The NFIB Research Center released a Small Business Economic Trends Industry-specific survey highlighting the construction, manufacturing, retail, and services industries. NFIB released a previous quarterly report in May 2020. “Small businesses are working hard to stay open while they continue to navigate the coronavirus pandemic,” says Holly Wade, NFIB Director of Research … [More]
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July Home Price Appreciation Reached Highest Level Since 2018, Phoenix Tops Risk of Decline List
CoreLogic
CoreLogic, a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider, today released the CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI™) and HPI Forecast™ for July 2020. Nationally, home prices increased 5.5% in July 2020, compared with July 2019, and were up 1.2% compared to last month, when home prices increased 4.3%. In July, annual home price growth … [More]
Arizona Taking Action to Prepare for Dual COVID-19, Influenza Epidemics
State of Arizona Office of the Governor
As Arizona continues efforts to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19, state health agencies and the Governor’s Office are partnering with health care providers and businesses to prepare for the upcoming flu season. Governor Doug Ducey today was joined by leaders representing hospitals, pharmacies, doctors, nurses, public health, universities and more to announce a plan of action … [More]
Report: State of Hotel Industry 6 Months into COVID-19, Layoffs and Lowest Occupancy
American Hotel & Lodging Association
The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) released an analysis on the economic and human struggle of the hotel industry six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, with millions of employees still furloughed or laid off and travel demand lagging far behind normal levels. Key findings of the report include: Four out of 10 hotel employees are still not working. … [More]
Personal Income Increased 0.4% in July, Impacted by Spread of COVID-19
Bureau of Economic Analysis
Personal income increased $70.5 billion (0.4 percent) in July according to estimates released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Disposable personal income (DPI) increased $39.9 billion (0.2 percent) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $267.6 billion (1.9 percent). Real DPI decreased 0.1 percent in July and Real PCE increased 1.6 percent (tables 5 … [More]
As Schools Reopen, Questions about Eligibility for Paid Leave and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Come Up
U.S. Department of Labor
Today, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) and Employment and Training Administration (ETA) both published guidance related to the reopening of schools. WHD has released Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for workers and employers about qualifying for paid leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The new FAQs issued today … [More]
Nine Major Corporations and Brands Commit Funding to Help Implement Arizona’s Drought Contingency Plan
Rick McCartney
Business For Water Stewardship (BWS) announced the transfer of over $1.5 million in corporate and philanthropic funding to support Arizona’s efforts to increase water supply reliability through a system conservation project with the Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT). The funds were provided by leading corporations and brands including Intel Corp.; Microsoft; Cox; The … [More]
Gov. Ducey Deploys More Than 150 Arizona National Guard Troops to Support Public Safety in Wisconsin
State of Arizona Office of the Governor
In response to a request from the State of Wisconsin, more than 150 Arizona National Guard Citizen-Soldiers from the 850th Military Police Battalion have been activated and will be sent to support Wisconsin in the wake of recent unrest. The Arizona National Guard has been activated to surge law enforcement capacity in the State of Wisconsin to assist in providing a safe … [More]
Businesses to Reopen in Low COVID-19 Transmission-Level Counties, Cautioned to Comply
Arizona Department of Health Services
As of today, a total of 8 counties, Apache, Cochise, Coconino, La Paz, Maricopa, Navajo, Pima, and Yavapai, are in the moderate transmission level. Most counties that have yet to reach moderate benchmarks for COVID-19 have metrics moving in the right direction. One county, Greenlee, has reached the minimal transmission level. This is a credit to all of the things Arizonans … [More]
Weekly Jobless Claims Again Reach More Than 1 Million, Prolonging Economic Concerns
U.S. Department of Labor
In the week ending August 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 1,006,000, a decrease of 98,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 2,000 from 1,106,000 to 1,104,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,068,000, a decrease of 107,250 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average … [More]
GDP Decreased at Annual Rate of 31.7% in Q2, Says Updated Estimate
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Real gross domestic product (GDP) decreased at an annual rate of 31.7 percent in the second quarter of 2020 (table 1), according to the "second" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the first quarter, real GDP decreased 5.0 percent. The GDP estimate released today is based on more complete source data than were available for the "advance" estimate … [More]
Fed Shifts Policies for Longer Periods of Lower Interest Rates
Federal Reserve Board
Following an extensive review that included numerous public events across the country, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) on Thursday announced the unanimous approval of updates to its Statement on Longer-Run Goals and Monetary Policy Strategy, which articulates its approach to monetary policy and serves as the foundation for its policy actions. The updates reflect … [More]
Business Compliance Essential to Safely Resuming Operations, Reminds ADHS
Arizona Department of Health Services
With the state’s most-populous counties potentially progressing to the next phase of safely resuming business operations tomorrow, certain businesses will be able to join others already operating with reduced capacity and following other strict requirements to reduce the spread of COVID-19. For businesses to remain open, compliance with public health requirements is … [More]
More Than $10 Billion in Unemployment Benefits Issued During Pandemic in Arizona
Arizona Department of Economic Security
The Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) announced today it has distributed more than $10 billion in state Unemployment Insurance (UI),Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation(FPUC) and Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) since the week ending March 7, 2020. Last week,Arizona became the first state in the nation to begin issuing LWA. … [More]
EN NEGOCIOS: 7 estrategias comprobadas para ayudar a una pequeña empresa a crecer durante COVID-19
por Edgar R. Olivo
Recientemente, tuve una conversación sobre estrategias de ventas con el propietario de una pequeña empresa local que se vio afectada por la crisis de COVID-19 durante uno de nuestros grupos de emprendedores. Me preguntó: "¿Qué puedo hacer para hacer crecer mi negocio durante estos tiempos?", Le respondí, "volvemos a lo básico". Para mí, volver a lo básico significa … [More]
7 Proven Strategies to Help a Small Business Grow during COVID-19
by Edgar R. Olivo
During one of our entrepreneur groups recently, I was having a conversation about sales strategies with a local small-business owner who was impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. He asked, "What can I do to grow my business during these times?" I replied, "We go back to the basics." To me, going back to basics means focusing and building on the relationships with your clients and … [More]
BREAKING: Maricopa, Pima, and Pinal Counties Likely to Meet Moderate Benchmarks for Businesses to Reopen this Thursday
Arizona Department of Health Services
Over the last few months, Arizonans have worked together to help slow the spread of COVID-19. From wearing masks, physically distancing, and limiting congregating — their efforts have been a success and a model for the country. This responsible approach has resulted in three of our major counties progressing to the next phase of safely reopening. Based on current data, ADHS … [More]
One in Five Small Businesses Say They Will Have to Close Their Doors if Economic Conditions Don’t Improve in Next Six Months
NFIB
The NFIB Research Center released the latest COVID-19 related survey assessing the health crisis impact on small businesses. Congress is currently negotiating additional financial support for small businesses after the initial Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan period expired on August 8. If eligible, 44% of small businesses surveyed said they would apply or re-apply for a … [More]
