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2 NEW YORK (AP) — Despite a rise in COVID-19 cases Americans spent at a brisk pace last month, though much of that spending was done online and not at restaurants or other industries beleaguered by the arrival of the delta variant. Retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.7% in August from the month before, the U.S. Commerce Department said Thursday. That uptick caught economists looking for a downturn by surprise. Consensus estimates were for a decrease of 0.85%, according to a survey by FactSet. But the delta variant has changed where Americans spend their time and money. Online sales soared 5.3% last month, while sales at restaurants and bars, many of which believed they were through the worst of the pandemic until the arrival of delta, were flat from the month before. Earlier this year as millions were vaccinated, sales at restaurants, bars and other businesses that rely on crowds soared. But in July, health officials recommended that even …

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The gulf between record job openings and a lack of people taking those jobs is forcing Wall Street to reassess the pace of the economic recovery. Jobs were gutted during the pandemic and employment growth has been a closely watched gauge for investors. Increasing employment eventually results in increased consumer spending, which is the biggest driver of economic growth. Without the former, analysts have said, it will take longer than expected for the economy to operate at some semblance of a pre-pandemic normal. “That time horizon keeps getting extended,” said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. The Labor Department has reported that job openings reached 10.9 million in July, the most on record dating to 2000. Yet, there were roughly 8.7 million people considered unemployed during that same month, which is the biggest gap of its kind between available jobs and the unemployed since the Labor Department started keeping track of job openings …

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Global warming is likely to cause abrupt changes to communities of algae that are “essential” for maintaining a healthy ecosystem for ocean life, with the UK likely to be “severely affected” by the changes, according to research. A new study, published in the journal Nature Communications , has found that the climate crisis could lead to shifting biodiversity “break point” boundaries in oceans as the warmer hemisphere extends. The so-called “break points” are areas where the upper ocean temperature is around 15 degrees on an annual average, separating cold and warm waters. The research from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the Earlham Institute in Norwich suggests that changes in microbial diversity due to warming will happen more abruptly at these points, potentially causing major problems for marine ecosystems. However, researchers believe that the changes could be prevented if governments act swiftly to halt the climate crisis. Recommended …

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It has not always been easy to get behind the billionaires’ space race . Let them have their midlife crisis. Some of us have taxes to pay. If Jeff Bezos , Elon Musk and Richard Branson want to get as far away from our planet as possible, at the greatest expense imaginable, well, good luck – and good riddance. You go on ahead, lads, we’ll be right behind you. It’s all just so embarrassing. But then SpaceX , Musk’s space company, goes and does something really quite remarkable and you have to stand back and applaud, while picking crumbs of humble pie off your jersey. It sucks. At 8pm last night in Florida (1am BST, Thursday), SpaceX successfully launched the first all-civilian crew into orbit. The four-person team, led by billionaire Jared Isaacman, will spend three days orbiting Earth at an altitude of 575km, which I’m told is 150km higher than the International Space Station and the highest any human has flown since the Space Shuttle missions. Not only that, …

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The last three weeks have been exciting if you are an avid tennis fan, like we are in our family. But even if you aren’t, you couldn’t have escaped the excitement of the US open final last weekend as Emma Raducanu , an 18-year-old British player, became the first qualifier to ever win a grand slam tournament – coming through the rounds undefeated. Her victory has not only brought immense joy and pride for all here in the UK, especially during such bleak times, but also it is a great victory for women’s sports in terms of representation to inspire young girls into sports. Even my five-year-old watched her match, excitedly told everyone about Emma’s victory at tennis the next morning, and also reminded us that she played better than Emma, and could probably beat her “easy-peasy”. She has been only learning to play tennis for a few months, and it is far too early for her to aspire to be a professional tennis player, but already she could see what was possible with hard …

Continue Reading about All these references to Emma Raducanu’s smile make me uneasy – we wouldn’t say the same of a man →

