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Economics in the News - Nov. 2-8 HOW ECONOMICS IMPACTS OUR LIVES ON A DAILY BASIS

Economics impacts our lives every day. Below are some of the top storylines from this past week related to economics.

"There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: make the best quality goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible." -- Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Motor Company.
Numerous media outlets have called the 2020 Presidential Election in favor of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Biden will become the 46th President of the United States. Harris will become the first female Vice-President, the first African American Vice-President and the first person of South-Asian descent to be Vice-President.

The announcement came after days of vote counting in several battleground states, including in Pennsylvania where the Associated Press formally called the state for Biden late Saturday morning. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has yet to concede the election, amid false claims of voter fraud and numerous lawsuits. World leaders reacted to the news with an outpouring of support for President-elect Biden, and how they are looking forward to creating stronger ties with the United States, fight the coronavirus pandemic and re-build the world economy. [TIME]

As President-elect Joe Biden prepares to begin in the White House, companies are managing the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and altering the ways they’re conducting business. What does a Biden presidency mean for business? How might industries be impacted?

Industries and businesses prepare for new policies under a Biden Administration. The article explores how the next administration could shape key industries and the scrutiny they might face. [The Wall Street Journal]

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated shopping habits to online. Grocers have seen an even greater increase and changing consumer needs. Online grocery sales in August were up 74% from a year earlier.

Supermarkets are changing their habits and investing more in technology to fill their customer’s needs. However, the digital technology is less profitable for grocers than in-person shopping because of the costs to fill and deliver orders. Some grocers have laid out plans to expand pickup stations and building more self-checkout kiosks in order to help lower the costs. [The Wall Street Journal]

California voters approved Proposition 22, which allows gig economy companies, such as Uber, Lyft and DoorDash, to continue treating drivers as independent contractors. The companies will not become subject of having to employ drivers, providing health insurance and unemployment insurance. As a concession, the drivers will be paid a new minimum wage and receive limited benefits.

The vote opens a path that could re-shape labor laws throughout the country. It rejected the 2018 California State Supreme Court ruling and subsequent 2019 state law that stated that drivers who performed a company’s regular tasks should be treated as employees. [The New York Times]

American companies hired at a strong pace in October, according to figures provided by the Labor Department. Employers added 638,000 workers to jobs and the unemployment rate declined to 6.9%. However, millions remain unemployed.

Hiring increased in retail, including online. However, companies added more than 100,000 temporary workers, showing signs of uncertainty. The jobs report indicates that the economic recovery from the coronavirus-induced recession remains positive and society is adapting to living with the pandemic. [Associated Press]

Have you lost your job due to the COVID-19 pandemic and don’t know what to do? Millions of Americans remain out of work since businesses were forced to layoff workers, as businesses were forced to shutdown in mid-March. Millions of Americans remain out of work.

Experts warn that it may take two and a half years before the economy recovers all of the jobs that were lost. What steps should a person unemployed take? Bankrate provides 13 recommendations. [Bankrate]

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All photos provided by iStock