epidemics

Americans love their credit card rewards more than ever. For card companies, perhaps too much.When the Covid-19 pandemic halted travel—and travel spending—some speculated that it might also ground credit cards. Card companies had for years leaned on travel-related rewards and point systems to attract wealthier customers and bigger spenders. These often work by awarding points for every dollar spent, which can be redeemed for goods or services from banks’ reward-cards partners, such as airlines or hotel chains. Some even…

Movie fans have been trickling back to the cinema after the pandemic upheaval, but the financial pain has intensified for some of the largest theater-industry players.  Cineworld Group PLC, the bankrupt owner of Regal Cinemas, said last week that it has terminated its effort to sell the whole business after failing to attract adequate offers and is moving forward on a plan to transfer ownership to its lenders. AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., which had a market capitalization of more than $31 billion at the…

WASHINGTON—An unprecedented effort by states to review the eligibility of the more than 90 million people on Medicaid carries high financial stakes for industry groups, including hospitals that risk paying more to cover uninsured patients and insurers that could lose some of the money they get for managing state Medicaid programs. Eligibility reviews for people who get Medicaid coverage were paused during the Covid-19 pandemic. The resumption of those reviews and disenrollment of people, technically starting Saturday, has…

SINGAPORE—A gauge of activity in China’s services sector reached its highest level in more than a decade in March, a sign that Chinese consumers are heading back to stores and restaurants, powering an economic recovery following the end of almost three years of strict Covid-19 controls. The reading represents a promising signal for the global economy, which is depending on Chinese consumers to prop up growth this year as their counterparts in the U.S. and Europe battle rising interest rates, high inflation and the…

Big cities lost fewer residents last year as more immigrants moved in, fewer people died and more babies were born there, according to new census data that shows the urban exodus that gained steam early in the pandemic is cooling.The suburbs of big cities and small and medium-size metropolitan areas continued to claim most of the country’s growth, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of population estimates released Thursday for the year that ended June 30. Rural areas and small towns collectively remained nearly…

Moderna Inc. MRNA -0.96% will price its Covid-19 vaccine at about $130 a dose when it shifts to commercial distribution of the shots later this year, much higher than what the federal government has paid. The plans fueled criticism of the company from lawmakers who explored the cost of the shots at a Senate hearing Wednesday. The cost could vary depending on contracts reached with health systems, pharmacies, federal health programs and other potential buyers, but the…

Many lower-income Americans who left the workforce when the pandemic began three years ago are staying on the sidelines because of a lack of child care, a factor contributing to worker shortages and historically low unemployment.An estimated 380,000 Americans in their prime working years, aged 25 to 54, held jobs before the pandemic but no longer did late last year, according to estimates from Bank of America. Bank economists said the lack of affordable and quality child care is a…

The markets for the world’s safest and most liquid assets, the government bonds issued by the U.S. and other rich countries, are coming under immense stress on Wednesday following a week of worries about the health of global banks. Liquidity, the capacity to trade quickly at quoted prices, has fallen sharply in two of the keystone markets, those for U.S. Treasurys and German bunds, traders said. Difficulties in trading are now spreading to many other markets, including those for derivatives that firms and traders use to…

SINGAPORE—Economic activity in China rebounded in January and February as the country emerged from almost three years of tough Covid-19 controls, adding to signs of resilience in the global economy after the sudden collapse of two U.S. banks unnerved investors. The data suggest China’s expected recovery is broadly on track after posting one of its weakest years for growth in decades in 2022. A pickup in retail sales suggests consumption is taking over as the engine of growth while factories contend with sinking exports…

American women are staging a return to the workforce that is helping propel the economy in the face of high inflation and rising interest rates.Women have gained more jobs than men for four straight months, including in January’s hiring surge, pushing them to hold more than 49.8% of all nonfarm jobs. Female workers last edged higher than men on U.S. payrolls in late 2019, before the pandemic sent nearly 12 million women out of jobs, compared with 10 million men.  The onset of Covid-19 and social-distancing…