Grant: Inclusive Backing Grant, National ACE + American Express, Cycle 1 Application Deadline: November 29, 2021
To back underrepresented small business owners as they navigate the pandemic and plan for long-term success and resilience, American Express is partnering with Main Street America to launch a $1.65M year-round grant program called Inclusive Backing. More than 250 grants of $5,000 each will be awarded in four cycles over 12 months to small business owners in older or historic commercial districts across the country, with priority given to businesses that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
In partnership with DisabilityIN and National ACE Foundation, the first grant cycle will provide grants to both small business owners with disabilities and/or those who identify as Asian, Asian American, and/or Pacific Islander. Membership in Main Street America is not required to be eligible for the Program. Click Here to Learn More + Apply
COVID-19 Small Business Rent Relief- LA County Internal Services Department- Application Period: November 17 - November 28, 2021. Utilizing American Rescue Plan (“ARP”) Act of 2021 funds, Los Angeles County is launching the Small Business Rent Relief Project (“SBRR”). The National Development Council (NDC) as Subrecipient shall assist the County in administering and deploying up to $7.5 million in ARP Act funds to provide rental assistance to qualified small businesses tenants in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County of up to $40,000 who have been unable to pay rent due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Project funds shall be paid directly to the qualified small business tenant to pay for past rent due during the time period of March 4, 2020, to the present. Click Here to Learn More + Apply
Cases: The number of COVID-19-positive patients in Los Angeles County hospitals tumbled below the 600 mark again Saturday, but health officials continue to fret about a possible surge in cases with the approaching winter holidays.
According to state figures, there were 584 COVID patients in county hospitals as of Friday, down from 611 on Thursday. Of those hospitalized, 144 were in intensive care, down from 148 a day earlier.
Another 26 COVID-19 deaths were reported Friday, giving the county a virus-related death toll of 26,973. The county Department of Public Health also announced 1,612 new infections, although 390 of those cases were the result of a backlog in positive test results, some of which dated back to November 2020. The newly announced cases gave the county a cumulative total from throughout the pandemic of 1,516,901.
The rolling average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus also remained low, at 0.9%.
Health officials locally and nationally continue to fear a spike in cases with the upcoming winter holidays, and with colder weather leading to more indoor gatherings.
On Thursday, county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer noted that the county appears to have avoided any spike in cases following Halloween, attributing that success to higher numbers of vaccinated residents and other precautions.
But she said case numbers are rising in many Western states and in Europe, providing an early warning of what could lie ahead if people become lax about virus prevention.
On Friday, Ferrer urged residents to receive booster doses of vaccine.
“While the vaccines continue to provide significant protection against the virus, data now shows that the effectiveness of the vaccine declines enough over time that it is important to get an additional dose to have better protection against the virus,” she said. “With booster doses currently available to anyone who received their second dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines at least six months ago, or received a Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least two months ago, it is important that healthcare workers and those they care for take advantage of easy access to these additional doses.
Ferrer said Thursday that current figures show unvaccinated people are nine times more likely than vaccinated people to get infected, and 67 times more likely to be hospitalized.
Ferrer said 82% of county residents aged 12 and over have received at least one dose of COVID vaccine, and 73% are fully vaccinated. Of the county’s overall population of 10.3 million people, 71% have received at least one dose, and 63% are fully vaccinated.
She said the number of people who received a first dose of vaccine in the past week jumped up sharply, due primarily to the expansion of vaccine availability to include children aged 5-11.
Black residents continue to have the lowest vaccination rates, at 54%, followed by Latina/o residents at 59%, whites at 72% and Asians at 80%.
Of the roughly 5.99 million residents who were fully vaccinated as of Nov. 16, 75,249 have subsequently tested positive for the virus, for a rate of 1.26%, Ferrer said. Of the vaccinated population, 2,528 have been hospitalized, for a rate of 0.042%, and 422 have died, a rate of 0.007%.
Boosters: All adults in the U.S. who received two doses of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines at least six months ago are now eligible for a booster shot.
In a widely expected move, the F.D.A. authorized the boosters Friday morning. Hours later, the C.D.C. followed suit.
The moves simplify eligibility, fulfill a pledge by President Biden to offer the shots to every American adult and formalize what is already happening in at least 10 states.
But many experts are skeptical that boosters can turn the tide on coronavirus cases, in part because the shots aren’t getting to the vulnerable people who need them most. More than 85 percent of the adult population is already eligible for an extra dose, but only about 17 percent has chosen to get one.
Moderna is expected to soon submit its own request for the FDA to broaden eligibility for its booster. But for now, every adult could get the Pfizer booster, according to people familiar with the planning.
The broad booster authorization has been viewed as something of a fait accompli for weeks. Some state and local officials have begun rolling out similar policies ahead of FDA action — responding to persistent virus case counts and the eagerness of many Americans to seek additional protectionahead of holiday gatherings.
California encouraged local health providers to expand access last week, and Arkansas, Colorado and New Mexico have also moved to expand access. New York City health officials on Monday encouraged all adults who want boosters to seek them out.
