(NEW YORK) — With supply chain issues hitting the fresh food industry, due to delays and struggles to get products from farms to store shelves, certain Thanksgiving staples like cranberries will have a steeper cost and potentially less stock.
Ocean Spray president and CEO Tom Hayes joined Good Morning America on Thursday to address the upcoming run on Thanksgiving items and how his company’s signature fruit has had to stay afloat amid supply chain woes.
“Ocean Spray has had supply chain challenges, the whole industry has. We will continue to do our best to keep supplies going and supplies on shelves, but we’ve had to be resilient this year,” Hayes said. “We’re owned by 700 family farms and they continue to do everything they have for 90 years to keep the supply flowing, but it has been a challenge. Whether it’s steel cans and making supply chain adjustments, we have had to do it, and this year has been difficult of course.”
When it comes to price forecasting, Hayes explained that his company “unfortunately” has to pass on the rising production costs to consumers.
“That’s just a reality. We have a lot of costs going up — all ingredients, transportation. It is something that is continuing to affect us as a company and we do have to pass those on,” he said. “Remember, they’re family farms, so we have to make sure they have a livelihood too and we’re balancing that. We haven’t taken pricing in 10 years at Ocean Spray. We’re doing our best to keep costs down, but we have taken pricing and are looking forward to still having a great season.”
By the end of October, there were already some shortages on other crucial Thanksgiving items.
Turkeys were 60% out of stock, which was a little more than half of stock compared to the same time last year. Yams and sweet potatoes were 25% out of stock, while stock on refrigerated pies were down 5% and cranberries were 20% out of stock.
If consumers shop early, those products should be available, but — with price increases at the highest in 30 years — they will cost more.
To save some money on the total bill, experts recommend shopping now for non-perishable items and considering a potluck style Thanksgiving to spread the cost around.
“This is our super bowl at Ocean Spray,” Hayes said. “We are working day in and day out, all night in a lot of cases, to deliver products to the market.”
“My advice is to be absolutely flexible. Whether it’s jellied, whole or fresh cranberries,” he added. “Plan early and make sure you get to the grocery store. It will be a happy Thanksgiving, but you have to demonstrate more flexibility than you have in the past.”
(BALTIMORE) — President Joe Biden visited Baltimore on Wednesday to tout his infrastructure bill and highlight his administration’s work to ease port delays as the country approaches the holiday season with rising inflation and delivery slowdowns on the horizon.
Biden’s visit came five days after Congress passed his $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that, among myriad investments in the nations’ physical infrastructure, will provide $17 billion to revitalize coastal, inland and land ports, as well as strengthen them against the effects of climate change.
The Biden administration on Tuesday announced short- and long-term steps to strengthen U.S. ports as part of an effort to tackle supply chain issues, including using money from the infrastructure bill, which the president plans to sign into law on Monday during a bipartisan White House ceremony.
“I’m not waiting to sign a bill to start improving the flow of goods from shifts to shelves,” Biden said during remarks at the Baltimore port. “Yesterday, I announced the port — a port plan of action. It lays out concrete steps for my administration to take over the next three months to invest in our ports and to relieve bottlenecks.”
As the U.S. continues to slowly emerge from the pandemic, Biden has been grappling with a crisis up and down the supply chain defined by worker shortages and delivery delays.
At the same time, the prices Americans are paying for everyday goods are soaring as the country approaches the holiday season — a potential political liability for the president. In Baltimore, he acknowledged the economic hardship people are facing.
“COVID-19 has stretched global supply chains like never before, and suddenly when you go to order a pair of sneakers or a bicycle or Christmas presents for the family, you’re met with higher prices and long delays — or they said they just don’t have any at all,” Biden said.
Demand for many goods has shot up just as global supply chains reel from disruptions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
“This is a recipe for delays and for higher prices, and people are feeling — they’re feeling it,” Biden said.
Biden will continue to hit the road to tout his infrastructure bill — and pitch his larger “Build Back Better” social bill he is trying to push through Congress — in the weeks ahead, according to the White House.
