Last month, England and Wales’ Trades Union Congress called on legislators to urgently regulate how companies use AI at work, citing a report claiming AI is outpacing employment law. The EU is currently considering new rules that would heavily curtail the use of AI for mass surveillance and rating social behavior.

And only 11% would feel comfortable getting the vaccine at their place of employment—a common offering for the yearly flu vaccination. Read More:. Retailers including CVS, Kroger, Walgreens, and Walmart aim to speed up coronavirus vaccine administration. The Digital Health Ecosystem.

Internet connectivity has become a prerequisite for access to nearly everything, including employment, education, groceries and even religious services. This, combined with an uptick in time spent with social media and streaming services, have all contributed to a need for expanded broadband access in households with numerous users. Read More:.

Employment history checkers like EmpInfo, HireRight, and Truework use paycheck and employment history to filter candidates for HR applications. HireVue video interview software analyzes candidates’ facial movements, voice, and word choices to output an employability score. Its system uses AI and machine learning to model high performers within a hiring company.

Institute for Employment Studies (IES). Local Data Company (LDC). Office for National Statistics (ONS) – UK. PwC UK. The Guardian. Wunderman Thompson Commerce.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the US could reach full employment by 2022, and MorningStar analysts projected a rise in consumer spending in 2021 and 2022. This economic improvement should justify issuers increasing credit limits once again, and some already are: Capital One began raising limits for existing customers with prime and subprime credit scores in February.

The COVID-19 vaccine rollout should continue to help reopen and reinvigorate more of the economy, leading to increased employment and sustaining the jump in consumer spending. This could trickle into credit card spending growth like we started seeing in Q1 following last year’s pandemic-induced spending dip.

In Spain, 88% of adults surveyed by Havas Media and ODEC in April wanted companies and brands to be proactive in providing products, and/or deferring payments, after the lockdown ended for those whose employment or economic situation was affected by the coronavirus.

From Q1 to Q3 2021, spend will begin to return in nonessential categories as employment rates begin to recover, vaccine distribution accelerates, and the third stimulus hits customers’ bank accounts, though delinquency risk will remain high.

Stimulus payments and improving employment helped kick-start recent growth. Aside from spending on essentials like food and bills, a large portion of funds from the third stimulus payments—which began rolling out in March—went toward paying down personal debt (38%) and savings (25%). This likely helped prime consumers to spend with their cards in the following months.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told members of Congress on Tuesday that stimulus payments will help the economy recover and estimated that President Biden’s American Rescue Plan may help the labor market return to full employment by next year. Consumers who saved their stimulus payments will come out of the pandemic with substantial cash reservoirs.

The “at risk” figure for 40-to-49s rose from 51.7% to 55.3% after the “employment shock” of the pandemic. For 50-to-59s, it rose from 44.2% to 51.0%. In July polling for Northwestern Mutual, 25% of Xers said the pandemic had prompted them to push back their planned retirement age. For some, the pandemic has had the salutary effect of increasing a sense of urgency about saving for retirement.

At the time of this writing, both consumer- and business-focused relief packages are under discussion, which would affect consumer spending and employment. The current combo of supply and demand shocks leaves a lot of unknowns here, especially with the currently unknown length of quarantines or lockdowns across the US and elsewhere.

In a recent analysis, the consulting firm reported that households with LGBTQ+ couples have higher median household incomes ($92,000 versus $86,000) and higher percentages of dual employment (61% versus 50%) than households with non-LGBTQ+ couples. They also account for a higher percentage of households with incomes over $100,000 (46% versus 42%).

The youths’ fluctuating income during the pandemic has made it challenging for lenders to verify creditworthiness with the limited data sources they typically use, including existing debt, repayment history, and employment.

In March, NatWest unveiled a free digital advice hub called MentorDigital, which helps SMBs with topics including employment law, health and safety guidelines, and HR. The hub is likely a play for smaller companies that don’t handle these functions internally. Last week, NatWest relaunched its SMB incubator program.

Consumer confidence and China’s employment situation in H2 will drive outcomes for retail ecommerce and social commerce. We project $2.090 trillion (RMB14.440 trillion) in retail ecommerce sales this year (16.0% growth), and 30.3% growth in social commerce, but much is reliant on uncertain domestic and global economic storylines.

This approach was designed to support employment (which it did, to some degree), but it did not buttress consumer confidence, nor did it ensure regular people would have enough money in their pockets to continue spending on retail goods at pre-pandemic levels. Hence, China’s GDP growth outperformed, but its consumers still had a bad year. The US Focuses on Demand, Not Supply.

For example, members of marginalized groups that might be more likely to have a shorter employment history and no prior access to credit could be deemed less creditworthy by AI solely based on their demographic, which could result in these consumers receiving a premium that’s higher than it should be. Data protection compliance.