Current Events in March 2016

Kids question everything, and the internet has an answer to everything. This would be a match made in heaven, if it weren’t for the fact that the internet isn’t always the most kid-friendly place.

Search engines can be a great tool for indulging a child’s natural curiosity and even helping with homework. But even with parental blocks, search engines can lead children to answers they aren’t quite ready for. To the internet savvy kids of today, a blank search bar represents a wide open road and full control of the steering wheel.

But thanks to a new search engine, parents may be able to breathe a little easier when their kids are surfing the net. Kiddle, powered by Google’s safe search, is a visual search engine that aims to help preserve kids’ innocence by making certain searches off limits.  

Pages for kids

The site looks similar to regular Google as far as color scheme -- but instead of a white background, kids are greeted by a robot alien in outer space.

After a child inputs a search, the first three results that pop up will be pages written specifically for children. The next three results will include content written in a kid-friendly fashion. The final eight or so results will include content written for adults, but screened for certain unsavory words. All results are handpicked and checked by Kiddle editors, according to their site. 

Should a child veer off the kid-oriented path that Kiddle has paved, the site’s guard robot will block the search. Kiddle’s privacy policy also aims to help keep kids safe. The site says it doesn’t collect any user information and that search logs are cleared after 24 hours.

Controversy

But while the kid-friendly search tool may seem like every parent's dream solution, it hasn’t existed without controversy. On its list of blocked searches are words such as, “lesbian,” “gay,” “transgender,” “menstruation,” “circumcision,” and “sex education.”

Some question whether the search engine's blocks are too severe, while others wonder if it’s really the job of the editors to decide what's okay for their child to see.

"Kiddle should rethink its approach to blocking valuable LGBT advice and information,” a spokesperson for an LGBT group told BBC.

The site claims it blocks LGBT searches because it “cannot guarantee the safety” in searching such terms. In response to criticism, representatives for Kiddle told BBC, "What is OK for a child of 12 may not be OK for a child of five.”

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says he has reached a settlement agreement with Endo Health Solutions and Endo Pharmaceutical, makers and distributors of the opioid drug Opana ER.

Under the agreement, the companies will not misrepresent the properties of Opana ER, will accurately describe the risk of addiction to Opana ER, and will summarize studies regarding Opana ER on its website.

Additioinally, Endo will be required to establish a program to prevent its sales staff from promoting the narcotic painkiller to health care providers who may be involved in the abuse and illegal diversion of opioids.

Drug abuse concerns

The action comes amid mounting nationwide concern over opioid abuse and deaths and injuries from overdose. These deaths and injuries have been on the rise for years, slowing recently only because of the presence of so much heroin, which is often cheaper and easier to obtain.

Last month researchers at the University of Michigan studied records from Veterans Administration hospitals and concluded that doctors have been too quick to prescribe high quantities opioid painkillers, linking stronger dosage to overdose death and injuries.

Under pressure from various state attorneys general who are grappling with the problem at the state level, the Food and Drug Administration recently announced it will begin a review of its opioid drug policy.

Pervasive and dangerous

“The public health crisis created by improper opioid prescribing in New York remains pervasive and extremely dangerous,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “My office is committed to ensuring that prescription drugs are marketed and prescribed responsibly – and that consumers get the information they need about the serious risks associated with painkillers, such as addiction.”

Endo, an Irish company with U.S. headquarters in Pennsylvania, makes a variety of prescription drugs. Schneiderman maintains Endo’s opioid drug Opana ER has been widely abused in New York.

In May 2011, after a spike in opioid prescribing and abuse, Nassau County issued a Public Health Alert on the increasing abuse of Opana ER, warning the public and law enforcement of the dangers associated with the drug.

Schneiderman cites a July 2012 report in USA Today that said Opana ER had become the drug of choice for people seeking narcotics, and that hundreds of people in Nassau County, hundreds of people each month were seeking treatment for addiction to Opana ER each month.

Other opioid painkillers that are often abused include hydrocodone (e.g., Vicodin), oxycodone (e.g., OxyContin, Percocet), morphine (e.g., Kadian, Avinza), codeine, and related drugs.

Gas prices are lower than they were last year, but that's not the only reason your spring break getaway will probably be cheaper than it was in 2015.

