COVID Economy

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Real Estate in Fairfield County Connecticut has gone bonkers.
Greenwich, CT of all places, prices increased 39% from 2020 to an average price $2.97mil.

[MU82]

Real Estate in Fairfield County Connecticut has gone bonkers.
Greenwich, CT of all places, prices increased 39% from 2020 to an average price $2.97mil.

Jeez Louise ... that's almost twice as much as we paid for our butler's quarters!

[lawdog77]

Jeez Louise ... that's almost twice as much as we paid for our butler's quarters!

This?

[MU82]

Ha!

[warriorchick]

Definitely depends on location, as you said.

In the Seattle area, there are nice houses in nice neighborhoods listed for $1.3M that are going within 24 hours after getting multiple offers and selling for $1.5M or more.

Same thing is happening in Nashville.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Real Estate in Fairfield County Connecticut has gone bonkers.
Greenwich, CT of all places, prices increased 39% from 2020 to an average price $2.97mil.

New York refugees?

[4everwarriors]

Hoo's byin' dis chit? Knot retired scribes, aina?

[JWags85]

Definitely depends on location, as you said.

In the Seattle area, there are nice houses in nice neighborhoods listed for $1.3M that are going within 24 hours after getting multiple offers and selling for $1.5M or more.

I was just at a wedding this weekend.  Another member of the wedding party with me was saying his sister and her husband just bought in Seattle and paid $250K over asking.  And it was for a place that sold for less than $1MM.  Just insane

[MU82]

Hoo's byin' dis chit? Knot retired scribes, aina?

Maybe folks who successfully invested during the longest bull run in history, nu?

[Hards Alumni]

Hoo's byin' dis chit? Knot retired scribes, aina?

Sounds like a great time to sell and move into that retirement community Florida.

[lawdog77]

Update on suit against Indiana governor for stopping PUA.

https://public.courts.in.gov/mycase/#/vw/CaseSummary/eyJ2Ijp7IkNhc2VUb2tlbiI6IjlxZ1lUVHdDZzl1NS10N1Rubjlmc3UteVczU2NJMUdGd3dqN2JPRjdmRWcxIn19

Apparently, Indiana has a statute that they must secure all rights and benefits available under certain federal statutes.

Case set for preliminary injunction tomorrow.

For those who care, Judge granted the preliminary injunction and order Indiana Governor to inform Feds that they will continue in the CARES Act program.

[MU82]

The first cruise ship to launch from the U.S. in 15 month -- the Celebrity Edge -- sets sail today.

To comply with both the CDC’s 95% vaccination requirement and a new Florida law banning businesses from requiring customers to show proof of vaccination, Celebrity  is simply asking guests if they would like to share their status.

Those who don’t voluntarily show proof of vaccination will be treated as unvaccinated -- and those people will be subjected to additional protocols such as wearing face masks and being restricted to designated seating areas in common areas like dining rooms, casinos and theaters.

Seems as good a way to do it as any.

You want full use of the ship, without having to wear a mask, prove you've been vaccinated and then enjoy!

If you refuse, you still can sail with us ... but mask up, and sit over there, with the rest of the dopes who claim they "just want everything to get back to normal" but refuse to do their part to help things get back to normal.

[4everwarriors]

Meanwhile, covid hospitalizations in Sconnie are under 100. Aka, its over, aina?

[Jockey]

Meanwhile, covid hospitalizations in Sconnie are under 100. Aka, its over, aina?

On Monday, “Moscow Ronnie” Johnson will be trying to convince those in Wisconsin who are unvaccinated NOT to get the vaccine.

One of your heroes, aina?

[4everwarriors]

Yeah, I like Sen. Johnson. But, I think all adults should be vaccinated. However, if you believe that science is real and you're vaccinated, its over. Carry on like its March 9, 2020, hey?

[Jockey]

Yeah, I like Sen. Johnson. But, I think all adults should be vaccinated. However, if you believe that science is real and you're vaccinated, its over. Carry on like its March 9, 2030, hey?

I do. I go where I want. I do what I want. I don't wear a mask (unless required).

[MU82]

From Yahoo Finance:

Michael Pearce of Capital Economics says: ‌"The potentially biggest single factor explaining the labor shortages is the surge in retirements."