On Wednesday, he drew a clear line between the infrastructure bill and the real impact he said American families should see.
“This bipartisan infrastructure bill is a major step forward,” he said. “It represents the biggest investment in ports in American history. And for American families, it means products moving faster and less expensively, from factory floor through the supply chain to your home.
“The bottom line is this,” he continued. “With the bill we passed last week, and the steps we’re taking to reduce bottlenecks at home and abroad, we’re set to make significant progress.”
On Tuesday, the president spoke with the CEOs of four major retailers and shipping companies, Walmart, UPS, FedEx and Target. He said that the executives “assured me that the shelves will be stocked in stores this holiday.”
Even though the president does not plan to sign the infrastructure bill until next week — he has said he wants to bring Democrats and Republicans together to the White House for a ceremony marking the bipartisan bill’s passage — a senior administration official said Tuesday that work was already underway to get port-related programs started.
“Outdated infrastructure has a real cost for families, as we all know, for our economy and for competitiveness,” White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “We’re seeing that right now, even as we move record goods through our ports, with supply chain bottlenecks forming that lead to higher prices and lower deliveries for American families.”
To provide immediate relief, the administration will now allow port authorities to redirect project cost savings toward immediate projects to address supply chain challenges, senior administration officials said Tuesday. One official said doing so was a way to “creatively” redirect grant money.
For example, the officials told reporters, the nation’s third-busiest port, in Savannah, Georgia, came under budget on a previous grant and could now use the leftover dollars to build a pop-up yard to store shipping containers; port authorities believe the site could be operational in 30 to 45 days, the officials said.
“It’s a great way to add capacity and efficiency at the port,” an official said. “We expect that that kind of flexibility will help other projects as well.”
The administration also plans to launch a $240 million grant program within the next 45 days to invest in port infrastructure — using money from the infrastructure bill.
Within the next two months, it will identify projects with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for construction work at coastal ports, inland waterways and other facilities, officials said.
In the next three months, they said, the administration will begin competition for the first round of port infrastructure grants funded by the infrastructure bill. The federal government will also identify ports of entry at the nation’s southern and northern borders that need modernization and expansion.
In Baltimore, Biden explained how his administration was helping fund the expansion of a 126-year-old tunnel near the port to accommodate trains carrying containers stacked on top of each other.
A senior administration official emphasized that the port was a public-private partnership and noted the port was making major investments in adding container cranes and a second deep, 50-foot berth.
“It’s an example of the kind of investments that are needed from both the private and public sector side,” the official told reporters Tuesday. “It’s also an illustration that the co-funding in the bipartisan infrastructure plan incentivizes the private sector to make these kinds of long-term investments as well.”
(NEW YORK) — Consumer prices continued to climb at an alarmingly rapid pace last month, according to data from the Labor Department on Wednesday, as inflation woes have cast a shadow over the post-pandemic economic recovery.
The Consumer Price Index, often used as an inflation barometer as it measures the prices consumers pay for everyday goods and services, jumped by a higher-than-expected 0.9% last month. It surged 6.2% since last October, the largest 12-month increase since November 1990, the government said.
The so-called “core index,” or measure for all items except the more volatile food and energy indices, rose 4.6% over the last 12 months. This represents the largest one-year increase since August 1991, the Labor Department said. In October alone, the core index climbed 0.6% after a 0.2% increase in September.
The energy index climbed by some 4.8% last month alone and the gasoline index gained 6.1%. This marks the fifth consecutive monthly increase in gasoline prices.
Increases in consumer prices were seen broadly across many of the indices, the DOL said, with sharp spikes in prices for energy, shelter, food, used cars and trucks. New vehicles were among the largest contributors to the overall price hikes.
The indices for airline fares and alcoholic beverages saw a decline last month, the DOL said.
The price increases have been linked to rebounding consumer demand for goods and services as the pandemic wanes, economists have said. Meanwhile, lingering supply chain issues and an apparent shortage of workers accepting low-wage jobs have exacerbated the mounting inflation fears among policymakers.
