May 6, 2022
Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. Read on for the latest updates.
US GDP falls
The US GDP fell 1.4% in the first quarter, the first time the economy has shrunk since early in the pandemic.
S&P 500 drops more than 13%
The S&P 500 had its worst four-month start to a year since 1939, falling more than 13% from January 1 to April. Both the Dow and the Nasdaq were also down over the start of 2022.
US expected to recover all jobs lost to Covid-19 by end of summer
A report by Fitch Ratings projects that the US will fully recover all jobs lost to Covid-19 by the end of summer 2022. As of now, the US is only 1.6 million jobs short of where it was in February 2020.
Small Business Week May 2-7
National Small Business Week is set for May 2-7. The theme for the week is “Building a Better America Through Entrepreneurship.” Events are free but participants must register for them.
Small business stabilization grants available across the US
Communities across the US are offering small business stabilization grants to help small business owners recover from losses related to the pandemic. These grants are typically between $5,000 and $10,000 and are available to business owners in a variety of industries.
Cybersecurity skills gap leads to breaches
A Fortinet survey of security professionals suggests that the vast majority of companies have had at least one cybersecurity breach that was linked to a lack of security skills or awareness.
CNN Plus shut down less than a month after launching
Only three weeks after CNN Plus was launched, CNN’s parent company announced it was stopping the $100 million venture. The streaming service had hired around 700 people for the launch. About half were expected to be affected by layoffs.
Federal Reserve plans to increase interest rates
The Federal Reserve intends to address inflation by increasing interest rates to somewhere between 2 and 3.5% percent. Despite the plans, global issues including supply chain problems, could keep inflation high.