U.S. household wealth increased to a high of $141.7 trillion at the end of June, fueled by soaring equity markets that added over $3.5 trillion to household assets and the pandemic real estate boom. A White House economic analysis showed the wealthiest Americans pay much less in taxes than others. The analysis comes as President Joe Biden pushes to increase taxes on the rich to fund his economic agenda as part of his $3.5 trillion domestic policy plan.

Why Reparations Are Needed to Close the Racial Wealth Gap - The New York Times

Democratic Leaders Scramble to Find Areas of Agreement on $3.5 Trillion Spending Bill - The Wall Street Journal

U.S. debt default could wipe out 6 million jobs and $15 trillion in wealth, Moody's says - CBS News

First-time jobless claims jumped to 351,000 last week, the highest level in a month and well above the 320,000 Dow Jones estimate. Continuing claims data also increased by 181,000 to 2.84 million as the number of people receiving benefits fell sharply with federal programs slowing. Stock Futures wavered Friday despite the uptick in jobless claims and worries surrounding the Evergrande debt crisis in China.

Labor shortages in US: Most, least impacted areas in the country - Fox Business

The Delta variant is keeping the US economy from getting back to normal - CNN

@carlquintanilla: JPMORGAN: “Since mid-June .. we have failed to find large effects in those states that ended benefits early in terms of regular jobless claims, alt-data indicators such as OpenTable dining and Google searches for ‘jobs’ .. state-level jobs and earnings growth ..”

New York City became the first U.S. city to take aggressive steps towards improving food delivery employees’ working conditions by approving legislation that will set minimum pay and address the dangerous conditions for app-based food delivery workers. Pandemic lockdowns exploded the use of the food delivery industry, with the number of delivery workers rising to over 80,000.

DoorDash now lets customers order alcohol - CNBC

DoorDash Said to Lead Round in Flink at $2.1 Billion Value - Bloomberg

@DanPriceSeattle: New York passed nation-leading protections for app delivery drivers: *Can use bathroom at restaurants *They get to keep tips *Minimum pay for trips. And that's the BEST in the nation. The gig economy really is like working in the year 1921

California Gov. Gavin Newson signed legislation addressing the working conditions for warehouse workers like Amazon by establishing new standards for companies to disclose productivity quotas. The legislation promises workers cannot be retaliated against for failing to meet an unsafe quota. It also bars the use of algorithms preventing workers from taking breaks, endangering their health and safety. E-commerce popularity skyrocketed throughout the pandemic with Amazon profits increasing nearly 200% since early 2020.

New demographic data shows continued divide at Amazon - Reuters

E-commerce fulfillment trends evolve in wake of pandemic - Talk Business and Politics

As kids return to school and workers return back to the office, the childcare industry is unable to accommodate a continuing spike in demand. The pandemic pushed upwards of 2.1 million women aged 25 to 54 out of the labor force with only half returning, but the rebound is driven by women with a college education. The child-care crisis has become a global economic debacle.

‘Can’t Compete’: Why Hiring for Child Care Is a Huge Struggle - The New York Times

Female MBA Grads Earn $11,000 Less Than Male Peers, Study Finds - Bloomberg

Australia, Germany, Canada offer blueprints for easing US childcare crisis - Fortune

@RepSylviaGarcia: Child care facilities are struggling, and that hurts both working families and child care providers. These are vital industries, and they need support. That's why we need to pass the #BuildBackBetter Act and build the #CareEconomy that works for everyone

"Ordering in: The rapid evolution of food delivery" -