to child car seats, there are calls to ‘scrap the tax’

The ‘tampon tax’ was the most high-profile campaign but now, with 20% on coronavirus kits, others are gaining pace The start of 2021 brought with it the end of the “tampon tax”. After years of campaigning , the government finally accepted the argument that sanitary products are an essential product, not a luxury, and should be treated as such for VAT purposes. Now, as with most food and children’s clothing, they attract a zero rate of tax. The tampon tax campaign was the loudest relating to VAT rates in recent memory but it’s certainly not the only one. Continue reading... Coronavirus | The Guardian
Read more