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    Paralympics could pave the way for a 'more inclusive' post-pandemic recovery, experts say

    This summer’s Tokyo Paralympics present an opportunity for businesses to embrace a vastly underrepresented segment of the workforce and aid the global coronavirus recovery, experts said.The decades-old Games, which showcase the sporting talents of leading disabled athletes, have been instrumental in removing taboos around often “shunned or excluded” members of society, International Paralympic Committee CEO Mike Peters told CNBC.That, in turn, has helped stir up important conversations about how businesses and society at large can better understand and engage the 1.3 billion people globally with a lived experience of disability.”Aside from the fact that it’s an incredible moment for athletes, all athletes — Paralympian athletes or Olympian athletes — it’s a great moment for us to challenge the perceptions of inclusivity,” Caroline Casey, a disability activist and founder of The Valuable 500, told CNBC’s “Capital Connection” on Wednesday.Why on earth would any business in their right mind leave the value of 15% to 20% of our global population behind, which is a spending power of $13 trillion.Caroline Caseyfounder, The Valuable 500That has become especially important after the coronavirus pandemic, which has exposed the “gross inequity and injustice” suffered by people with disabilities, said Casey, whose organization helps CEOs initiate and implement diversity and inclusion commitments.Yet, the crisis has also exposed a “glimmer of light,” she said, noting that many of the barriers that previously prevented employers from embracing workers with disabilities have now been broken.Athletes position at the start line during a para athletics test event for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, on May 11, 2021.Bloomberg | Getty Images”We have seen that the business system can flex and change — whereas before it said it couldn’t — to accommodate people with disabilities working remotely, or from home, or in the different ways we’ve seen it be so easily adapted in the last 15 months,” said Casey. “That’s very important.”That opens up a huge opportunity to embrace not only workers but also consumers with disabilities, she said. Indeed, after the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, employment among workers with disabilities rose, she said.”As we have to recover from this pandemic, why on earth would any business in their right mind leave the value of 15% to 20% of our global population behind, which is a spending power of $13 trillion,” she said.The comments come as the delayed Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics continue to be beset by the pandemic and associated challenges, sparking criticism from Japanese citizens and international observers.However, Peters said the measures taken by the organizing committee alongside the Japanese government and the Tokyo metropolitan government meant that the Games would be “one of the safest places on earth.”Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032. More

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    A shortage of doctors and nurses has contributed to Japan's slow vaccine rollout, professor says

    A shortage of doctors and nurses in Japan’s aging population contributed to the country’s sluggish Covid vaccine rollout, says Keio University professor Sayuri Shirai.As of June 21, only 18.3% of Japan’s population has received at least one Covid vaccine dose, according to Our World in Data. In comparison, more than 50% of people in the U.S. have received one dose of the vaccine while that figure is even higher in the U.K. at 63.6%.”In an aging society it’s very difficult to find doctors and nurses. And local government, they don’t have enough people to administer [the vaccines]. So that delayed this vaccination,” Shirai told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Wednesday.Countries with aging populations and declining birth rates also risk a critical shortage of workers in the future. A United Nations report from 2019 showed Japan had the world’s highest old-age dependency ratio, with the figure expecting to rise even further by 2050.Even before the coronavirus pandemic, a 2017 World Health Organization report noted Japan was facing a “critical shortage of doctors.” It also noted that, despite efforts to boost the workforce in this sector, “the declining birth rate in particular is expected to impact on the future population of health care professionals.”A nurse (R) checks a computer with hospital director Dr. Yutaka Kobayashi, in the coronavirus ward at Sakura General Hospital on Feb.10, 2021 in Oguchi, Japan.Carl Court | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesJapan’s race to vaccinate its population ahead of the Olympics faced another hurdle. An article published in medical journal The Lancet earlier this month noted the country only allows nurses and medical doctors to vaccinate citizens and listed this as one of the reasons behind the sluggish rollout.Still, that situation may be improving. Local media report the Japanese government will relax medical rules to allow more workers to administer Covid vaccinations. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Japan has crossed 1 million doses of Covid vaccinations given on a single day.”The vaccine rollout finally started to accelerate from mid-May,” Naohiko Baba, chief Japan economist at Goldman Sachs, told CNBC on Wednesday. “We now expect half of the population will be vaccinated by end of summer.”Baba said that development was “good news” for the Tokyo Olympics, which is set to begin in about a month despite public fears over its potential to become a super-spreader event. A recent poll by local news agency Kyodo News showed about 86% of people in Japan are “concerned about a rebound” in Covid cases if the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics are held this summer.As of Thursday, the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa was still under a state of emergency while multiple areas including Tokyo were under “priority preventative measures,” according to information from the country’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Japan has recorded more than 789,000 Covid infections and at least 14,506 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032. More