While some had hopes the inflation data seen in recent months reflected a temporary blip, the fresh data released Wednesday likely fuels further concerns about inflation’s grip on the economy going forward. Many are now looking at how the Federal Reserve will respond to the latest indicators as it plans to start rolling back on pandemic measures meant to buoy the economy during the health crisis.
President Joe Biden reacted to the new economic data in a statement Wednesday morning, saying that addressing inflation was a “top priority” for his administration and touting his Build Back Better plan as a way to ameliorate the economic pain it causes.
“Inflation hurts Americans pocketbooks, and reversing this trend is a top priority for me,” the president said, noting the largest share of the increase in prices in the report is due to rising energy costs. The president said he has directed his National Economic Council “to pursue means to try to further reduce these costs, and have asked the Federal Trade Commission to strike back at any market manipulation or price gouging in this sector.”
“Other price increases reflect the ongoing struggle to restore smooth operations in the economy in the restart: I am travelling to Baltimore today to highlight how my Infrastructure Bill will bring down these costs, reduce these bottlenecks, and make goods more available and less costly,” Biden added. “And I want to reemphasize my commitment to the independence of the federal reserve to monitor inflation, and take steps necessary to combat it.”
Biden said that more than a dozen Nobel Prize-winning economists “have said that my plan will ‘ease inflationary pressures,” adding that it does this “without raising taxes on those making less than $400,000 or adding to the federal debt, by requiring the wealthiest and big corporations to start to pay their fair share in taxes.”
“We are making progress on our recovery. Jobs are up, wages are up, home values are up, personal debt is down, and unemployment is down,” the president said. “We have more work to do, but there is no question that the economy continues to recover and is in much better shape today than it was a year ago.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden plans to visit Baltimore on Wednesday to tout his infrastructure bill and highlight his administration’s work to ease port delays as the United States approaches the holiday season with rising inflation and delivery slowdowns on the horizon.
Biden’s visit comes five days after Congress passed his $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that, among myriad investments in the nations’ physical infrastructure, will provide $17 billion to revitalize coastal, inland and land ports, as well as strengthen them against the effects of climate change.
The Biden administration on Tuesday announced short- and long-term steps to strengthen U.S. ports as part of an effort to tackle supply chain issues, including using money from the infrastructure bill.
As the U.S. continues to slowly emerge from the pandemic, Biden has been grappling with a crisis up and down the supply chain defined by worker shortages and bottlenecks.
On Tuesday, the president spoke with the CEOs of four major retailers and shipping companies — Walmart, UPS, FedEx and Target — “to discuss steps that the administration and private sector can take to further strengthen our supply chains and build on steps we’ve already taken to speed up deliveries and lower prices,” a White House official said.
Even though the president does not plan to sign the infrastructure bill until next week — he has said he wants to bring Democrats and Republicans together to the White House for a ceremony marking the bipartisan bill’s passage — a senior administration official said Tuesday that work was already underway to get port-related programs started.
White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment Tuesday about why Biden chose Baltimore in particular — and not a larger port like Los Angeles or Long Beach in California — but indicated that Biden would have more to say Wednesday.
“Outdated infrastructure has a real cost for families, as we all know, for our economy and for competitiveness,” Jean-Pierre said. “We’re seeing that right now, even as we move record goods through our ports, with supply chain bottlenecks forming that lead to higher prices and lower deliveries for American families.”
To provide immediate relief. the administration will now allow port authorities to redirect project cost savings toward immediate projects to address supply chain challenges, senior administration officials said Tuesday. One official said doing so was a way to “creatively” redirect grant money.
For example, the officials told reporters, the nation’s third-busiest port, in Savannah, Georgia, came under budget on a previous grant and could now use the leftover dollars to build a pop-up yard to store shipping containers; port authorities believe the site could be operational in 30 to 45 days, the officials said.
“It’s a great way to add capacity and efficiency at the port,” an official said. “We expect that that kind of flexibility will help other projects as well.”