Expedia has conducted an analysis of spring break travel trends and found the average airline ticket prices to many popular destinations are down year-over-year.

The travel site says there are even deals for those who have waited until the last minute to plan a trip.

"There are any number of factors that impact spring break pricing – the price of oil, demand, weather, you name it," Expedia's Sarah Gavin said in a statement. "The good news is that all of these factors, collectively, seem to be pushing prices down.”

Gavin says the best deals appear to be in major U.S. cities. With the strong dollar, she says international travel may even be a bargain, providing you book your hotel and air travel at the same time.

Bundling offers savings

“Bundling your hotel and flight can yield hundreds in savings that disappear if booked separately," Gavin said.

Domestic travelers who travel by air, meanwhile, may see some real deals. Expedia says its analysis show flights to both Miami and Orlando are down an average 14% from last year.

Tickets to Ft. Lauderdale – ground zero for college spring breakers – are 17% cheaper. Travel to Tampa costs 9% less.

If you plan to vacation outside the continental U.S., Expedia says you'll find airfare to San Juan has fallen 15% from last year while Cancun is down 14%. Airfare to Puerto Vallarta is marked down 10%.

Cheaper hotel rates

Lodging will also cost less. Expedia says the average daily rates (ADRs) of Puerto Rico hotels are down more than 5% year over year. It will also be cheaper to stay in New Orleans, Riviera Maya, and Miami.

If the traditional spring break destinations are cheaper, it stands to reason that some non-traditional vacation spots would be even bigger bargains. Expedia says that is indeed the case, with Lake Tahoe offering the biggest year over year discount on lodging.

Other hotel bargains can be found in Portland, Ore., down 35%; Seattle, where rates are down 30%; and San Diego, where the cost of a hotel room is down 25%.

For family spring break, Expedia says big-city options like New York, Chicago, and Washington DC, along with sunny destinations such as Honolulu or Kahului, are expected to offer airfare savings between 8% and 18% from last year.

The effects of excessive smartphone use -- on our brains, specifically -- has come under question in recent years. Many say too much cell phone use can venture into addiction territory, while others say the word addiction is too strong to describe one’s relationship with technology.

But as it turns out, the reason you go online or pull out your device may play an important role in determining the health of your relationship with technology. A new study from the University of Illinois has found a link between mobile devices, depression, and anxiety in college-aged students -- but not in the way that you might think.

The study found that cell phones themselves were not the cause of any negative mental health outcomes. Rather, it was the way students treated mobile technology which affected their mental health.

"People who self-described as having really addictive style behaviors toward the Internet and cellphones scored much higher on depression and anxiety scales," said Alejandro Lleras, U of I psychology professor and the study’s conductor.

Motivation for use

Lleras said the goal of the study -- published recently in the journal, Computers in Human Behavior -- was to see if addictive and self-destructive behaviors with phones and the Internet related to mental health.

But the researchers did not find any evidence that phones and the Internet were related to negative mental health outcomes, at least when it came to their use as boredom busters. In other words, what really matters is the “why” behind a person’s Internet or electronic device use.

Students who participated in the survey were asked questions such as, “Do you think your academic work performance has been negatively affected by your cell phone use?” and “Do you think life without the internet is boring, empty, and sad?” Presumably, those who answered “yes” to such questions were more at risk of suffering adverse mental health consequences as a result of device use.

Comfort item

A follow-up study sought to examine the effects of simply having (but not using) a cell phone during a stressful situation. While in the stressful situation, some of the study’s participants were able to keep their phones and some were not. Those who retained their cell phones were less likely to be negatively affected by stress.

“Having access to a phone seemed to allow that group to resist or to be less sensitive to the stress manipulation,” said Lleras in a statement.

The anxiety-tempering effects of having a cell phone seem to suggest that our devices might be something of a modern day security blanket.

But while Lleras says the role of phones as comfort items is “tenuous,” he says the relationship between mental health and one’s motivation to use their device should be further explored. Breaking addictive technology habits may play a key role in supplementing treatment for mental health issues like general anxiety disorder or depression, he said.