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    Stock futures open flat after S&P 500 snaps two-day winning streak

    Stock futures opened flat in overnight trading after the market’s comeback rally hit a speedbump on Wednesday.Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 47 points, or 0.14%. S&P 500 futures ticked 0.10% higher and Nasdaq 100 futures edged up 0.11%.The S&P 500 snapped a two-day winning streak Wednesday, closing the regular session 0.1% lower. The Dow also shed 71.34 points, or 0.2%. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.1% to squeeze out another record closing high.Eight out of 11 S&P 500 sectors closed in the red, led by utilities, which dropped 1.1%. However, energy names like Exxon Mobil, Occidental Petroleum and Devon Energy rose as oil prices continued to climb. Technology names like Tesla and Netflix also closed higher.Despite Wednesday’s hiccup, the three major indexes are up more than 1% this week, rallying from a sell-off last week after the Federal Reserve heightened inflation expectations and forecast rate hikes as soon as 2023.Comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell during a Congressional testimony Tuesday reiterated that inflation pressures should be temporary, which seemed to soothe market sentiment.”Beneath the optimism, markets are at risk of becoming complacent – and vulnerable to shocks. Any signal that interest rates and bond yields could rise, even in the absence of pronounced inflationary pressure, could shatter market exuberance,” Gaurav Mallik, chief portfolio strategist at State Street Global Advisors, said.Stock picks and investing trends from CNBC Pro:Goldman Sachs names 10 ‘rapidly’ growing global stocks — and two have an upside of 45%Investor Victoria Greene likes these stocks to ride a run to $100 oilMorgan Stanley is bullish on mining and metals stocks, names Alcoa a top pick”Central banks will walk a tightrope between allowing the economy to run hot – which history has shown to be a bad idea – and managing inflation risk,” he added.Investors await new jobless claims data set to be released Thursday for the latest outlook on unemployment.The Fed’s annual bank stress test results are scheduled for release after the bell on Thursday. The test examines how banks fare during various hypothetical economic downturns. After the Fed’s results, banks typically announce how much capital they can release in the form of dividends and buybacks.Darden Restaurants, Nike and FedEx are set to report quarterly earnings on Thursday.— CNBC’s Hugh Son contributed reporting. More

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    CDC group says there isn't enough data yet to recommend Covid booster shots

