The latest inflation data offers a snapshot of Americans' new pandemic spending habits. Prices are down for most goods and services but up sharply for groceries.Read More
Business & Economy
Health officials in Kittitas County have found at least one new positive case of COVID-19: a worker at a Twin City Foods processing plant in Ellensburg. The news came Friday after more than three weeks of no new confirmed cases. That plus the county’s low population made Kittitas County eligible to lift social distancing measures earlier than other parts of the state.Read More
The current estimated unemployment rate far exceeds the 10 percent peak reached in the Great Recession in 2009. It is the most devastating loss of jobs since the Great Depression, when economists estimate the unemployment rate reached 25 percent in 1933. Read More
For the second time in a month, opponents of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s extended “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order – many of them openly carrying firearms – rallied at the state Capitol Saturday in an event that brought together sign-waving citizens, conservative state legislators, Republican and Libertarian candidates for public office and members of far-right groups.Read More
U.S. employers shed a record number of jobs in April, as the unemployment rate climbed to the highest since the Great Depression. The coronavirus crisis has locked down much of the economy.Read More
Tenino, a small town in Thurston County, Washington, has approved a plan to print its own money on strips of wood. Again. It’s a response to the COVID-19 crisis that’s modeled after how the town responded to a prior crisis — the Great Depression.Read More
Not-so-small companies like Shake Shack and organizations like the LA Lakers were able to get loans that were meant for suffering small businesses. What happened?Read More
An unprecedented number of ships have canceled their calls to the ports of Seattle and Tacoma. So far this year, there have been 32 canceled international sailings since January 1. That has created the shortage of shipping containers at those Northwest ports.Read More
The House Judiciary Committee has threatened to subpoena Amazon founder Jeff Bezos if he does not voluntarily address the company possibly misleading Congress in earlier testimony.Read More
Washington's 'stay home' order will extend until at least May 31. On Friday, Gov. Jay Inslee announced the new time frame and that businesses will be able to open over four phases.Read More
Idaho Governor Brad Little kicked off the process Thursday of “re-opening” the state after five weeks of “stay home, stay healthy” measures to help stem the spread of coronavirus.Read More
Another 3.8 million people filed claims for unemployment last week, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to weigh on the U.S. job market. That brought the total for the past 6 weeks to 30.3 million.Read More
The economy contracted in the first quarter of 2020 as the coronavirus began to take its toll and spending dived. It's the first quarterly drop in six years and a likely precursor to a deep recession.Read More
Homeowners say that to catch up on payments, lenders demand big balloon payments they can't afford. Advocates want Congress to mandate that missed payments simply be added to the end of the loan term.Read More
Bankers tell NPR that the SBA's portal wouldn't allow them to enter the loan application information that is needed to access the PPP program.Read More
Coal use has plummeted in part because it's more expensive than natural gas or renewable energy. Mines are shutting down, and some power plants may run out of places to stockpile coal. Read More
Fishing, hunting and golfing can resume on May 5 in Washington, at which time people can also return to state parks and other state lands for day trips, Gov. Jay Inslee announced Monday.Read More
Entertainment companies Live Nation and AEG have modified their refund policies for postponed events. Getting money back would depend on whether a concert or a game has a firm rescheduled date.Read More
The biggest item in the $484 billion measure is roughly $321 billion in additional funding for a small-business loan program. President Trump signed the legislation on Friday. Read More
Idaho Gov. Brad Little has announced a four-stage plan for re-opening the state’s businesses and communities after closures due to the coronavirus. The first stage is scheduled to take effect May 1.Read More
While some elements of a farmers market are allowed — selling food and soap — other parts are not considered an “essential business” under Washington and Idaho’s orders. That means no more live music. No more kids’ activities. No seats. No touching the produce.Read More
The number of people forced out of work during the coronavirus lockdown keeps soaring. Last week, 4.4 million people filed for jobless benefits, boosting the total since last month to 26 million.Read More
President Trump and others criticized "elite, wealthy institutions" for money allocated to them by a federal package. Read More
Public health experts say finding and isolating coronavirus patients will be key to re-opening public life. That's going to take a lot of work.Read More
The CEO of the National Rifle Association says legal troubles have cost the powerful gun rights group $100 million, according to a recording of the group's board meeting obtained by NPR.Read More
Demonstrations from Olympia to Richland in Washington, to Sandpoint to Moscow to Boise in Idaho, have been organized by people flouting social distancing measures put in place for public health and to slow the spread of coronavirus.Read More