The administration also plans to launch a $240 million grant program within the next 45 days to invest in port infrastructure — using money from the infrastructure bill.
Within the next two months, it will identify projects with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for construction work at coastal ports, inland waterways and other facilities, officials said.
In the next three months, they said, the administration will begin competition for the first round of port infrastructure grants funded by the infrastructure bill. The federal government will also identify ports of entry at the nation’s southern and northern borders that need modernization and expansion.
While the White House wouldn’t say why Biden had chosen to visit the port of Baltimore, an administration official emphasized that the port was a public-private partnership and noted the port was making major investments in adding container cranes and a second deep, 50-foot berth.
The official also highlighted how the administration is helping fund the expansion of a 126 year-old tunnel near the port to accommodate trains carrying containers stacked on top of each other.
“It’s an example of the kind of investments that are needed from both the private and public sector side,” the official said. “It’s also an illustration that the co-funding in the bipartisan infrastructure plan incentivizes the private sector to make these kinds of long-term investments as well.”
(NEW YORK) — Tongass National Forest stretches across nearly 17 million acres of land in southeast Alaska and is home to a lush vibrant ecosystem. It is now also at the center of a bitter battle between those trying to save the old growth forests and those who say access more of it is critical for the local economy.
Tongass covers more than 80% of southeast Alaska and, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, is responsible for sequestering nearly 8% of all U.S. carbon emissions.
Global leaders have pledged for decades to end deforestation by 2030, but some Alaskan corporations are asking for the opposite and want more access to the forest to support the local economy.
“Where’s your Amazon boxes going to come from? American consumers still want this stuff. We’re producing it here. It’s a good job for us people, good jobs for Alaskans,” said Eric Nichols, the owner of Alcan Alaska Timber Corporation.
Southeast Alaska relies heavily on tourism, and took a major economic blow during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nichols, who said he’s had to downsize his company by half because of logging restrictions, said the timber industry is a way to bring consistent jobs back to the area.
“How do you raise a family on $15 an hour for a five-month job?” said Nichols. “How do I do that? I can’t do that. My kids can’t do that.”
Wanda Culp, a Tlingit native, is also worried about the future of this land and her family, but said that the natural forest is critical to their lifestyle. Her tribe has deep ties to the land.
“We depend on this wilderness as Indigenous people,” said Culp.
She noted that her people have used the forest as a natural resource for generations, but that the commercial “clearcutting” method of deforestation is disrespectful and unsustainable.
“We don’t just cut it down and let it land; we create a spot for it to land so it doesn’t split. So it’s worthwhile. That isn’t what happens with clear cuts. It’s total disrespect,” said Culp, who flew to Washington, D.C., in 2019 to protest large-scale deforestation in southeast Alaska.
In the late 1900s, the timber industry and forest clearcutting was prominent in southeast Alaska with nearly a million acres of the Tongass forest chopped down.
Bryce Dahlstrom of Viking Lumber supports clearcutting trees and likened it to any type of farming done across the country.
“It’s a crop that grows back,” said Dahlstrom. “If you don’t want a farmer to cut his corn down, don’t eat corn.”
In January 2001, just days before leaving office, President Bill Clinton enacted the Roadless Rule, which aims to preserve roadless areas by preventing road construction, as well as timber harvesting, on more than 9 million acres in the Tongass National Forest.
Since then, presidential administrations have gone back and forth on whether to keep or dismiss the rule, citing a variety of political reasons. For now, the rule remains in place.
Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy has said between wood and minerals, there is untapped natural wealth in Alaska inhibited by the restriction.
“We’re the largest state in the country by far. This forest is larger than most states. There’s incredible opportunity to provide lumber and lumber products for the United States and possibly other parts of the world. This is an opportunity for us to do it here again and provide jobs, revenue and wealth,” said Dunleavy.
Many scientists say the health of the planet cannot be sacrificed for economic growth anymore, especially in places like Tongass, which are “carbon sinks” that help combat rising carbon emissions.
In 2020, 111 scientists from across the country wrote a letter to Biden asking him to permanently install protections in Tongass and create a strategic carbon reserve system.