“We shouldn’t be scared of people connecting online or talking on their phones,” concluded Lleras. “The interaction with the device is not going to make you depressed if you are just using it when you are bored.” He says this knowledge should help ease public anxiety over new technology.

Another 242,000 jobs were created in February, led by employment gains in health care and social assistance and retail trade. At the same time, according to the Department of Labor (DOL), the jobless rate held steady at 4.9%.

Not all the news was good though, as average hourly earnings fell by three cents to $25.35, following an increase of 12 cents in January. Over the last 12 months, hourly earnings have risen by 2.2%.

The number of long-term unemployed (those out of work for 27 weeks or more) was essentially unchanged at 2.2 million in February, accounting for 27.7% of the unemployed.

Where the jobs are

Health care and social assistance employment increased by 57,000 last month. Also adding jobs were retail trade (+55,000), food services and drinking places (+40,000), private educational services (+28,000), and construction (+19,000). Mining, on the other hand, lost 19,000 jobs.

Employment in other major industries -- manufacturing, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, financial activities, professional and business services, and government -- showed little change.

Who's working

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (4.5%), adult women (4.5%), teenagers (15.6%), Whites (4.3%), Blacks (8.8%), Asians (3.8%), and Hispanics (5.4%) showed little or no change in February.

The employment-population ratio edged up to 59.8%, while the labor force participation rate edged up to 62.9 percent. Both measures have increased by 0.5% since September.

In February, 1.8 million people were marginally attached to the labor force -- down by 356,000 from a year earlier. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the four weeks preceding the survey.

The complete report is available on the DOL website.

Hy-Vee of West Des Moines, Iowa, is recalling Maytag Raw Milk Blue Cheese across its eight-state region.

The product may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this product.

The recalled product was sold in whole wheels and cuts, and re-packaged in foil or clear plastic wrap with scale labels in various weights. Blue cheese crumbles were also sold in plastic containers.

All product was labeled as "Maytag Blue Raw Milk," "Maytag Blue" or "Maytag Iowa Blue Cheese" and with PLU numbers beginning with 854089001 and with "use by" dates between Jan. 20, 2016 and May 3, 2016.

It was sold from cheese cases in all of Hy-Vee's 240 stores in Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin between November 20, 2015 and March 2, 2016.

What to do

Customers who purchased this product should discard it or return it to their local Hy-Vee store for a full refund.

Consumers with questions may contact Hy-Vee customer care representatives 24/7 at 1-800-722-4098.

In an odd way, Takata's explosion-prone airbags may be contributing to highway safety. As the owner of two cars with the recalled devices, I can testify that I am much less likely to mercilessly tailgate slower drivers, knowing that bashing the car in front of me could result in shards of metal penetrating my neck.

But snarking aside, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) has been putting pressure on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to recall all airbags that use ammonium nitrate to inflate the airbag when a crash occurs. He also wants the NHTSA to require that new airbags use something else.

"With all that we know about these things, they should not be used. This ammonium nitrate should not be used as replacements for the old Takata inflators, and certainly shouldn't be used in the new cars that are produced and sold to consumers," Nelson said in comments on the Senate floor earlier this week.

Nelson made the request in a letter to NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind, adding that he thinks all Takata airbgs that use ammonium nitrate should be recalled.

"New hardships"

But Rosekind says granting Nelson's request would make a bad situation worse. It would "needlessly impose new hardships" on the supply of replacement parts for the 29 million Takata inflators already recalled, he said in a letter to Nelson.

Nelson said consumers need some reassurance that the NHTSA is on the right track.

"Will Takata continue to produce millions of these things? We don't know. We don't know the answer. And are consumers today basically getting a newer version of the old version that has been so defective? No answer to that either," he said. "In other words, are we going to replace an old live grenade with a new live grenade?"

For their part, automakers continue to issue new recalls as they find evidence of potentially defective inflators. Toyota today recalled another 198,000 Toyota and Lexus vehicles.  

An estimated 6 billion emojis are sent each day, according to Swyft Media, and over a billion are sent by girls. But how many of those girls are represented -- in terms of both appearance and the activities they love -- by the emojis they’re sending?

Always, the company behind the “Like a Girl” ad campaign, says not enough. Those tiny, text-accompanying digital illustrations may seem inconsequential, but Always says emoji images are important given their frequent use by young, impressionable people.  

