Month: March 2022

The United States imports Russian oil, but it is not highly dependent on the country for its supplies.

In 2021, the U.S imported an average of 209,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and 500,000 bpd of other petroleum products from Russia, according to the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) trade association.

This represented three percent of U.S. crude oil imports and one percent of the total crude oil processed by U.S. refineries. By contrast, the U.S. imported 61 percent of its crude oil from Canada, 10 percent from Mexico, and six percent from Saudi Arabia in the same year.

According to the AFPM, imports of Russian crude oil have increased since 2019, when the U.S. imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry. U.S. refiners also temporarily boosted Russian imports last year after Hurricane Ida disrupted oil production in the Gulf of Mexico.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will tell lawmakers Wednesday the central bank will likely hike interest rates later this month with inflation “well above” the central bank’s target range.

The Fed chief is set to tell members of the House Financial Services Committee that bank officials “expect it will be appropriate” to raise the baseline interest range from its current level of zero to 0.25 percent, according to prepared remarks released ahead of Powell’s appearance before the panel.

“We understand that high inflation imposes significant hardship, especially on those least able to meet the higher costs of essentials like food, housing, and transportation. We know that the best thing we can do to support a strong labor market is to promote a long expansion, and that is only possible in an environment of price stability,” Powell will say.

The Fed slashed interest rates to near-zero levels in March 2020 as the emerging coronavirus pandemic derailed the global economy. The Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed’s monetary policy panel, is on track to hike interest rates at the conclusion of its meeting on March 15-16, almost two years to the day it cut rates to current levels.

Powell will highlight the rapid recovery of the U.S. economy from the depth of the pandemic-driven recession, including the record-breaking gain of 6.7 million jobs in 2021 and economic growth of 5.5 percent. The Fed chief credited the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines along with substantial fiscal and monetary support deployed by the federal government in 2020 for the swift rebound.

Even so, the speed of the recovery also fueled a rapid rise in prices as it ran up against stubborn pandemic-related obstacles, Powell will note.

“As a result, employers are having difficulties filling job openings, an unprecedented number of workers are quitting to take new jobs, and wages are rising at their fastest pace in many years,” Powell will say.

“Demand is strong, and bottlenecks and supply constraints are limiting how quickly production can respond. These supply disruptions have been larger and longer lasting than anticipated, exacerbated by waves of the virus, and price increases are now spreading to a broader range of goods and services.”

U.S. retailer Target has announced it will adopt a minimum wage system that will pay company employees up to $24 an hour.

In a statement on Monday, the Minneapolis-based retailer said that the new minimum wage will range from $15 to $24, depending on the job and local market. The system is also part of Target’s plan to spend an additional $300 million on its labor force, which includes expanded access to health care coverage and an enhanced benefits package for employees.

Some of Target’s rivals, including Best Buy, have raised their hourly minimum wages for employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Costco raised its hourly minimum wage from $16 to $17, and Amazon’s starting wage is $15 an hour, with an average starting wage for transportation and fulfillment jobs of $18 per hour.

Walmart boosted its hourly minimum wage for employees to $12 an hour, raising the hourly wages for more than 565,000 store workers by at least a dollar as well, the AP noted.