Despite the restrictions from the Roadless Rule, Tongass is the last national forest that allows large-scale clearcut logging of ancient old-growth trees. Some argue it’s not an issue because trees can be replanted.
“[Trees] are a renewable resource. We cut trees down because there’s a demand for that product,” said Nichols.
But conservationist Meredith Trainor disagrees. She said the older the trees, the more effective they are at removing carbon dioxide and that an entire forest cannot be replaced so easily.
“There is no one tree scenario where we’re going to solve climate change, right? This is about managing a whole forest or a certain way,” said Trainor. “It’s the whole system that works together to sequester carbon and old growth is much more effective at doing that than young growth.”
The timber industry in southeast Alaska is only allowed to work in 2% of Tongass. Loggers like Nichols argue that’s not enough.
He wants to expand access even further, potentially giving loggers access to an additional half a million acres.
“I want enough to have an industry. We need about 5, maybe 6%, to continue to have a continuous industry up here,” said Nichols.
Scientists argue that the whole Alaskan ecosystem is connected. They believe that expanding the logging industry may have a negative effect on the region’s other largest employment sector: commercial fishing.
In Sitka, Alaska, an island town of about 8,000, they rely heavily on salmon fisheries. Fisherman Marsh Skeele said that the expansion of logging puts fishermen’s livelihoods at risk.
“[Logging] damages streams and lakes — freshwater ecosystems that salmon rely on, that fishermen rely on, that this community relies on,” said Skeele. “They’re kind of ignoring all the jobs that are tied to what exists already.”
Dunleavy said that it’s imperative to look at Alaska for all its potential and that doesn’t necessarily mean change is bad for the future of the state.
“There’s this narrative that’s trying to be pushed that if you touch Alaska, you will damage it permanently and ruin it. That’s not the case. It’s not the case at all,” said Dunleavy.
While some believe expanding access to Tongass National Forest could help more people than it could harm, a tug-of-war continues in southeast Alaska between the environment and the economy.
As for Culp, she said that the climate crisis is an issue that cannot be ignored any longer.
“We are in a serious, serious climate crisis. Why can’t we start repairing our habitat?” said Culp. “Why can’t we protect what we have? I want my great-granddaughter to be able to walk this land and breathe this fresh air, touch these trees, know who they are. It’s not much to ask.”
(NEW YORK) — After more than a year of working remotely through the COVID-19 pandemic, staffers at Hearst’s magazines are fighting back against a mandatory return to office.
Workers at the magazine-publishing division of Hearst — which runs outlets including Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping and Men’s Health — have filed an unfair labor practices charge against their employer with the National Labor Relations Board via their union, the Writer’s Guild of America East.
The document filed with the NLRB and shared with ABC News by the union alleges unfair labor practices because the management failed to negotiate with workers in good faith over return-to-office protocols.
The labor action from the magazine journalists comes as a slew of companies across the country are now seeking to bring employees back into the office and face new resistance after some 20 months of remote work during the health crisis.
Record-high levels of people quitting their jobs as the pandemic wanes and other unique labor market conditions have also been linked to workers being emboldened to negotiate for what they want in the workplace recently, especially as major companies have reported struggling to find staff.
Over 300 employees (out of a bargaining unit of some 450 people) from Hearst’s magazines division also signed a petition that was delivered to management demanding workplace location flexibility.
“We, the undersigned, trust in our colleagues to perform all their work responsibilities from the location that is most suitable to their needs. We have seen our colleagues adapt to unprecedented changes in our work lives without a drop in productivity,” the petition, shared with ABC News by the union, states. “We do not believe that a return to office is the same as a return to work, because for all Hearst employees, we have never stopped working, regardless of our location.”
The petition adds that while some employees require access to the office to do their work, they are simply seeking a “continuation of the functional norm that we have reached as a result of our extraordinary circumstances, with employees and teams able to make decisions that are appropriate for their work needs.”
