Aurelia Butler

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House wants federal agencies to “aggressively” execute a shift to more in-person work starting next month, saying it is crucial to delivering government services.White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, in an email on Friday, said “we are returning to in-person work because it is critical to the well-being of our teams and will enable us to deliver better results for the American people.”Zients said “your agencies will be implementing increases in the amount of in-person work for your team. This is a priority of the president — and I am looking to each of you to aggressively execute this shift in September and October.”His email was first reported on Friday by Axios and confirmed on Saturday by Reuters. In April, the White House Office of Management and Budget directed federal agencies to revise workforce plans as it aims to “substantially increase” in-person work by government employees at headquarters offices, according to a memo first reported by Reuters.Biden in April ended the three-year COVID-19 emergency. Many of the 2 million civilian federal employees began working remotely in March 2020 but about half were required to remain in-person throughout the pandemic. The Government Accountability Office said in July a review of selected weeks in early 2023 showed 17 of 24 federal agencies used on average an estimated 25% or less of headquarters capacity.The Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Department said last month they expect teleworking government employees to boost in-person work.The FAA expects employees by Oct. 9 to increase in-office presence to at least three days per week, according to an email first reported by Reuters.Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told employees “we need to be around each other in-person more than we are now to ensure this department’s long-term success.”USDOT expects teleworking employees to report in person a minimum of three days every two weeks starting Sept. 10 and a minimum of four days per pay period starting Dec. 3.Some Republican lawmakers have pressed federal agencies to require more government workers to return to offices. In February, the House passed legislation to mandate federal agencies reinstate 2019 pre-pandemic telework policies. More

Bowman said she supported the Fed’s quarter-point increase in interest rates last month, given still-high inflation, strong consumer spending, a rebound in the housing market and a labor market that is helping to feed higher prices. “I also expect that additional rate increases will likely be needed to get inflation on a path down to the FOMC’s 2 percent target,” she said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Kansas Bankers Association, referring to the Fed’s rate-setting panel, the Federal Open Market Committee. Monetary policy is not on a “preset course,” she also said, and data will drive future decisions. “We should remain willing to raise the federal funds rate at a future meeting if the incoming data indicate that progress on inflation has stalled.” Bowman has frequently expressed views that are more hawkish than some of her colleagues. In forecasts published in June, most Fed policymakers expected to end the year with the Fed policy rate at 5.6%, one quarter-point hike above the setting established at the Fed’s late-July meeting. Bowman’s use of the plural “rate increases” in her remarks on Saturday indicates she thinks the Fed will need to go higher than that. After the most recent rate hike, Fed Chair Jerome Powell left the door open to another increase in September, but also signaled that cooler data could allow a pause. Bowman noted some progress on inflation, which by the widely followed consumer price index slowed to a 3% annual rate in June, down from 9% in the middle of last year. “The recent lower inflation reading was positive, but I will be looking for consistent evidence that inflation is on a meaningful path down toward our 2 percent goal as I consider further rate increases and how long the federal funds rate will need to remain at a restrictive level,” she said. “I will also be watching for signs of slowing in consumer spending and signs that labor market conditions are loosening.”The Labor Department’s monthly job market report on Friday showed hiring slowed in June, but unemployment, at 3.5%, remains slow, and Bowman noted there are still many more available jobs than there are workers to fill those jobs. Banks also continue to increase lending to households and businesses, albeit at a slower pace than when interest rates were lower, with no sharp contraction of credit since the banking turmoil in March, she said. More

The impact of floods, while common in China in summer, has grown more pronounced this year, affecting over 7 million people nationwide in July, when Beijing was struck by the worst rains in 140 years after the capital’s hottest June on record.August, when rainfall usually peaks and summer temperatures soar, is set for further economic impact from floods and heatwaves. Rainfall in northeastern provinces could be as much as 50% higher than normal in August, China’s national forecaster have warned.July losses from Typhoon Talim, which landed in southern China in the middle of the month, were 2.61 billion yuan, while losses from the more destructive Doksuri, the remnants of which are still being felt in northeastern China, reached 14.74 billion yuan as of the end of July, the Ministry of Emergency Management said in a statement late on Friday.Overall losses, compounded by damage from floods in southwest and northwest China, far exceeded the 38.23 billion yuan in the first half of 2023, and pose an unexpected drag on quarterly growth in the world’s second-largest economy, which is already in want of stimulus.In the northern province of Hebei, over 1.2 million people had been evacuated as of Wednesday due to flooding caused by residual rains from Doksuri. In the port city of Tianjin, which shares a border with Beijing and Hebei, local authorities have evacuated about 66,000 people as they braced for flooding from upstream rivers. China’s top economic planner on Friday earmarked an additional 100 million yuan to support post-disaster recovery in Tianjin and Hebei on top of the 100 million yuan announced on Wednesday for Beijing and Hebei. The finance and water resources ministries separately on Friday also offered 450 million yuan to support the overall recovery effort. ($1 = 7.1706 Chinese yuan renminbi) (This story has been corrected to change language in paragraph 2) More