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Thursday, July 11, 2024

'Biden announces $244 million in funding for this alternative to traditional college'

Apprenticeships are on the rise as undergraduate enrollment falls

The Biden administration is spending over $244 million to improve and expand the Registered Apprenticeship system, which the White House calls "the gold standard earn-and-learn training pathway."

This is the largest-ever federal investment in the Registered Apprenticeship system.

The expenditure is a part of President Joe Biden's "Investing in America" agenda, which focuses on mobilizing private-sector investments, bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. and creating jobs. The administration is also funding multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects to generate labor demand and create good-paying jobs in construction and other skilled trades, according to the White House.

Enhancing funding for the Registered Apprenticeship program will help connect Americans with some of those jobs, the White House said.

Registered Apprenticeships are industry-vetted, government-approved programs through which apprentices can earn progressive wages as they become more productive, learn on the job and in classroom settings and earn industry credentials.

Apprenticeship opportunities span a variety of industries, including manufacturing, construction and transportation - sectors targeted by Biden's Investing in America agenda.

"This award ... will help to expand, strengthen and diversify programs that aren't just one-offs - they create a pipeline of workers with in-demand skills, connecting them with good jobs that create real security for workers and their families," said acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su, in a statement.

Over the past decade, Registered Apprenticeships have become a more popular pathway for new workers. In fiscal year 2014, there were 317,805 active apprentices in the continental U.S., according to the Department of Labor. Five years ago, there were 552,382. Now, there are 641,044 active apprentices in the country.

In the same time frame, full-time undergraduate enrollment has fallen by about 800,000 students, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. This year, the NCES predicts that 10 million students will be enrolled full time.

Fewer young people are enrolling in college for a variety of reasons, although doubt about the value of a four-year degree is a big one.

According to a Pew Research study, "only one in four U.S. adults say it's extremely or very important to have a four-year college degree in order to get a well-paying job." And almost half say the four-year degree is less important for a well-paying job than it was 20 years ago.

94% of apprentices who complete a Registered Apprenticeship retain employment, and they make an average annual salary of $80,000, according to the Department of Labor. To be sure, unemployment rates decrease and earnings increase as a worker obtains more education. Unlike higher education, though, an apprenticeship doesn't leave new workers with student debt.

Apprenticeships are appealing to stakeholders on both sides of the aisle. Former President Donald Trump's administration created a second apprenticeship model in 2019, through which "qualified third-party entities" such as industries and employers could develop their own apprenticeship programs in addition to the existing Registered Apprenticeship system. Biden shut down Trump's apprenticeship model, which was known as Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs, or IRAP.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., then-chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said in a statement at the time, "The Trump administration's substandard apprenticeships were a bad deal for workers, it's that simple. The programs not only lacked key protections and benefits, but they also undermined high-quality Registered Apprenticeship programs that have a proven record of creating opportunity and providing pathways to good-paying jobs for workers across the country."

As the election approaches, labor is a key talking point for Biden. The president often highlights record job creation during his term and has made continued efforts to connect with unions and keep their support.

https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20240711398/biden-announces-244-million-in-funding-for-this-alternative-to-traditional-college

PepsiCo feels squeeze as financial pressure spreads from low-income consumers

PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta said Thursday there is "much more price sensitivity" across U.S. income groups and not just low-income consumers, highlighting its sensitivity to broad shifts in consumer demand.

The Diet Pepsi and Tostitos tortilla chips maker, which fell short of Wall Street expectations for revenue for its second quarter Thursday, said consumers continued to face a squeeze from rising prices and constrained wages.

"They're saying 'There's been a lot of inflation and my disposable income is stretched,'" Laguarta said in an interview. "It's not only the lower-income consumer, it's throughout."

Companies like PepsiCo hiked prices by double digits during and after the pandemic to recoup once-in-a-generation levels of cost inflation. On Thursday, the New York-based company said it had raised prices by 5% overall in the most recent quarter ended June 15, helping protect its margins which rose compared with a year before.

Costs have started to come down, with U.S. consumer prices unexpectedly falling in June. But some costs, like agricultural commodities, remain elevated, PepsiCo said Thursday in prepared remarks.

Laguarta had said in April that lower-income consumers were "stretched" and "strategizing a lot to make their budgets get to the end of the month."

In a call with analysts Thursday, he said higher-income consumers were skipping meals at expensive restaurants and dining at cheaper ones instead, or opting out of them altogether for at-home entertainment options.

"Once we address that situation, we'll be back in growth, and we feel pretty good about the tools and the resources we have," Laguarta said.

PepsiCo is investing in parts of its Frito-Lay North America business, its second-largest after beverages, to keep consumers buying its popcorn, potato and tortilla chips.

The company is also looking to cut costs and make its business more efficient, Laguarta said.

Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management, said: "Consumers are feeling the pinch of high prices. Last year the consumer was told to just be quiet and accept higher prices. Now they're fed up.

"Wage gains are okay, but they're not great, so consumers are rebelling by cutting back on non-essentials and shopping around for everything else," Jacobsen added. "It's not a trend that's anything to worry about. It's just a return to prudence instead of profligacy."

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/pepsico-feels-squeeze-financial-pressure-155457497.html

US Spent A Record $140 Billion On Debt Interest In June, 30% Of All Tax Revenues

On the surface, and following 4 months of triple-digit deficits (in the billions), the June budget deficit of "only" $66 billion was a pleasant surprise (especially when the market expected an $83 billion deficit, and compares favorably to the $228 billion deficit a year ago). Indeed, the deficit was small enough it managed to shrink the cumulative YTD deficit ($1.268 trillion), below the deficit for the comparable period one year ago ($1.393 trillion).

Unfortunately, that's as good as it gets, because when one takes a step back and ignores the monthly calendar effects, the picture remains the same: the US is spending far more than it is generating in tax revenues.

And it only goes downhill from there, because as we have noted previously, the biggest risk factor is not so much spending on such discretionary items as social security, health and national defense ("how dare you say these are discretionary! these are mandatory, untouchable outlays" some will scream, but if and when the taxes dry up and the dollar loses its reserve status you will see just how discretionary they are), but on interest, and here recall what we said back in April: "interest on US debt - currently the second biggest government outlay at $1.1 trillion - will surpass social security and become the single biggest US expense before the end of 2024 at $1.6 trillion."...

... and hit $1.7 trillion by April 2025, at which point it will be by far the single biggest outlay of the US government.

So where are we now? Well, according to the latest Treasury Monthly Statement, in June the US spent a gross $140 billion on debt interest, bringing the YTD total to $868 billion and is on pace to hit $1.144 trillion for the full year.

This is a big number. How big? Well, as the chart below shows, this was the single biggest monthly interest outlay on record!

And putting it in context, the $140 billion in gross interest spending was just over 30% of all US receipts (mostly taxes) in June..

... a staggering number fast approaching the threshold where everyone will be forced to admit the US has crossed into a Minsky moment.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/us-spent-record-140-billion-just-debt-interest-june-30-all-tax-revenues

'Hochul signs bills to extinguish deadly e-bike batteries that led to fires that killed 18 in NYC'

New York is recharging its fight against e-bikes’ lithium-ion battery fires.

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a package of bills Thursday that ban dangerous substandard batteries she said are linked to nearly 270 fires that killed 18 people across New York City in the last year alone.

“These batteries don’t catch on fire like kindling, they explode like a grenade,” she said during a news conference in her Manhattan office. “They spew toxic gas and chemicals everywhere.”

“We’re taking the first steps to extinguish the scourge of lithium-ion battery fires here in New York City.”

Fires linked to shoddy lithium-ion batteries have exploded in recent years, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic popularity of e-bikes often used by delivery workers hired by apps such as DoorDash, officials have said.

Many of those batteries are faulty from improper maintenance or, worse, cobbled together “Frankenstein” fashion from older units and sold to e-bike riders at a cheaper price than safer new ones, FDNY officials warned.

Fire investigators as of June launched probes into 89 lithium-ion battery blazes so far this year, according to FDNY data.

Those fires included an East Harlem apartment building inferno that killed Indian journalist Fazil Khan and forced other residents to escape by dangling from a window.

The laws require e-bikes, mopeds and other micro-mobility devices to sport a bright red tag explicitly warning that they should be unplugged once fully charged, as well as imposes a fleet of safety measures for emergency responders and sellers.

They also, beyond prohibiting the sale of batteries that aren’t up to specific manufacturing standards, require mopeds to be registered by dealers once they’re sold — a move that could help crack down on scooter-riding bandits, often migrants, who police said are robbing unwitting pedestrians.

Hochul, when asked by The Post about the unregistered moped scourge, said roughly 12,000 such vehicles have been confiscated by local law enforcement.

“We have to go to the retailers, we have to go to the manufacturers, we have to go to the point of sale to the point of resale,” said Jackie Bray, commissioner for the state’s Division of Homeland Security. “It is a real challenge if you’re talking about going at each individual bike, but this legislation pulls us upstream from that.”

https://nypost.com/2024/07/11/us-news/hochul-signs-bills-to-extinguish-deadly-e-bike-battery-fires-that-killed-18-in-nyc/

Rheumatology Meds Seen Cutting AMD Risk

Insurance claims data showed that patients with autoimmune disorders who took Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors had lower rates of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), hinting that the drugs might treat the common eye disease.

