The U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division’s (WHD) Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) Program continues to provide an avenue to get workers the wages they are owed, bring employers into compliance and accomplish both goals with an efficiency that saves taxpayers money, with more than $7 million in back wages found for more than 11,000 … [More]
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U.S. Consumer Prices Up More Than Expected in June
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.6 percent in June on a seasonally adjusted basis after falling 0.1 percent in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 0.6 percent before seasonal adjustment. The gasoline index rose sharply in June after recent declines and accounted … [More]
First Responders Get Mental Health Support from Crisis Fund
State of Arizona Office of the Governor
Governor Doug Ducey today announced $120,000 for Heal the Hero Foundation, supporting its work to mitigate the mental health impacts facing first responders during COVID-19. Heal the Hero Foundation offers technology-based mental health support—along with community education, research and training—for veterans, first responders and abuse survivors. The foundation also provides … [More]
Campaign amid Pandemic to Promote Workers’ Rights
U.S. Department of Labor
The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the launch of a public awareness campaign to remind workers that the Department’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is committed to ensuring their workplace rights during the coronavirus pandemic and to ensure that employers know their responsibilities. WHD’s campaign uses public service announcements in English and Spanish to provide … [More]
SBA Provided $20 Billion to Small Businesses and Nonprofits, EIDL Program to End
U.S. Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration announced the conclusion and success of the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Advance program, which provided U.S. small businesses, non-profits and agricultural businesses a total of $20 billion in emergency funding. In order to assist the greatest number of small businesses, the EIDL Advance provided $1,000 per employee up to a … [More]
Feed Phoenix Initiative to Feed Underserved Families Launched
Local First Arizona
The city of Phoenix is putting CARES Act dollars to work by bringing high-quality meals to vulnerable populations across the city. The city has contracted Local First Arizona Foundation to recruit local restaurants, farmers, and food entrepreneurs to help prepare these meals in order to sustain local jobs and supply chains, strengthen the local food economy, and most … [More]
Governor Orders New Actions to Contain COVID-19
State of Arizona Office of the Governor
Governor Doug Ducey today announced additional actions to contain the spread of COVID-19, including the signing of an Executive Order that requires restaurants with indoor seating to operate at less than 50 percent capacity. Today’s announcement to limit capacity at restaurants comes in addition to recent action taken by the Governor to prohibit large gatherings, cease the … [More]
Collaboration Meant to Vastly Expand COVID-19 Testing Capacity in Arizona
State of Arizona Office of the Governor
A strategic collaboration with Sonora Quest Laboratories, the market share leader in diagnostics laboratory testing in Arizona, the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) and PerkinElmer, Inc. (NYSE: PKI), a global leader committed to innovating for a healthier world, to expand testing in Arizona. The collaboration helps catapult COVID-19 diagnostic testing capacity well … [More]
ADHS and ASU Announce Partnership to Increase COVID-19 Testing in Arizona
State of Arizona Office of the Governor
The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) and Arizona State University (ASU) announced a new partnership today that will increase COVID-19 diagnostic testing in Arizona. ASU will launch several testing sites that will provide free saliva diagnostic testing for COVID-19 in high-need underserved communities around the state. The testing will begin this Saturday, July 11 in … [More]
DES Distributed more than $5.7 Billion in Unemployment Insurance and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
Arizona Department of Economic Security
The Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) announced today it has distributed more than $5.7 billion in state unemployment insurance (UI) and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) since the week ending March 7, 2020. During that period, nearly 323,000 Arizonans received UI benefits and 557,000 Arizonans received PUA benefits. More than $722 million was issued to … [More]
Unemployment Continues Pressure on Economy with 1.3M Claims Last Week
U.S. Department of Labor
In the week ending July 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claimswas 1,314,000, a decrease of 99,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 14,000 from 1,427,000 to 1,413,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,437,250, a decrease of 63,000 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was … [More]
Health and Safety is Top Priority for Travel Industry with ‘Safe Stay’ Commitment
American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute
As Americans begin to travel, the hotel industry is coming together to ensure all guests and staff can remain safe and comfortable. Long before COVID-19, hotels were dedicated to cleaning at the highest standards. AHLA launched Safe Stay, an industry-wide, enhanced standard of health and safety protocols to prepare America’s hotels to safely welcome back guests and employees as … [More]
Startup Launches to Administer On-Site COVID-19 Testing for Arizona Businesses
COVID Testing To You
With COVID-19 cases spiking just as businesses are beginning to recover from shutdowns, many Arizona employers are facing very real risks in reopening. One local startup, however, may be able to help. With on-site COVID-19 testing available to local businesses with at least 10 tested employees, COVID Testing To You is an affordable and scalable way for employers to manage … [More]
$600,000 for Arizona Small Business to Help Support and Navigate Assistance
State of Arizona Office of the Governor
Governor Doug Ducey announced $600,000 to fund the launch of Arizona Small Business Association’s (ASBA) Live Local program, providing training for small businesses that will help them navigate the assistance and resources available during #COVID19, expanding mentoring and internship programs, and more. “We want small businesses to have the support and guidance they need … [More]
EN NEGOCIOS: Lo que las pequeñas empresas necesitan saber sobre el nuevo acuerdo comercial T-MEC (USMCA)
por Edgar R. Olivo
A medida que la pandemia revela las debilidades en la economía global, surge una nueva oportunidad para los propietarios de pequeñas empresas en los Estados Unidos que planean hacer crecer sus negocios a través de las fronteras de Canadá y México con el Tratado entre Mexico-Estados Unidos-Canadá o T-MEC, que entró en vigor el 1 de julio de 2020. Pero, muchas pequeñas empresas … [More]
What Small Businesses Need to Know about the New USMCA Trade Agreement
by Edgar R. Olivo
As the pandemic reveals the vulnerabilities in the global economy, a new opportunity emerges for small-business owners in the United States who plan to grow their business across the Canadian and Mexican borders with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, which went into effect on July 1, 2020. But, many small businesses in the United States are still unaware of … [More]
Prepare for a Cooldown: Report Says Home Prices Were Up in May, Could Slump over the Summer
CoreLogic HPI Forecasts
CoreLogic®, a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider, today released the CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI™) and HPI Forecast™ for May 2020. Nationally, home prices increased by 4.8%, compared with May 2019. Home prices increased 0.7% in May 2020 compared with April of this year. Strong home purchase demand in the first quarter of … [More]
Phoenix Zoo Closes, Citing ‘Health and Safety of Our Community’ as Top Priority
Phoenix Zoo
The Phoenix Zoo has been closely monitoring the COVID-19 crisis in Arizona. Given the continued rapid increase in COVID-19 cases, and after much deliberation and careful consideration for the well-being of our staff, guests, animals and the community, we have made the difficult decision to close our doors once again to foot traffic effective immediately. While the safety … [More]