    A group of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists said Wednesday that currently there isn’t enough data to support recommending Covid-19 booster shots to the general population but that more-vulnerable groups, such as elderly people or transplant recipients, may need an extra dose.The Covid-19 working group of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices didn’t rule out the possibility that the general population eventually may need booster shots if immunity from the vaccines wanes or a variant reduces the effectiveness of current shots.”Boosters may be required for a broad population. However, it could also be that the need for boosters of Covid vaccine may only be demonstrated in some populations,” said Dr. Sarah Oliver, co-lead of the working group and a medical epidemiologist with the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest global coverage of the Covid pandemic:CDC group says there isn’t enough data yet to recommend Covid booster shots CDC group finds likely link between rare heart inflammation after Covid shotFauci says delta accounts for 20% of new cases and will be dominant Covid variant in U.S. in weeks Fauci declares delta variant ‘greatest threat’ to the nation’s efforts to eliminate Covid A recent study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University published in the Annals of Internal Medicine showed that booster shots may be beneficial for people with weakened immune systems. Oliver said the agency should monitor residents of long-term care facilities, elderly people, health-care workers and immunocompromised people.The working group recommended that the CDC consider booster shots only “after evidence of declining protection,” Oliver said, meaning if the vaccines became less effective over time or antibodies guarding against Covid waned over time. The agency could also consider using booster shots if a variant emerged that substantially reduced the effectiveness of the vaccine.Vials with Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine labels are seen in this illustration picture taken March 19, 2021.Dado Ruvic | Reuters”I would have to agree with the interpretation of the working group in the sense that there’s no data to support recommendations to support boosters at this time,” said Dr. Sharon Frey, a member of ACIP and clinical director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Saint Louis University Medical School. “There’s no evidence against declining protection at this time.”But Frey said she would be open to giving a third shot to transplant patients or if infections rise in the general population, indicating a lot of breakthrough cases in fully vaccinated individuals. So far, there have been at least 3,729 breakthrough infections in the U.S. that resulted in hospitalization or death, according to CDC data.”I think the only thing we can do at this moment is, if we start to see an uptick in reinfection in people or new infections in people who have been vaccinated, that’s our clue that we need to move quickly,” Frey said.Dr. Grace Lee, who chairs the ACIP safety group and is a professor of pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine, also said she would like to see more evidence of breakthrough cases before recommending a booster shot.”I would want greater certainty on the safety data if we’re talking about boosting before it’s clear what the risk data will look like,” Lee said. “If we’re seeing severe breakthrough cases then I think the decision-making moves forward even if there’s uncertainty with the safety data.” More

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    Total e-commerce sales during Amazon Prime Day surpass $11 billion, Adobe says

    In this articleAMZNGetty ImagesTotal online retail sales in the United States during Amazon’s 48-hour Prime Day surpassed $11 billion — 6.1% higher than overall e-commerce transactions generated by the 2020 event, according to Adobe Analytics data.The total was slightly more than last year’s Cyber Monday, which was the busiest digital sales day on record, Adobe said. However, the Prime Day event was for 48 hours rather than the 24-hour Cyber Monday splurge after Thanksgiving.The index Adobe Analytics tracked looks at more than 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites and over 100 million items across 18 product categories.Online retail sales amounted to $5.6 billion on Monday, the first day of Prime Day, and $5.4 billion on day two, Adobe said. That made Monday the biggest day for digital sales this year and Tuesday the second-busiest, according to Adobe. By comparison, the 48-hour Prime Day 2020 generated $10.4 billion in overall U.S. digital revenue, according to Adobe.Sales during Cyber Monday 2020 amounted to about $10.9 billion, marking the largest U.S. online shopping day on record.”There’s a pent-up demand for online shopping as consumers look forward to a return to normalcy,” said Taylor Schreiner, director of Adobe Digital insights. “The halo effect of Prime Day also played a significant role, giving both large and small online retailers significant revenue lifts.”The total sales during Prime Day includes results from Walmart, Target, Best Buy and Kohl’s, which have also been offering competing markdowns this week.Amazon Prime Day 2021 coverageRead more about what Amazon and others have planned for this year’s sales events:Amazon’s Prime Day results were more muted than usual this yearTotal e-commerce sales during Amazon Prime Day surpass $11 billion, Adobe saysFor these retailers, Amazon Prime Day isn’t about the dealsAmazon and Walmart dominate apparel sales, but are after more fashion cloutSupply chain snafus could affect what’s available to you on Prime DayWhy Target is focused on groceries in its Prime Day rival saleAs e-commerce sales proliferate, Amazon holds on to the top online retail spotAdobe said that retailers that bring in more than $1 billion in revenue each year reported a 29% increase in e-commerce sales during Prime Day compared with an average June day, while smaller retailers doing less than $10 million in annual revenue saw a 21% lift.Adobe also found that discount levels were fairly consistent on Monday and Tuesday, with toys marked down by 12%, on average, and appliances discounted by 5%. It still said the best deals are expected to come closer to the holiday shopping season.Correction: Headlines in this version clarify that Adobe’s tally tracked overall U.S. online sales during Amazon’s Prime Day event. More