The World Bank’s newly updated “Groundswell” report is the bleakest picture yet of the number of people who will be forced to move if the climate emergency continues unchecked. Weeks after the IPCC declaration of a “code red for humanity” , it is yet another wake-up call on the consequences of a heating world, and the human suffering it will magnify. We already know that more people than ever are displaced – over 80 million around the world. Now climate-linked movement is starting to take place in powerful countries too, with people forced from their homes by wildfires in the United States and Australia. And the UK is not immune – either from increased river and coastal flooding, or indeed from government and private sector complicity in the climate crisis. The World Bank ’s warnings are a call to action. Governments are responding to these messages, but in a profoundly damaging way. States that have grown addicted and accustomed to solving problems with walls …

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After being closed for more than a year, California’s Disneyland has reopened, and immediately sparked a row over its new ride, Snow White ’s Enchanted Wish, which features an animatronic recreation of the moment in which the prince kisses the sleeping Snow White. In a review of the new ride for San Francisco publication SFGATE , editor Katie Dowd and contributor Julie Tremaine wrote: “Haven’t we already agreed that consent in early Disney movies is a major issue? That teaching kids that kissing, when it hasn’t been established if both parties are willing to engage, is not OK? It’s hard to understand why the Disneyland of 2021 would choose to add a scene with such old fashioned ideas of what a man is allowed to do to a woman.” It seems to me that this is one of those things that on the face of it appears to be a massive overreaction (I mean, it’s just Snow White, for goodness sake!) and on the other hand, not an overreaction at all. Writers know well that if …

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I am an Abby stan. That statement alone is one of the most controversial among gamers right now after the release of The Last of Us Part II , T he much-hyped sequel to 2013's runaway hit The Last of Us and the most divisive gaming release thus far this year. Like its predecessor, the game has been lauded as a critical darling and broke multiple sales records since its 19 June release on PS4 . But its hype has been overshadowed by a loud and determinedly misogynistic subset of consumers. Their target? Abby. A new antagonist turned heroine and playable character who sports a muscled and stocky physique to rival the toughest men in the game. Recommended The Last Of Us Part 2 becomes UK's biggest PS4 launch ever The Last of Us Part II is a bleak and beautiful triumph – review What does The Last of Us Part II’s LGBT representation mean for games? Naughty Dog boss says The Last of Us Part 3 could be next project …

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Sports stars and clubs across the world continue to provide an insight into their lives on social media. Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the best examples from September 12. Tennis Emma Raducanu made room for some extra luggage. Recommended Leylah Fernandez: Who is Emma Raducanu’s US Open final opponent? Raducanu vs Fernandez live stream: How to watch US Open final The good times never felt so good. Raducanu’s number one celebrity fan paid tribute to her rock’n’roll tennis. Many more congratulations poured in. Football Cristiano Ronaldo thanked the Manchester United fans after his spectacular second debut. His heroics were not forgotten. Former England Women striker Lianne Sanderson enjoyed Ronaldo’s homecoming. Romelu Lukaku was still celebrating his brace. A Titanic celebration from Erling …

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“Just make sure you don’t hire any woman who looks like she might get pregnant.” I was so taken aback by the words coming out of the mouth of my then-colleague that I said nothing. Instead I meekly nodded and tried to work out how one would even go about ascertaining whether any potential female employee might decide to start a family. The memory makes me angry, but less at his behaviour and more at my own cowardice. My pathetic response – silent rage rather than throwing my glass of water over him, citing the 2010 Equality Act and going on a hiring spree at the nearest maternity ward – was perhaps indicative of how unsurprising sexism in the workplace still is. Shocking, yes, surprising, no. Yes, we have had equal pay laws in England for more than 50 years, laws against discrimination of this kind for more than a decade, and now all companies with more than 250 employees are required by law to report their gender pay gap. But this doesn’t mean an insidious culture of …

Continue Reading about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez being subjected to sexism at work is no surprise to any female employee →