For their newest “Like a Girl” spot, Leo Burnett interviewed girls to ask them how they feel about today’s selection of emojis. In the spot, the girls appear vexed by the bevy of pink-clad ladies whose likes and interests appear to fall exclusively under the hair and makeup category.

“There’s no girl in the ‘professions’ category, unless you count being a bride a profession,” notes one of the girls. “Girls love emojis, but there aren’t enough emojis to … say what girls do,” concludes another.

Societal limitations

Lucy Walker, documentary filmmaker and director of the spot, says society should be aware that they’re sending subtle messages that can limit girls to stereotypes.

"It was so interesting to hear these girls talk about emojis and realize how the options available to them are subtly reinforcing the societal stereotypes and limitations they face every day,” said Walker, adding that she’s excited to help empower girls and push them to “rally for change in societal limitations.”

The spot seems to target puberty-aged girls, as its accompanying infographic explains that girls’ confidence plummets during this time. The infographic also explains that during puberty, a whopping 72% of girls feel held back by society.

Hidden messages

While societal limitations are obviously much broader than emojis, Associate Brand Director and leader of the #LikeAGirl campaign at Procter & Gamble, Michele Baeten, says emojis are projecting subtle, limiting messages that have important implications.

"The girls in emojis only wear pink, are princesses or dancing bunnies, do their nails and their hair, and that's about it,” says Baeten. “No other activities, no sports, no jobs ... the realization is shocking.”

For girls at such a vulnerable age, especially, the selection of emojis currently available reinforces traditional gender stereotypes in a big -- and potentially harmful -- way. Leaders of the #LikeAGirl campaign say hidden messages like these can, in the most subtle of ways, limit the scope of what girls feel they can do.

At the end of the spot, Always seeks to open the floor for debate by imploring girls to share with the brand what emoji they’d like to see, using the hashtag, “#LikeAGirl.”

Co-founder and president of the Unicode Consortium, Mark Davis, has said that while emojis were originally designed to be as neutral as possible, efforts have been made to incorporate a full representation of gender in emoji. A draft specification was released on Monday, which would (if approved) allow for gender variation in currently available emojis. 

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has released a seven point health care policy containing items that likely both delight and horrify elements of both the Democrat and Republican bases.

A few proposals might even make consumers smile.

Item one is the complete repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Republicans have been trying to do it for six years while Democrats furiously defend it as the signature achievement of the Obama Administration. Perhaps no single issue has been so divisive along party lines.

Trump says he would replace Obamacare with a series of reforms to improve access to care through the free market and enhanced competition. He says he would achieve that, in part, with point two – allowing insurance companies to operate across state lines.

Tax deductible premiums

Point three is a tax break for everyone who pays for health insurance. Trump proposes allowing individuals to fully deduct health insurance premiums from their federal tax. Trump said consumers should get the same ability to write off their premiums that businesses currently enjoy.

Point four would allow consumers to set up Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) to pay for healthcare with tax-free contributions. The money would be allowed to accumulate and become part of an estate, passed on to heirs at death.

Trump would also change the way Medicaid is administered. His fifth point would convert funding for the federal healthcare program for the poor and turn it over to the states in the form of block grants.

Import cheaper drugs

The final point in his policy outline would allow consumers to legally import cheaper prescription drugs from other countries. This would be a tall order since both Republicans and Democrats have consistently joined to block this from happening.

“Congress will need the courage to step away from the special interests and do what is right for America,” the policy paper states. “Though the pharmaceutical industry is in the private sector, drug companies provide a public service. Allowing consumers access to imported, safe and dependable drugs from overseas will bring more options to consumers.”

In addition, Trump calls for eliminating healthcare services for people in the country illegally, reforming the mental health system, and growing the economy so that fewer Americans will need assistance to pay for healthcare.

Regulators are serving notice a fast-growing online money-transfer business, stating that they must safeguard consumers' private data and live up to the promises they make about their security procedures.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered Dwolla to pay a $100,000 penalty for misleading consumers about its data security practices and instructed the company to fix its security practices.

Dwolla, based in Des Moines, Iowa, said the procedures questioned by the CFPB had taken place in earlier years and said it has improved its practices since then.