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    Cutting off unemployment benefits early is not pushing people to find work, data suggests

    FREDERIC J. BROWN | AFP | Getty ImagesJob hunting has been muted in 12 states that opted out of federal unemployment programs in recent weeks, suggesting the policy may not be working as planned, according to a new analysis by job site Indeed.The states ended the pandemic-era benefits — including an extra $300 a week — about three months ahead of their Sept. 6 expiration.Job searches are about 4% below the national average in Alaska, Iowa, Mississippi and Missouri, which stopped paying the federal benefits as of June 12, according to the analysis published Tuesday.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsActivity is 1% lower in eight states — Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming — that ended them June 19.They’re the first among a total of 25 states, all led by Republican governors, withdrawing from federal unemployment programs to encourage recipients to look for work amid record job openings.But the Indeed data — which measures clicks on job posts — suggests the opposite dynamic of what one would expect, given the policy intent of ending benefits early, according to Indeed economist AnnElizabeth Konkel.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwards”People in those states are less likely to be searching than your average jobseeker right now,” she said.Generous benefits offer an incentive to stay home and make it difficult for businesses to hire, the governors claim. Critics say benefits aren’t having a large effect on worker decisions and that curtailing funds will harm the economy by cutting household spending.More from Personal Finance:Worried about inflation? A certificate of deposit may not be the answerFamilies can now opt out of monthly child tax creditHe’s 75 and facing eviction”You’d think they’d be searching more,” Konkel said. “At least right now, this does push back on the idea that federal unemployment benefits are the main reason there are labor market frictions.”The data could shift in coming weeks, she said.It’s difficult to say with certainty what effect enhanced benefits are having on the labor market without allowing more time to pass, according to Michael Strain, director of economic policy studies at right-leaning think tank American Enterprise Institute.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsBut it’s likely the labor market has recovered to a point where the $300 weekly supplement is having a negative effect, he said.”The challenge for public policy is balancing the good with the bad,” Strain said. “In June 2021, my view is unemployment benefits of the generosity we’re providing them are doing more harm than they are doing good — to workers and the economy as a whole.”$300 a weekUnemployment benefits typically replace about half a worker’s pre-layoff wages.Congress raised weekly aid by $600 in the early days of the Covid pandemic. Lawmakers also gave funds to the long-term unemployed and groups like the self-employed and gig workers who are typically ineligible for state benefits.They’ve since cut the weekly subsidy in half — to $300 a week — and made federal benefits available through Labor Day.That extra $300 pays about 42% of recipients as much or more than their prior wages, according to an estimate from University of Chicago economist Peter Ganong. (These are primarily low-wage workers.)”That makes it a bad financial deal to get a job for a large share of the workforce,” Strain said.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsLabor force participation has stayed relatively flat, a concern especially as there were a record number of job openings in April, he said.However, economists have pointed to reasons other than benefits for the labor market dynamics.For one, Covid health concerns are likely causing some to stay home, they said.A highly contagious Covid variant has accounted for a greater share of U.S. cases, and just 56% of U.S. adults are fully vaccinated against Covid-19. The Biden administration said Tuesday it will likely miss its goal to get 70% of adults vaccinated by the Fourth of July.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsChild care may continue to pose a challenge for families if day care remains permanently closed, schools haven’t resumed in-person learning or summer camps aren’t at full capacity.Restarting the economy (and its associated job uptake) isn’t as easy as flipping a switch, economists said.”I don’t think it’s the whole puzzle,” Konkel said of enhanced benefits. “I think it’s one piece of the puzzle.”Some also question the notion of a labor shortage.”No one says it’s a ‘customer shortage’ if companies only offer high prices and bad service,” National Economic Council deputy director Bharat Ramamurti said in a tweet. “Yet some say it’s a ‘labor shortage’ if companies only offer low wages and bad benefits.”The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco estimated the $300 supplement has had a “small but likely noticeable” impact on job search and worker availability in early 2021.If 7 out of 28 unemployed individuals get job offers they’d normally accept, the availability of the extra $300 a week pushes 1 of the 7 to decline the offer, according to its projection.Beyond the $300, most of the Republican states are also ending Pandemic Unemployment Assistance for the self-employed and gig workers ahead of schedule. These workers are losing benefits entirely.”I don’t think it’s the right thing to do from a policy perspective to take those workers down to zero,” Strain said.Instead, he said eligibility for these benefits should gradually tighten and workers should be given notice. More

