From Treasury News Today

The Australian Dollar was rag-dolled by US Dollar gyrations last week as data and geopolitics had markets running from pillar to post, second-guessing where the Fed is headed.

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that it has distributed $6.1 billion through the Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program in less than two weeks since $21.6 billion was allocated to the program. A part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s American Rescue Plan, this $21.6 billion ERA program was allocated to prevent evictions and ensure basic housing security for millions of Americans impacted by the affordable housing challenges exacerbated by COVID-19. Ne...

Weekly UI Report Regular weekly UI claims in Vermont last week decreased by 13 to 990 (up 544 from the same time last year, which was before the pandemic hit). Claims had fallen for five consecutive weeks before jumping up again two weeks ago. As for ongoing jobless claims, for the week ending February 20, 2021, the Labor Department processed 13,185 claims, up 95 from the previous week and 7,520 more than the same time last year. As for further comparison, initial Vermont claims for the week of...

1099 Processing Incident Statement from Vermont Department of Labor: ▪ The Department has created a 1099-G incident webpage summarizing the incident,as well as an FAQ document for claimants to reference. This information can be found at https://labor.vermont.gov/1099-incident-updates. ▪ We have identified the impacted populations which include primarily the LWA and VSTS 1099-Gs. However, out of an abundance of caution, we are recalling all 1099-G documents issued by the Department, regardl...

By Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Regular weekly unemployment claims last week fell by 157, and were under 1,000 for the first time this year and the first time since last fall. Numbers increased nationally, which was not expected. Economists suggest 2021 is off to a sluggish start.