In a Twitter thread posted by the Hearst Magazines Media Union, the group says that they have been seeking to negotiate with management “for months” over return-to-office plans but still feel in the dark. The thread adds that it was only four business days before the scheduled return that some New York-based employees learned of the COVID exposure policy, and that many health and safety questions remain unanswered.
“It’s our position that by barreling ahead with these last-minute plans, management is making a unilateral change to our work circumstances without adequately bargaining over the change as required by federal law,” the union tweeted. “We are ready to cooperate with any investigation the NLRB deems necessary and are hopeful this process will reinforce to the company how serious we are about workplace safety.”
Some journalists working at Hearst have weighed in on the debate on Twitter, arguing flexible work arrangement offers more time to spend with family and more.
A Hearst magazine’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment on Tuesday.
“We recognize that returning to the office is a big step and that some people are apprehensive about it,” Debi Chirichella, Hearst’s president, said in an email to staff last month, according to the New York Times, which reported that Hearst is seeking employees to be in the office at least three days a week. Chirichella continued: “Adjusting to this new way of working will require the same flexibility, patience and collaboration that we all demonstrated when we began working from home.”
Data from the Department of Labor indicates that many companies are in the process of recalling workers back to their offices. The DOL said that 11.6% of employed person’s teleworked because of the pandemic last month, down from 13.2% in September.
(NEW YORK) — Shares for General Electric surged 6% in early trading Tuesday after the historic American conglomerate announced plans to split into three publicly-traded companies focused on aviation, health care and energy.
Investors seemed to welcome the news from the major firm, with a market cap topping $126 billion, despite further details on how the split will impact shareholders not yet fully apparent.
The more than 125-year-old company, which ties its origin to American inventor and businessman Thomas Edison, said it intends to execute “tax-free spin-offs” to form the GE Healthcare company in early 2023, and the GE Renewable Energy and Power in early 2024. The remaining company will focus on the aviation sector.
“At GE, we have always taken immense pride in our purpose of building a world that works. The world demands — and deserves — we bring our best to solve the biggest challenges in flight, healthcare, and energy,” GE Chairman and CEO H. Lawrence Culp, Jr. said in a statement Tuesday. “By creating three industry-leading, global public companies, each can benefit from greater focus, tailored capital allocation, and strategic flexibility to drive long-term growth and value for customers, investors, and employees.”
GE said it expects to retain a stake of 19.9% in GE Healthcare, which will be the first to branch out and focus on precision health. It did not disclose the stake it plans to retain for GE Renewable Energy and Power (which will combine GE Renewable Energy, GE Power, and GE Digital into one business), but said the plans are to position this offshoot of the company to “lead the energy transition” as the impacts of climate change force businesses to transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy.
Following the spin-off of GE Renewable Energy and Power, the remaining arm of the company will be focused on aviation and “shaping the future of flight,” according to a company statement Tuesday.
The independent businesses will be better positioned to deliver long-term growth, GE said, by allowing deeper operational focus, tailored capital allocation decisions, financial flexibility, dedicated boards of directors and unique investment profiles that appeal to a deeper investor base.
Culp called Tuesday a “defining moment for GE,” adding, “and we are ready.”
“We have a responsibility to move with speed to shape the future of flight, deliver precision health, and lead the energy transition,” Culp added. “The momentum we have built puts us in a position of strength to take this exciting next step in GE’s transformation and realize the full potential of each of our businesses.”
Culp will continue to serve as chairman and CEO of GE until the second spin-off, the company said, at which point he will lead the GE aviation-focused company going forward. He will also serve as a non-executive chairman of the GE healthcare company upon its spin-off.
The company said GE veteran Peter Arduini will assume the role of president and CEO of GE Healthcare beginning on Jan. 1, 2022, Scott Strazik will be the CEO of the combined Renewable Energy, Power and Digital business and John Slattery will continue as CEO of Aviation.
Finally, the company said that it is on track to reduce debt by more than $75 billion by the end of the year, and said this will put it in a strong position to execute the plan to form three separate companies.
(NEW YORK) — Uber and Lyft are boasting record profits as both companies say they are aggressively recruiting drivers to fill a void created by the pandemic.