Americans are ramping up their retail spending: Americans largely shrugged off higher prices last month and stepped up their spending at retail stores and online, providing a boost to the economy.
Buoyed by solid hiring, healthy pay gains and substantial savings, Americans ramped up their spending at retail stores and online shops last month. Some of the increase reflected the impact of higher prices, and there were signs that Americans have started to seek out cheaper options.
Yet the October gain the government reported Tuesday was solid enough for most economists to anticipate holiday shopping jumping by a record amount this year.
The data also illustrates a key factor behind the supply chain backups that have left dozens of ships waiting to unload at U.S. ports: Americans are buying a tremendous amount of goods, from appliances to electronics to furniture. Retail and food service sales have surged 16.3% compared with a year ago. That is a record high excluding several months during the spring when federal stimulus checks caused sharp spikes in spending.
From September to October, retail sales jumped 1.7%, the U.S. Commerce Department said Tuesday. That was the biggest month-to-month gain since
March and was up from a 0.8% increase from August to September.
The increase occurred just as retailers face a host of challenges. Many have had to sharply raise pay to find and keep workers, thereby increasing their labor costs. And some are scrambling amid overwhelmed supply chains to keep their shelves stocked.
“Even with all these problems, we’re still on track here for a banner year,” said Tim Quinlan, an economist at Wells Fargo.
After adjusting for inflation, Quinlan estimates that retail sales in November and December will be 10% higher than a year earlier, which would be the biggest such gain in seven years.
Last month, sales soared 3.8% at electronics and appliance stores and 4% among online retailers. Those increases suggested that many Americans are already doing their holiday shopping, possibly to avoid higher prices and supply shortages closer to the holidays.
Following a lull in September, California employers bounced back in a big way last month as they added 96,800 new jobs and lowered the state’s unemployment rate to 7.3% New data released Friday showed job gains across all but one employment sector, led by white-collar jobs in management and administration and additional hiring in restaurants and hotels. Government was the only sector to decline, shedding 4,000 jobs for the month.
California — the nation’s most populous state with nearly 40 million residents — accounted for 18.2% of the nation’s total job gains in October. Since February, California has averaged more than 100,000 new jobs each month.
Los Angeles County’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dipped to 9.4%, down from a revised 9.9% in September, according to the Employment Development Department. The rate in October 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, was 12.4%.
In Orange County, where seasonally adjusted numbers were not available, the October jobless rate was 5%, the same as September.
The unemployment rate for the Inland Empire was 6.3% in October, down from a revised 6.6% in September and well below the year-ago estimate of 9.4%.
Southern California’s housing market cooled since last spring’s crazed homebuying frenzy. But not much. Agents say they get fewer offers, but there are still bidding wars. Sales are closer to the asking price, but many homes still sell above asking. Some buyers still are waiving inspection or appraisal contingencies or letting the sellers stay a month or two rent-free after closing.
And home prices continue to rise, setting another record in October, DQ News/CoreLogic reported Thursday. The median price for a Southern California home, or price at the midpoint of all sales, hit $690,000 in October, the report said. That’s up $85,000, or 14%, in the 12 months ending in October. It marked the eighth month this year that Southern California’s median price set a record and the 12th since pandemic lockdowns began in March 2020. At the past year’s pace, price hikes averaged about $1,600 a week since October 2020.
Record median home prices also were recorded in Orange County ($920,000) and Riverside County ($535,000). At $465,000, San Bernardino County’s median tied the record set in August.
All six Southern California counties also recorded double-digit year-over-year price gains last month.
Hepp also noted there has been a continued shift in sales toward higherpriced homes, which skews the median upward.
On the other hand, October home sales decreased to 22,837 transactions, down 1,623 homes or 6.6% from October 2020 levels, DQ News/ CoreLogic figures show.
Despite the decline, last month’s sales still were 9% above the pre-pandemic level in 2019 and 10% above the average for the nine years since the housing crash ended in 2012.
Homes averaged 12 days on the market last month before going into escrow, Zillow figures show. That’s up from eight days in the Inland Empire last spring and from 10 days in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Essentially up, but only a notch.
By comparison, homes took 23 days to sell in L.A. and Orange counties in October 2019 and 27 days in the Inland Empire.
Southern California home listings slowly began to rise last winter, reaching a peak of 43,024 homes for sale in September, Zillow figures show. But then listings dropped to 41,831 homes for sale in October.
Listings are 15% below October 2020 levels, leaving home shoppers with fewer homes to compete over.
Low mortgage rates are drawing more home shoppers to the market. The average rate for a 30-year mortgage slipped below 3% last week for the fifth time on record.
In Orange County, record prices also were recorded for existing houses and condos, DQ News/ CoreLogic figures show. The median price of an existing condo hit a record $655,000, the highest in the region. The median for an existing house hit $1.04 million. But sales were down year over year in all six counties, with declines ranging from just under 1% in L.A. County to more than 12% in San Diego County.