Dwolla, like others in the online payments business, takes much of the grunt work out of moving money online by simplifying the automated clearing house (ACH) process.

"Our ACH transfer platform securely verifies and connects your customers to their bank or credit union accounts for safe and quick transactions," the company says on its website, saying it offers "a fast, lightweight onboarding experience."

“Consumers entrust digital payment companies with significant amounts of sensitive personal information,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “With data breaches becoming commonplace and more consumers using these online payment systems, the risk to consumers is growing. It is crucial that companies put systems in place to protect this information and accurately inform consumers about their data security practices.”

Dwolla said it has more than 650,000 users and moves as much as $5 million per day. It noted it has not been hacked or experienced any known loss of consumer data. 

Safe and secure?

From December 2010 until 2014, Dwolla claimed to protect consumer data from unauthorized access with “safe” and “secure” transactions. But the CFPB said that, rather than setting “a new precedent for the payments industry,” Dwolla’s data security practices fell far short of its claims.

The headline probably looks like it's from Bizarro World. Can that be right? The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is going to reduce the cost of mailing a letter?

Maybe, but if it does it isn't doing so willingly.

Without Congress or the courts getting involved, the USPS will be forced to reduce certain prices on Sunday, April 10, 2016. That's because the last time it raised rates, it was allowed to do so through a surcharge. Unless renewed, authorization for that surcharge runs out next month.

The USPS says if it is forced to cut rates, it will worsen its financial condition and increase its net losses by approximately $2 billion per year.

Fraction of the actual cost

The USPS was once a government agency, the U.S. Post Office Department. The taxpayers subsidized operation of the mail service so that consumers and businesses paid a tiny fraction of the real cost of delivering mail.

In the early 1970s, with costs mounting, Congress altered that relationship, creating the USPS as a semi-private corporation that remained under strong Congressional influence. Looking back, most agree it hasn't worked out all that well.

Multi-year revenue declines

“The exigent surcharge granted to the Postal Service last year only partially alleviated our extreme multi-year revenue declines resulting from the Great Recession, which exceeded $7 billion in 2009 alone,” Postmaster General and CEO Megan J. Brennan said in a statement. “Removing the surcharge and reducing our prices is an irrational outcome considering the Postal Service’s precarious financial condition.”

To help the service regain its financial footing, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) approved a 4.3% exigent surcharge on rates, but said it had to be reversed after the Postal Service has collected surcharges totaling $4.6 billion. That's expected to occur April 10.

The rates consumers are charged for mail services are capped by law at the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers (CPI-U). However, the law does allow for exigent pricing due to extraordinary or exceptional circumstances.

That provision was invoked in the wake of the Great Recession, when mail volume dropped sharply.

Electronic competition

But even though the economy has recovered somewhat, first class mail volume continues to decline, largely because of electronic mail. Documents can be digitized and sent via email much faster and cheaper.

Currently, consumers pay 49 cents to mail a first class letter. The default rate on April 10, absent intervention, will be 47 cents.

Why can't USPS be profitable at those rates? That might seem like a reasonable question, but consider this: to send a document using one of the private delivery services like Fed Ex or United Parcel Service costs several dollars. That may, in fact, be a more accurate reflection of the cost of sending a letter than 49 cents.

Meanwhile, the USPS has become less reliant on consumers sending cards and letters to friends and relatives. Rather, in recent years its main customers have been the direct mail businesses sending consumers unwanted catalogs, advertisements, and credit card offers.

In the early 2000s, easy money and lax lending standards fueled a housing bubble that crashed with devastating impact in 2008.

Home prices are rising once again, but this time it's for a different set of reasons. Mortgage money is much harder to come by. Prices have risen in part because of a shortage of new and existing homes for sale.

And there may be another reason. RealtyTrac, a real estate foreclosure marketplace, tracks the number of house “flips” and reports they made up 5.5% of last year's real estate sales.

A flip is when an investor purchases a property at a discounted price, makes a few improvements, and sells it within a 12 month period. Hit reality TV shows like “Flip This House” and “Flip or Flop” have served to popularize the practice, even drawing amateurs into the process.