Since the pandemic, rideshare costs have exploded across the country. Uber and Lyft — the two largest rideshare companies in the United States that are responsible for 90% of the market — say many drivers left the platform early in the pandemic due to concerns about the risk of contracting COVID-19. Others shifted to food delivery, which some considered a safer alternative because there’s less human contact.
Those driver shortages have led to surging costs per ride and increased wait times, the companies said.
But despite those challenges, both Uber and Lyft recently recorded their best financial performances as the companies report a new increase in drivers — and riders.
Lyft CEO Logan Green said the company’s revenue increased 73% compared with the same time period in 2020, while Uber’s revenue increased 67%.
While many office workers continue to work from home, others who are returning to the office and previously used public transit have shifted to ridesharing to limit contact with others.
Lyft reported an increase of 2 million more riders during the third quarter, and Uber CFO Nelson Chai said as of October, Uber has recovered about 85% of its pre-pandemic business.
On airport rides, Uber has recovered 67% of its business, Chai said. Air travel, which was decimated by the pandemic, has started to return, as the third quarter of 2021 saw the most daily passengers since 2019. The demand for rides also has increased among those venturing out for dining and entertainment.
Along with that rising demand, Lyft reported a 45% increase in drivers compared with the same period last year, while Uber said it has increased its drivers by 65% since January. Both Uber and Lyft have created driver incentive programs to attract and retain drivers.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said Thursday that the company is bouncing back faster than other transportation providers in spite of increased costs for consumers using rideshare services.
“We have come back from the pandemic faster than almost any other mode of transportation despite higher pricing,” Khosrowshahi said during a quarterly earnings call. “Now, we don’t necessarily want that to be a permanent fixture, but I do think with the increased cost of labor, and frankly inflation and the increased cost of everything, I do think that prices are going to be up on a year on year basis, and as a marketplace we get a take of that.”
While the companies both previously had said they expected ride costs to drop by the end of the year, the price increases are holding steady. Rakuten Intelligence, a company that collects and analyzes e-commerce data, said in a study of credit card receipts that costs were up 40% compared with pre-pandemic costs.
Both Uber and Lyft posted record third quarter profits, which started July 1 and ended Sept. 30. On Nov. 2, Lyft posted an adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) profit of $67.3 million. In the previous quarter, April 1 through June 30, Lyft posted an adjusted EBITDA of $23.8 million, its first profit. Uber recorded its first adjusted EBITDA profit of $8 million, up from a second-quarter loss of $507 million.
Both Uber and Lyft project increased profits in the fourth quarter.
Customers are still adjusting to the price increases and wait times. In San Francisco, Mary Ann Jones, who runs a nonprofit social services agency less than a half mile from Uber’s headquarters, told ABC News her rideshare expenses have increased dramatically.
“I’m paying significantly more to get where I need to go,” said Jones, who is walking when possible rather than hailing rides. “The surges are ridiculous.”
Jones said she’s had to pay as much as $40 to travel two miles.
Despite returning business and driver increases, drivers say the funds are not trickling down to them.
The rideshare companies, however, say driver earnings are approaching peak levels.
“Driver earnings remain near all time highs due to increased utilization,” Khosrowshahi said during the Nov. 4 earnings call.
(LOS ANGELES) — Los Angeles’ sweeping new vaccine mandate goes into effect Monday, which requires proof of vaccination in order for patrons to enter most public indoor spaces in the second most populous city in the U.S.
Believed to be among the most far-reaching vaccination requirements in the nation, the ordinance from the Los Angeles City Council was signed by Mayor Eric Garcetti in October but took effect Monday morning, covering everyone who is eligible for a coronavirus vaccine (or people ages 12 and up).
The mandate requires proof of vaccination to enter the indoor portions of any establishment where food or beverages are served (such as restaurants, bars, coffee shops, etc), gyms and fitness venues, entertainment and recreation venues (including movie theaters, music and concert venues, museums and shopping centers), personal care establishments (like spas and nail salons), and any facilities or buildings owned or operated by the City of Los Angeles.
