“I got tickled by watching Governor Perry announce for governor, for president. He’s a good looking rascal.” Bill Clinton, talking about Rick Perry this morning at a firefighters’ conference. [Politicker NY]
A disappointing jobs report
The American jobs engine slowed markedly last month, confounding rosy forecasts of the pace of the recovery and sharpening debates over how best to revive a labor market that was severely weakened by the coronavirus pandemic.
Employers added 266,000 jobs in April, the government reported Friday, far below the vigorous gains registered in March. The jobless rate rose slightly to 6.1 percent, as more people rejoined the labor force.
… Economists had forecast an addition of about a million jobs. The increase for March was revised down to 770,000 from 916,000.
Full approval would allow the companies to market the vaccine directly to customers, and may make it easier for employers and schools to require vaccinations
Pfizer and the German company BioNTech have become the first companies to apply to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for full approval of their Covid-19 vaccine for use in people 16 and older. The vaccine is currently being administered to adults in America under an emergency use authorization granted in December.
The approval process is likely to take months.
The companies said in a statement on Friday that had submitted their clinical data, which includes six months of information on the vaccine’s safety and efficacy, to the F.D.A. They plan to submit additional material, including information about the manufacturing of the vaccine, in the coming weeks.
A DeSantis spokeswoman said the bill signing was a “Fox exclusive”
More positive news on the economy
Weekly jobless claims hit a fresh pandemic-era low for the fourth consecutive week, the Labor Department reported Thursday, with 498,000 Americans filing for initial unemployment benefits in the week that ended May 1.
That’s down 92,000 from last week’s upwardly revised level, the lowest figure since mid-March of last year. The streak of weekly declines, which started with a surprise drop in mid-April, suggests the recovery is gaining traction, pulling scores of workers back into the folds of the labor market as business restrictions continue to loosen and vaccinations pick up.
Already a subscriber? Log in or link your magazine subscription
Already a subscriber? Log in or link your magazine subscription
Already a subscriber? Log in or link your magazine subscription
Already a subscriber? Log in or link your magazine subscription