Memes can mitigate pandemic-related stress, new study finds - October 21, 2021 Executive Leadership Briefing

Weekly jobless claims hit a pandemic-era low last week with first-time filings for unemployment insurance totaling 290,000 for the week ended Oct. 16, down 6,000 from the previous period. Economists had estimated an even 300,000. The tight labor market has employers reluctant to lay off workers, encouraging unemployment claims to trend near their lowest levels since the pandemic hit in the spring of 2020.
Labor shortage, inflation pose political obstacles for Biden - The Hill
Yellen on US labor shortage: Businesses may have to pay more, but it's 'good for workers' - Fox Business
@MarkCavitt: UNEMPLOYMENT: A total of 14,256 Michiganders filed first-time jobless claims last week, a decrease of 4,457 claims from the previous week. Only Texas and California had more residents file first-time unemployment claims last week (15,657 and 80,707).
Investing became an opportunity that attracted new entrants amid the financial crisis spurred by the pandemic, many of whom were women. Female customers at Fidelity Investments increased by almost 10% between February 2020 and February 2021, and the stock trading app Robinhood saw women on its platform quadruple.
You may have always known women are good with money --- now research confirms it - MarketWatch
Women investors are still outperforming men, study finds - CNBC
America’s COVID-19 outbreak is improving, averaging a 22% drop over the past two weeks nationwide. Experts in the U.S. are cautiously optimistic, but a newly-discovered mutation of the delta variant is under investigation in the U.K. Russia also reported COVID-19 infections with a new coronavirus variant believed to be more contagious than the delta one.
The UK has more new Covid-19 cases than France, Germany, Italy and Spain combined - CNN
What Colin Powell's death can and can't tell us about COVID breakthrough cases - NPR
The pandemic reset the residential choices and aspirations of millions of Americans, prompting influencers to declare an “urban exodus”’ while others countered the name for the phenomenon as more of an “urban shuffle.” Populations in large cities fluctuated, with some urban areas gaining residents during COVID-19 and others losing residents. Experts conclude the pandemic reinforced and accelerated trends that were already underway, rather than creating new ones.
How Working From Home Could Change Where Innovation Happens - The Wall Street Journal
What I learned after running my startup while traveling for a year - TechCrunch
Employee Perk: Work From a Company-Provided RV - PYMNTS
Researchers discovered that those who viewed memes reported “higher levels of humor” and more positive feelings. Those who viewed memes that specifically referenced the pandemic also felt less stress than those who viewed non-pandemic-related memes. While experts say the pandemic is no laughing matter, they note that humor can be a powerful coping mechanism.
Laughing through the pandemic: Seniors do comedy in Greenwich Village - AMNY
Depression rates have tripled during the pandemic — how to recognize the signs and respond to them - CNBC
@Clay_Masters: Was it really the memes we made along the way?
"Covid means remote workers can live anywhere. So where’s 'anywhere'?" - Politico / Source: Census Bureau


CONTENT FACTS
Turbine Labs has tracked 20,064 media articles and blogs and 18,914 social media posts over the last 24 hours.
The next Turbine Labs Leadership briefing will be delivered on Friday, October 22, at 9:30AM ET.
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