Effective November 8, 2021, @LACity will require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to enter most public indoor places. pic.twitter.com/4ctWBMv71C
It will also require proof of vaccination for large outdoor events with 5,000 or more attendees.
To demonstrate proof of vaccination, people can use their CDC-issued vaccination card or a similar document issued by a foreign government agency, a photo of both sides of their vaccination card, documentation of vaccination from a licensed health care provider or a personal digital COVID-19 vaccine record issued by the State of California or similar entities (such as the State of California’s Digital COVID-19 Vaccine Record, which can be downloaded onto a smartphone and show proof of vaccine via a QR code).
The mandate has exemptions for those who are not vaccinated due to a medical condition or religious belief, but still requires those individuals to have proof of a negative COVID-19 test that was administered within 72 hours prior to seeking entry to an indoor facility or large outdoor event.
“Vaccinating more Angelenos is our only way out of this pandemic, and we must do everything in our power to keep pushing those numbers up,” Garcetti said in a statement last month when he signed the ordinance.
Garcetti added that the rules will help encourage more people to get the shot and make businesses “safer for workers and customers.”
Operators of indoor locations or large outdoor events are asked to check for patrons’ vaccination statuses under the new rules and may be issued a citation for non-compliance. On first offense, the operator will receive a warning and notice to correct. The operator of the venue could then face a fine of $1,000 for a second violation, $2,000 for a third violation and $5,000 for a fourth and each subsequent violation.
While the mandate kicks in on Monday, enforcement — through inspectors from the city’s Department of Building and Safety — will begin starting on Nov. 29.
Los Angeles County data indicate that some 80.2% of residents ages 12 and older have received at least one does of a COVID-19 vaccine as of last week and 72% are fully vaccinated.
Los Angeles joins a growing number of municipalities mandating the coronavirus vaccine for indoor venues. A similar indoor vaccine requirement went into effect in New York City in August, though its rollout sparked backlash.
Despite a small yet vocal faction of Americans opposing the shot, health officials have reiterated that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective at reducing hospitalizations and deaths from the virus.
(WASHINGTON) — Hiring gained steam in October, with U.S. employers adding 531,000 jobs and the unemployment rate edging down by a fraction of a percentage point to 4.6%, the Department of Labor said Friday.
Job growth was widespread and beat economists’ expectations — with major gains in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, manufacturing, and in the transportation and warehousing sectors — the DOL said, indicative of the the post-pandemic recovery rebounding in the labor market after months of disappointing hiring figures. In September, employers added some 312,000 jobs, according to revised figures released Friday.
Employment has increased by 18.2 million since the recent low seen in April 2020, when the pandemic raged, but remains down by some 4.2 million, or 2.8%, from its pre-pandemic levels. The unemployment rate in February 2020 was at a historic low of 3.5%.
Notable job growth was seen in the hard-hit leisure and hospitality industry last month, which saw some 164,000 jobs added. Employment in this sector is still down by 8.2%, however, compared to February 2020 levels.
Other notable job gains occurred in professional and business services, which added 100,000 jobs in October, including a gain of 41,000 in temporary help services, the DOL said. Manufacturing added 60,000 jobs last month, and the transportation and warehousing sector saw employment increase by 54,000 jobs.
Moreover, the average hourly earnings for all employees last month increased by 11 cents to $30.96. A shortage of workers accepting low-wage jobs in the wake of the pandemic shock has been linked to the rising wages seen in recent months, as many major companies have struggled to hire back staff let go in the early days of the pandemic.
Disparities still lurk in the recovery. The unemployment rate for Black workers last month was nearly double that of white workers at 7.9% compared to 4%. The unemployment rate for Hispanic workers was 5.9% in October, and 4.2% for Asian workers.
Finally, the DOL data indicates some companies are recalling workers back to the office after the vaccine rollout. The DOL said that some 11.6% of employed persons teleworked because of the pandemic last month, down from 13.2% the month prior.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
