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People flock by the millions to smaller encrypted messaging competitors
Jan 14, 2021

People flock by the millions to smaller encrypted messaging competitors

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Plus, worse-than-expected weekly unemployment claims numbers. We look at why. And, the U.S. is not the only country undergoing a major political transition in 2021. There's also Germany. How will changes there affect the global economy?

Segments From this episode

Initial unemployment claims are way higher than expected

“Some of it is a catch-up after the holidays, and the delays to signing the aid package. So people didn’t know if they could apply for aid retroactively or not. But the reality is just really hard,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton. The number is 965,000 pepole signing up for benefits after layoffs, and it’s more than a million when you don’t include seasonal adjustments. “Every region in the country is now seeing cases surge,” Swonk said. “And that’s prompting more state and local governments to take on more containment measures because hospitals and morgues are literally being overwhelmed.” That brings context to President-elect Joe Biden’s expected announcement today on more federal pandemic relief.

With Biden incoming, Merkel outgoing, where do Western relations with China stand?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel concluded an EU business deal with China just before the new year that could disadvantage the U.S.
Clemens Bilan - Pool/Getty Images

Music from the episode

Big Calm Morcheeba

The team

Victoria Craig Host, BBC
Stephen Ryan Senior Producer, BBC
Jonathan Frewin Producer, BBC
Daniel Shin Producer
Jay Siebold Technical Director
Brian Allison Engineer
Meredith Garretson Morbey Senior Producer
Erika Soderstrom Producer
Rose Conlon Producer
Alex Schroeder Producer