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    Lawyers for Britney Spears' father backed themselves into a corner, former prosecutor says

    The lawyers for Britney Spears’ father backed themselves into a corner by telling the media that she can end her conservatorship at any time, Civil Rights attorney David Henderson said Wednesday.”What her father’s attorneys have consistently said is, if she wants out, all she has to do is to go to court and ask,” Henderson, a former prosecutor and CNBC Contributor, said about Jamie Spears’ lawyers. “Well, today she went to court and asked, so they’re going to have to back up on what their previous position was.”The international pop star broke down on Wednesday during a rare court appearance via Zoom. In it, she begged Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny to end her father’s control over her life and fortune after 13 years under a conservatorship. She called her situation “abusive.”Henderson explained to CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” that Britney’s statements illustrate that the conservatorship is having deleterious effects on her life.”Conservatorships for someone like Britney Spears are supposed to help them regain their independence, and from what she explained, it’s had the exact opposite effect on her life,” Henderson said. Spears also alleged she wanted to have her intrauterine device removed so that she could have another baby but that her conservators would not allow it. Henderson told host Shepard Smith that a conservatorship shouldn’t have the power to force an IUD. “I think that’s part of the reason why this should not just be seen as a case involving a celebrity who has been treated badly, this has implications that go far wider, because she said that she has an implant device that she is not allowed to remove, which indicates she doesn’t have physical control over her body, in a way that should not be contemplated by conservatorship,” Henderson said. The legal team for Jamie Spears did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. More

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    Box CEO says KKR investment created opportunity for all shareholders

    In this articleFBBox CEO Aaron Levie on Wednesday defended his company’s decision to accept a sizeable investment from KKR earlier this year.”We felt that we had a very strong long-term partner that wanted to invest in the business and be able to see significant stock appreciation that we believe all shareholders will benefit from,” Levie said in an interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer. “We think that the KKR endorsement very is helpful.”Levie argued the tie-up with KKR, which gave the firm a seat on the cloud services provider’s board, opened an opportunity for shareholders who have either a short- or long-term view on the stock. Box is using funds to execute a stock buyback program.”This kind of creates an opportunity where some investors that might be more short-term oriented will be able to sell their shares back to the company,” Levie said in the “Mad Money” appearance. “If you are more long-term oriented, you can ride the upside as we continue to scale to new levels as a company.”Levie said KKR would play a role in helping to boost Box’s bottom line, execute acquisitions, launch new products and expand on the international stage.Box shares tumbled more than 9% in April after the company announced it had accepted a $500 million investment from KKR. The deal was made as Box conducted a strategic review of the company.The move likely ended the chance that Box would sell itself off to another buyer as it faced pressure from the activist investor Starboard Value. The hedge fund currently has an 8% stake in the company, according to FactSet.Questions for Cramer? Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBCWant to take a deep dive into Cramer’s world? Hit him up! Mad Money Twitter – Jim Cramer Twitter – Facebook – InstagramQuestions, comments, suggestions for the “Mad Money” website? [email protected] More