Investors move to flipping instead of renting

Since the housing crash, investors have consistently made up a significant portion of home buyers, but they largely purchased homes to convert to rental property. In the last couple of years, RealtyTrac says the trend has been toward flips.

The share of homes flipped in 2015 increased from the previous year in 83 of 110 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas analyzed for the report.

“As confidence in the housing recovery spreads, more real estate investors and would-be real estate investors are hopping on the home flipping bandwagon,” Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at RealtyTrac, said in a statement. “Not only is the share of home flips on the rise again, but we also see the flipping trend trickling down to smaller investors who are completing fewer flips per year. The total number of investors who completed at least one flip in 2015 was at the highest level since 2007, and the number of flips per investor was at the lowest level since 2008.”

Blomquist is concerned that inexperienced home flippers that are not adequately capitalized rushing into the market could be a sign that speculation is getting out of hand. But he admits that, at least until now, people have been making money.

“Homes flipped in 2015 were on average purchased at a 26% discount below estimated market value and re-sold by the flipper at a 5% premium above estimated market value,” Blomquist said.

Downside risks

There are a number of things that can go wrong for an inexperienced home flipper. If the home is a distressed property that has been vacant a while, there may be serious but hidden flaws that will be expensive to correct.

The house may require more spending than the market can support to make it attractive to a buyer. The house might linger on the market, putting a financial strain on an under capitalized flipper.

Matthew Gardner, chief economist at Windermere Real Estate in the Seattle market, says when home flipping numbers go up, it is usually an indication that the housing market is in trouble. He says home flipping tends to artificially inflate home prices. That makes houses less affordable and increases the risk of a bubble.

The services, or non-manufacturing, sector of the economy continued to chug along in February.

In their latest Non-Manufacturing Institute for Supply Management (ISM) report on business, the nation’s purchasing and supply executives say the sector grew for the 73rd consecutive month.

Specifically, the Non-Manufacturing Index (NMI) registered 53.4% -- down 0.1% from the January reading, representing continued growth, but at a slightly slower rate. A reading above 50 indicates expansion; below 50 means contraction.

A closer look at the report shows the Business Activity Index jumped 3.9% to 57.8%, reflecting growth at a faster rate for the 79th consecutive month. The New Orders Index dipped 1.0%, while the Employment fell 2.4%, contracting after 23 consecutive months of growth. It's the first time the this index has contracted since February 2014.

Industry performance

The 14 non-manufacturing industries reporting growth in February -- listed in order -- were:

1. Accommodation & Food Services;
2. Management of Companies & Support Services;
3. Real Estate, Rental & Leasing;
4. Utilities;
5. Construction;
6. Finance & Insurance;
7. Transportation & Warehousing;
8. Professional, Scientific & Technical Services;
9. Public Administration;
10. Health Care & Social Assistance;
11. Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting;
12. Educational Services;
13. Information; and
14. Wholesale Trade.

The three industries reporting contraction in February were:

1. Mining;
2. Arts, Entertainment & Recreation; and
3. Retail Trade.

Jobless claims

The Department of Labor (DOL) reports that first-time applications for state unemployment benefits rose by 6,000 in the week ending February 27 to seasonally adjusted total of 278,000. The government says there were no special factors affecting claims level.

The four-week moving average, which is less volatile and seen by some economists as a more accurate picture of the labor market, came in at 270,250, a decline of 1,750.

The complete report is available on the DOL website.

The pace of job-cutting posted a decline last month after kicking off the new year with a surge to a six-month high.

Outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas reports US-based employers announced 61,599 terminations in February -- down 18% from the month before but up 22 % from a year earlier.

And, as was the case in 2015, the energy sector has seen the heaviest job cutting in the opening months of the year. There were another 25,051 job cuts in February, bringing the year-to-date total to 45,154. Most are blamed on low oil prices.

The year-to-date tally represents a 24% surge from 2015, when employers canned 36,532 workers in the opening two months of the year.

Low oil prices not good for everyone

“Low oil prices continue to take a toll on workers in the energy and industrial goods sectors,” said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. “Since January of 2015, these two sectors alone have seen workforce reductions in excess of 200,000, the majority of which were attributed to oil prices. The major concern is that the job losses in cities and towns that rely heavily on oil production will begin to drag down other parts of the local economy,” .

