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More than 80% of the billions of dollars in federal rental assistance aimed at keeping families in their homes during the pandemic went to low-income tenants, the Treasury Department said yesterday, the Associated Press reported. It also concluded that the largest percentage of tenants receiving pandemic aid were Black followed by households. In the fourth quarter of 2021, Treasury found that more than 40% of tenants getting help were Black and two-thirds of recipients were female-headed households. The data was consistent with what Treasury saw throughout the year. According to the Eviction Lab at Princeton University, those most likely to face eviction are low-income women, especially women of color. Domestic violence victims and families with children are also at high risk for eviction. Lawmakers approved $46.5 billion in Emergency Rental Assistance last year. After early challenges getting the funds out, the pace of distribution has picked up significantly in recent months. Throughout 2021, over $25 billion has been spent and obligated. That represents 3.8 million payments to households, Treasury said Thursday.

After initially shutting down factories and stores, the pandemic sparked demand for goods as home-bound consumers funneled stimulus money into shopping sprees rather than trips and dining out. But supply snarls continue to hamper producers, Reuters reported. Earlier this week, the world's No.4 carmaker Stellantis told investors that raw materials like metals would remain a problem for the industry this year. But the company said that the semi-conductor shortage, which cost the company about 20% of its planned production last year, peaked in the third quarter. A key question for economists now is to what degree inflation coursing through the economy is becoming a circular force, with higher prices at gas pumps and grocery stores fueling demands from workers for higher wages, adding again to pressure for more price hikes. U.S. consumer prices rose at their fastest annual rate in four decades in January. For now, it remains unclear whether a spiral will be averted, though most Federal Reserve policymakers remain optimistic that inflation will ease as supply chains untangle later this year and into next, although Russia's invasion of Ukraine may complicate the central bank's efforts to rein in inflation this year.

A Mexican affiliate of Kimberly-Clark Corp. that sold hand sanitizer made with a toxic, industrial form of alcohol filed for bankruptcy, blaming the mistake on a scramble to find ingredients early in the pandemic’s supply-chain meltdown, Bloomberg News reported. 4E Brands Northamerica, a subsidiary of Kimberly-Clark de Mexico SAB de C.V., blamed its chapter 11 case on a bad batch it made from methanol alcohol near the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. Amid a shortage of hand sanitizers, 4E Brands sought new suppliers of ethyl alcohol, a federally approved ingredient, according to court papers filed Tuesday in federal court in Laredo, Texas. The company “sourced some of its raw ingredients from opportunistic suppliers who, whether intentionally or mistakenly, provided methanol instead of ethyl alcohol,” David M. Dunn, the chief restructuring officer, said in court papers. The company now faces multiple personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits, he said. n 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reacted to a shortage of hand sanitizers by temporarily loosening restrictions on manufacturers, according to Dunn. 4E Brands ramped up production using new suppliers who sold the company the wrong type of alcohol, Dunn said in his filing. 4E Brands “did not know of the substitution. It believed ethanol was used to manufacture the hand sanitizer it distributed,” Dunn said, referring to the safer type of alcohol. “In fact, it contained methanol.”

U.S. companies borrowed 2% more in January to finance their investments in equipment compared to a year earlier, the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) said on Wednesday, as firms ramp-up production to meet demand, Reuters reported. Companies signed up for $8.3 billion in new loans, leases and lines of credit last month, compared with $8.1 billion a year earlier. Borrowings rose 2% from December. "Despite persistent supply chain disruptions in several collateral categories and nagging inflation, the equipment finance industry picks up in January where it left off last year," said Ralph Petta, ELFA's chief executive officer, in a statement. ELFA, which reports economic activity for the nearly $1-trillion equipment finance sector, said credit approvals totaled 78.4%, marginally down from 78.6% in December.

Since its groundbreaking nearly two decades ago, the megamall built in New Jersey’s Meadowlands has done little except hemorrhage cash. Now, less than two years after its much-delayed opening, the complex known as American Dream is threatening to dash the lofty ambitions of yet another developer, Bloomberg News reported. The Ghermezian family, which runs some of the biggest and most successful malls in North America, can’t keep up with the bills on the shopping and entertainment megaplex, which helped drive its original developer to the brink of bankruptcy and later was seized by lenders from the team that came next. Revenue from the stores has been so scarce amid the surging pandemic that the Ghermezians have hired legal and financial advisers to help them ease the crushing $3 billion debt load, and perhaps retain some role in running the project. The family members aren’t the only ones who stand to lose big money. Lenders including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Soros Fund Management and Starwood Property Trust Inc. could face losses on $1.7 billion in construction loans. About $1.1 billion of municipal debt is also backing the project.

Small businesses are bearing the brunt of supply-chain pressures and rising prices, with many tapping their cash reserves or taking on debt just to compete with larger rivals, the Wall Street Journal reported. Most smaller firms don’t have the heft and sophistication to thrive in an environment of booming demand and short supply — the same forces that many of America’s biggest companies have been able to ride to higher earnings. High inflation, a tight labor market, stressed supply chains and dwindling liquidity are straining many small businesses, exacerbating the existing power imbalance between small and big firms. It all deepens the challenges that small companies have faced since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. And stresses will mount for those that take on more debt as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates. Many large corporations have used their scale to successfully navigate the twin threats of supply-chain disruptions and rising prices, with some reporting 2021 sales and profits exceeding 2019 levels. Small-business owners — those who serve consumers and those that sell to other businesses — say demand remains strong. But they face a longer-term impact on sales if their businesses cede customers to larger rivals with the resources to serve them. Two-thirds of small businesses impacted by supply-chain constraints said suppliers are favoring large businesses because of the volume of orders, according to a recent Goldman Sachs survey of more than 1,400 businesses. Eighty-four percent of small businesses said inflationary pressures had worsened since September, according to the Goldman survey, with more than three-quarters reporting that inflation had hurt their business’s financial health.

Home prices soared almost 19 percent higher in 2021 as a severe lack of supply and low borrowing costs poured fuel on housing costs, according to data released yesterday, The Hill reported. The S&P CoreLogic Case Shiller housing price index, a closely watched gauge of home prices, rose 18.8 percent annually in December 2021, tracking the highest calendar-year increase in 34 years. The index rose 1.3 percent in December after seasonal adjustments, with prices rising in all 20 metro areas covered by S&P. Home prices have risen rapidly since spring 2020, when pandemic-driven stimulus, lockdowns and interest rate cuts spurred a sharp increase in home sales. The intense demand drove prices higher as buyers competed for a limited supply of houses and builders were unable to keep up amid pandemic restrictions. While home sales fell off in 2021, housing prices steamed ahead with buyers competing for dwindling inventory. Supply chain disruptions, shipping delays and other pandemic-related snarls have also hindered builders from filling the shortfall.