More than 20 states designated marijuana businesses essential during the coronavirus shutdown. Cannabis activists say it's a remarkable development, given that it remains illegal under federal law. Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has been called “an example of effective crisis leadership.” Not all Washingtonians agree that Inslee has done well — especially the people who want his job.Read More
Fresh numbers of initial claims for jobless benefits showed some moderation in the past week in the staggering wave of layoffs across the Northwest caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But the level of unemployment claims continues to hover at record levels, as reported Thursday by the state labor and employment departments of Washington, Idaho and Oregon.Read More
The number of people filing for unemployment climbed by another 5.2 million, as the toll of the nation's economic dive continues to mount. In the past four weeks, 22 million have filed claims.Read More
After weeks of extraordinary efforts to slow the spread of the new coronavirus and prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed, Washington state officials are beginning to talk more openly about easing social distancing restrictions and a sequential unlocking of the economy.Read More
The IRS said the economic relief payments "are going out on schedule, as planned, without delay." The Washington Post reported that Trump's name would be included on the checks, an unprecedented step.Read More
With President Donald Trump suggesting he has authority to unilaterally re-open businesses around the country, West Coast governors on Monday presented a united front, saying they’ll only lift restrictions when public health data suggests they can.Read More
Facing economic peril in 2009, "Sheriff Joe" Biden was in charge of how federal stimulus dollars were spent. It's experience he may compare with President Trump's response to the coronavirus.Read More
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is working with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to see how wage rates for immigrant farmworkers can be reduced. Critics say it will hurt all workers.Read More
Construction industry advocates are asking Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to allow more home building to continue under his “stay home, stay healthy” order meant to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.Read More
There are hundreds of thousands of additional jobless workers waiting in the wings to file claims, including part-time and gig economy workers and self-employed who qualify under expanded federal benefits. But they are temporarily frozen out. The wait for overloaded unemployment systems to catch up is leaving some of them frustrated or anxious.Read More
The number of people seeking jobless benefits shot up again last week, as 6.6 million more of the unemployed filed first-time claims. Much of the economy has shut down, leaving millions out of work.Read More
The ventilators will be delivered to the national stockpile by August. The contract, worth nearly $500 million, is the first ventilator order placed using the Defense Production Act.Read More
The coronavirus pandemic continues to make its presence known in all facets of daily life, including agriculture. That extends to some supply and demand economics lessons for Northwest apple and potato growers.Read More
The COVID-19 pandemic is taking a terrible toll on the world's economy, with lockdown measures now affecting the livelihood of almost 2.7 billion workers, according to a new report.Read More
Airbus and Boeing halt production of its jets because of the coronavirus. Orders for new planes have fallen as air travel has plummeted due to the pandemic.Read More
Spring work starts up, ready or not. And Northwest growers are scrambling to figure out how to work around the global coronavirus pandemic and still bring in the coming harvest. Read More
In anticipation of state revenues cratering because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Friday vetoed more than $200 million of new spending from the supplemental budget passed by state lawmakers last month.Read More
As coronavirus pandemic shutters small businesses across the Northwest, business owners are bracing for a wave of insurance denials. That’s because insurers have been telling businesses that coronavirus losses don’t count.Read More
This time frame is longer than the estimate that Treasury Secretary Mnuchin gave when he negotiated the program for cash payments with congressional leaders. Read More
The governor outlined a three-tier law enforcement response system for violations of the order, which could amount to a gross misdemeanor. A first offense would result in a warning. But consequences thereafter would become more serious.Read More
Rent is due this week. But with stay-home orders in both Washington and Idaho, shuttered businesses and a troubled economy, some people wonder if they’ll get evicted if they don’t pay. In Washington, a moratorium on evictions gives protection to renters hit hard by the COVID outbreak. Idaho has no such moratorium, but a recent court order may protect them.Read More
The federal government is throwing $2 trillion at the coronavirus problem. Banks and other lenders are doing things to assist people on top of that. Here's your survival kit for how to get the help that's available and be in the best financial shape possible as you weather this storm.Read More
Under the plan, single people earning incomes below $75,000 will receive as much as $1,200. The White House says it will issue funds in three weeks but experts say it could take months for some.Read More