Challenger notes that there has not been a precipitous rise in unemployment in the many cities that were benefiting from the recent oil boom, suggesting that the job losses are contained to the energy sector, for the moment.

Several energy-centric metropolitan areas have seen unemployment rates increase, but most are still enjoying rates that are below the national average. The latest available data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the unemployment rate in Houston rose from 4.0% in December 2014 to 4.6% in December 2015.

In Midland, Texas, the unemployment rate increased by more than one percentage point in 2015, but remains at an enviable 3.3%. As of December, Bismarck, North Dakota -- another city that benefited significantly from the oil boom -- still has an unemployment rate of 2.7%, which is actually lower than the rate of 3.1% recorded in December 2014.

Tech turmoil

In addition to energy, another area experiencing increased job cuts is the technology sector. Announced firings by computer firms this year total 16,006 -- up a whopping 143% from the 6,582 job cuts recorded in the first two months of last year.

“There will always be heavy churn in the tech sector,” said Challenger. “It is an area that embodies change, trial and error, and constant reinvention. There is more start-up activity in the sector, but that also means there are more failures. Even among the more established firms in the industry, we see workforce volatility, as they branch into new products or services, some of which may or may not succeed.”   

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling 2,894 model year 2016 F-150 trucks manufactured April 27, 2015, to November 22, 2015, and equipped with Multi-Contour Seats (MCS).

The front passenger seat Occupant Classification System (OCS) that calibrates the air bag deployment level may incorrectly classify an adult as a child when the seat massage feature is activated.

If an adult is incorrectly classified as a child, the passenger front air bag will not deploy during a crash, increasing the risk of injury.

What to do

Ford will notify owners, and dealers will update the Occupant Classification System Module (OCSM) with new software, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin March 7, 2016.

Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 16S05.

Toyota Motor Sales, USA is expanding two of its recalls involving Takata front passenger air bag inflators.

The recalled vehicles are equipped with a Takata-produced dual-stage front passenger airbag inflator which could potentially be susceptible to rupture when deployed in a crash.

The expansion will add 198,000 Model Year 2008 Corolla and Corolla Matrix and Model Year 2008-2010 Lexus SC430 vehicles, model years of certain vehicles previously recalled and will cover all remaining dual-stage front passenger inflators of a particular type.

What to do

All known owners of the affected Toyota / Lexus vehicles will be notified by first class mail. Dealers will replace the airbag inflator or the airbag assembly with a newly manufactured one at no cost.

Consumers with questions may call Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331, or Lexus customer service at 1-800-255-3987.  

The Zika virus is becoming more and more worrisome with winter coming to a close. Researchers have stated that the virus will hit the U.S. when Spring finally arrives and the mosquitoes that carry it can migrate north.

While agencies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) are focusing on the virus, a recent study shows that it might be more dangerous than previously thought. New research conducted in French Polynesia shows that in addition to its own symptoms, Zika virus may cause some people to develop Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), an immune and nervous system disorder that can lead to paralysis.

Contracting GBS

The researchers came to their conclusion after studying 42 patients who contracted GBS after being infected with the Zika virus. Eighty-eight percent of the patients reported that they had shown symptoms of Zika virus at least six days before neurological problems caused by GBS set in.

“This is the first study to look at a large number of patients who developed Guillain-Barré syndrome following Zika virus infection and provide evidence that Zika virus can cause GBS,” said lead author Arnaud Fontanet, a professor at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France.

Researchers monitored the symptoms of each patient who contracted GBS. Thirty-eight percent of them were eventually admitted to an intensive care unit and 29% needed breathing assistance. After three months of being discharged from the hospital, 57% of patients were able to walk again without any form of assistance.

A changing virus

From the data that the researchers collected, they estimate that 24 people will develop symptoms of GBS for every 100,000 patients who are infected with the Zika virus. While that number only represents .024% of all patients, experts are unsure how the infection rates will change in the coming months.

Researchers are also unsure of whether or not the virus will change or mutate, or even if it already has done so. “A little caution should be taken because the data are still scarce and we do not know whether the current Zika virus is identical to that in previous outbreaks, whether it will behave exactly the same in a different population with a different genetic and immunity background, or whether a cofactor or co-infection is responsible,” said Professor David W. Smith of the University of Western Australia in a linked comment.