He continues:

"Close to half of the 3.5 million drop in the labor force can be attributed to retirements, which we argued were unlikely to be reversed once the economy reopened. Retiree data tracked by the Dallas Fed show that, following a big initial surge in the early stages of the pandemic, retirements appear to have settled on a new, higher trend. Relative to the pre-pandemic trend, retirees account for an additional 0.6% of the population than we might have anticipated. That is equivalent to 2 million workers, which would explain more than half of the current shortfall in the labor force."

[tower912]

As we ponder the number of entry jobs left unfilled and look for reasons (unemployment extensions!   Single moms!   Socialism!), may I suggest that a fair number of people went to work for Amazon as well as delivery services in the last year.   

[warriorchick]

As we ponder the number of entry jobs left unfilled and look for reasons (unemployment extensions!   Single moms!   Socialism!), may I suggest that a fair number of people went to work for Amazon as well as delivery services in the last year.

But wait.  I thought those were all crappy jobs.  Why aren't people quitting them to fill these other jobs?

[pbiflyer]

From Yahoo Finance:

Michael Pearce of Capital Economics says: ‌"The potentially biggest single factor explaining the labor shortages is the surge in retirements."

He continues:

"Close to half of the 3.5 million drop in the labor force can be attributed to retirements, which we argued were unlikely to be reversed once the economy reopened. Retiree data tracked by the Dallas Fed show that, following a big initial surge in the early stages of the pandemic, retirements appear to have settled on a new, higher trend. Relative to the pre-pandemic trend, retirees account for an additional 0.6% of the population than we might have anticipated. That is equivalent to 2 million workers, which would explain more than half of the current shortfall in the labor force."

So it’s chick and glows fault! Get back you work you slackers! 

[TSmith34, Inc.]

But wait.  I thought those were all crappy jobs.  Why aren't people quitting them to fill these other jobs?

The Amazon jobs pay decent for entry-level jobs and the work hours are a lot more predictable than many service jobs. But not to worry, Bezos tries to get workers to quit after 18 months so there will be some rotation of workers.

[warriorchick]

So it’s chick and glows fault! Get back you work you slackers! 

I just wish my old boss at Burger King would stop calling me and begging me to come back.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

I've been out of work since Visions closed.   

[MU82]

From the NYT:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/27/business/economy/jobs-workers-unemployment-benefits.html

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. — By lunchtime, the representatives from the recruiting agency Express Employment Professionals decided to pack up and leave the job fair in the St. Louis suburb of Maryland Heights. Hardly anyone had shown up.

“We were hoping we would see prepandemic levels,” said Courtney Boyle, general manager of Express. After all, Missouri had just cut off federal unemployment benefits.

Business owners had complained that the assistance, as Gov. Mike Parson put it, “incentivized people to stay out of the work force.” He made Missouri one of the first four states to halt the federal aid; a total of 26 have said they will do so by next month. But in the St. Louis metropolitan area, where the jobless rate was 4.2 percent in May, those who expected the June 12 termination would unleash a flood of job seekers were disappointed.

Work-force development officials said they had seen virtually no uptick in applicants since the governor’s announcement, which ended a $300 weekly supplement to other benefits. And the online job site Indeed found that in states that have abandoned the federal benefits, clicks on job postings were below the national average.

Of course, it’s early. But conversations with employers who are hunting for workers and people who are hunting for jobs in the St. Louis area revealed stark differences in expectations and assumptions about what a day’s work is worth.

The divide raises a fundamental question of what a healthy labor market looks like. Does it mean workers are on such a knife edge that they feel compelled to take the first job that comes along? Or is it one in which employers are the ones who have to scramble and feel pressured to raise wages and improve working conditions? Are the economy and the public better off when workers get to be choosy or when employers do?

The article goes on to say that many economists point out that much bigger contributors to the worker shortage are factors like child care and continuing health fears with less than half the population fully vaccinated. And knowing how in-demand they are, jobseekers are actually demanding what they consider fair pay.

The labor market’s deeper problem, said Francine D. Blau, an economist at Cornell University, is the proliferation of low-paid jobs with few prospects for advancement and too little income to cover essential expenses like housing, food and health care.

[jsglow]

So it’s chick and glows fault! Get back you work you slackers! 

We spent the last month totally redoing the porch and deck.  Bring beer when you visit PBI.