Compared to patients on other immune-modulating drugs, those taking JAK inhibitors had lower rates of AMD over 6-18 months in two administrative databases: by about half in a MarketScan cohort (adjusted incidence rate ratio 0.51, 95% CI 0.19-0.90) and by nearly three-quarters in an Optum cohort (aIRR 0.27, 95% CI 0.03-0.74), according to Nizar Smaoui, MD, of AbbVie in North Chicago, Illinois, and colleagues.

Absolute reductions in risk were 0.36% and 0.32%, respectively, the group reported in JAMA Ophthalmologyopens in a new tab or window.

"These results provide supporting evidence of a link between JAK inhibitors and reduced incidence of AMD," Smaoui told MedPage Today. "However, further research and clinical studies are required to confirm this retrospective study."

Importantly, incident AMD was a rare event for the populations studied. Among more than 18,000 patients in the MarketScan group, just 53 new cases developed (10 in JAK inhibitor users and 43 in non-users). And only 24 cases were diagnosed in more than 11,000 Optum patients (three in users and 21 in non-users).

JAK inhibitors, the first of which won FDA approval in 2011, are used to treat cancer and autoimmune disorders in rheumatology and dermatology.

According to Smaoui, researchers launched the study in light of research suggesting "a role of inflammation, and even more specifically the pathway regulated by these drugs, in AMD pathogenesis and progression. In addition, there is genetic evidence that links immune-related genes to the risk of AMD."

Sumit Sharma, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, who has researched JAK inhibitors for uveitis but didn't take part in the new study, told MedPage Today that the findings are interesting. But he cautioned that the implications are limited because of the small population size. Also, "you don't know for sure that all of these patients actually ended up getting eye exams at equivalent rates. Just because they're in the database doesn't mean that they actually got an eye exam, and that the exam was coded correctly."

Still, it makes sense that the anti-inflammatory effect of JAK inhibitors could lower the risk of AMD, he said. The study is "a good first step to point people in the direction to see if there is a role for a treatment with a JAK inhibitor specifically."

Finding new treatments is especially important because there aren't effective therapies for so-called dry AMD, Sharma said. But he cautioned that ophthalmologists shouldn't prescribe JAK inhibitors now because they have a high risk of side effects. As he noted, the FDA has warnedopens in a new tab or window that JAK inhibitors come with increased risk of cardiac disorders.

Sharma added that JAK inhibitors in their current form are unlikely to go into clinical trials in AMD. Instead, he said, the medications may be delivered via intravitreal injection, or new drugs could be developed that target the JAK/STAT pathway.

In an accompanying commentaryopens in a new tab or window, Jayakrishna Ambati, MD, of the Columbia VA Health Care System in South Carolina, and two colleagues also cautioned that the findings "warrant further clinical and preclinical research."

For the study, researchers studied patients who were taking immunotherapy for autoimmune disorders in the MarketScan and Optum databases from 2010-2022. Each person taking a JAK inhibitor was matched by age, sex, race/ethnicity, geography, autoimmune diagnosis, and other factors to a patient taking another drug type. There were 18,252 people in the MarketScan cohort (76.6% women) and 11,334 in the Optum group (75.2% women). More than 60% in both groups were 55 or older. Approximately two-thirds of patients were under treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, with psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and ulcerative colitis accounting for most of the rest.

The study did not address JAK inhibitor side effects or cost. The drugs are highly expensive, potentially costing tens of thousands of dollars a year.

As for limitations, the authors noted the retrospective, nonrandomized, and observational nature of the study. Its design also didn't take severity of disease into account, and the statistical analyses didn't distinguish between "wet" and "dry" forms of AMD, different JAK inhibitor products, or the indications for their use. And "it is not possible to generalize the study findings to populations who do not have inflammatory or autoimmune diseases," the investigators wrote.

Disclosures

AbbVie, which makes the JAK inhibitor upadacitinib (Rinvoq), funded the study.

Smaoui and several study co-authors are current or former employees of AbbVie, and other authors report various relationships with industry.

Commentary co-author Ambati disclosed grants from the National Eye Institute, National Institute on Aging, and University of Virginia; personal fees from AbbVie/Allergan, Olix, Retinal Solutions, and Saksin; board service for Theragen; and a patent (University of Kentucky/Inflammasome Therapeutics). Ambati is also founder of iVeena Holdings, iVeena Delivery Systems, and Inflammasome Therapeutics. Another commentary author reported grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, Coherus, EMD Serono, Gilead, Alexion, the National Institutes of Health, and SC Center for Rural Healthcare.

Sharma is an investigator for Gilead and consultant for AbbVie and Priovant.

Primary Source

JAMA Ophthalmology

Source Reference: opens in a new tab or windowSmaoui N, et al "Janus kinase inhibitor therapy and risk of age-related macular degeneration in autoimmune disease" JAMA Ophthalmol 2024; DOI: 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2024.2376.

Secondary Source