“Suffice to say Zika virus can be added to our list of viruses that can cause Guillain-Barré syndrome, and investigation of these cases should include tests for Zika when there is a possibility of infection by that virus. Whether Zika will be proven to pose a greater threat in causing Guillain-Barré syndrome than its various flavivirus cousins remains to be determined,” he concluded.

The full study has been published in The Lancet.

Zika virus and what to do

The Zika virus is contracted when a person is bitten by a mosquito that carries it. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that approximately one in five people who are bitten will contract Zika and actually become ill. The symptoms are similar to having the flu in some respects; patients can expect fever, rash, joint and muscle pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). The exact incubation period for the disease is uncertain, but researchers believe that it could be anywhere from a few days to a week.

While it is rare for someone to die of the Zika virus, the infection can be more dangerous for certain people. For example, pregnant women who are infected by Zika can pass it to their unborn fetus. This can result in a birth defect called microcephaly, wherein a baby is born with an abnormally small head.

Microcephaly can cause various brain and developmental disorders, including seizures, developmental delay, intellectual disability, movement and balance problems, feeding problems, hearing loss, and vision problems.

If you are worried that you have contracted the Zika virus, the CDC recommends that you see your healthcare provider right away. Those suffering from the disease should also be sure to get plenty of rest, drink fluids to prevent dehydration and take acetaminophen to relieve fever and pain. Patients should not take aspirin or other anti-inflammatory drugs.

The CDC also stresses that patients should avoid being bitten by mosquitoes after they have already been infected – this can result in more mosquitoes carrying the virus, which will cause greater danger to others.

For more information on the Zika virus, visit the CDC website here.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump may have won big on Super Tuesday primary night, but earlier in the day he lost in New York's Appellate Court.

The justices declined Trump's request to dismiss fraud charges brought by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman against Trump University.

In his complaint, Scheiderman maintains Trump and business partner Michael Sexton were operating an unlicensed educational institution since 2005.

“By letter dated May 27, 2005, the New York State Department of Education (SED) notified Donald Trump individually, Sexton, and Trump University that they were violating the New York Education Law by using the word "University" when it was not actually chartered as one,” the justices wrote in their decision. “Likewise, SED notified these respondents that Trump University was also violating the Education law because it lacked a license to offer student instruction or training in New York State. SED stated, however, that Trump University would not be subject to the license requirement if it had no physical presence in New York State, moved the business organization outside of New York, and ceased running live programs in the State. In June 2005, Sexton informed SED that Trump University would merge its operation into a new Delaware LLC, and would indeed cease holding live programming in New York State.”

Never happened

But the justices agreed with Schneiderman that never happened. They also dismissed Trump's claim that the statute of limitations had expired.

“We hold that the Attorney General is, in fact, authorized to bring a cause of action for fraud under Executive Law § 63(12),” the court ruled.

In a statement, Schneiderman said the court's ruling was a “clear victory” to hold Trump and Trump University accountable for defrauding students.

“The state Supreme Court had already granted our request for summary judgment determining that Trump and his University are liable for operating illegally in New York as an unlicensed educational institution,” Schneiderman said. “Today’s decision means our entire fraud case can move forward, and confirms that the case is subject to a six year statute of limitations.”

2013 lawsuit

Schneiderman sued Trump for $40 million in 2013, claiming Trump University deceived its students and failed to deliver the apprenticeships it promised. In addition to the attorney general's action, several students have also filed a class action suit against Trump University.

It has even become an issue in the presidential campaign, with Trump rival Sen. Marco Rubio (D-FL) raising it during a recent debate.

"There are people who borrowed $36,000 to go to Trump University, and they're suing now – $36,000 to go to a university that's a fake school," Rubio charged. "And you know what they got? They got to take a picture with a cardboard cutout of Donald Trump."

Meanwhile, Schneiderman says he's pleased to be moving ahead with the case.

“We look forward to demonstrating in a court of law that Donald Trump and his sham for-profit college defrauded more than 5,000 consumers out of millions of dollars,” he said.